Nanjing Hydraulic Research Institute (NHRI), set up in 1935, originally called Central Hydraulic Research Institute, is the oldest of its kind in China. The Institute was designated by the Chinese Government as one of the national non-profit research institutions for public service in 2001.

NHRI is a multipurpose national hydraulic research complex, mainly dedicated to basic research, applied research and technological development, and undertaking directional, principal and comprehensive researches for water conservancy, hydroelectric power and waterway transportation projects as well as researches on soft science and macro decision making. At the same time, the Institute acts as the Dam Safety Management Center, the Research Center for Climate Change, the Engineering Quality Inspection Center and the Nanjing Engineering Measurement Examination Center of the Ministry of Water Resources.

For more than 80 years of development, marching toward the world front of water-related sciences, the Institute has become a national research complex specialized in more than 30 research orientations with unique and strong expertise. Affiliated to the Institute are Hydrology and Water Resources Department, Hydraulic Engineering Department, River and Harbor Engineering Department, Geotechnical Engineering Department, Materials and Structural Engineering Department, Dam Safety Management Department, Rural Electrification Department and Hydroinformatics Research Center, in addition to Survey and Design Department, Nanjing R & D High Technology Co., Jiangsu Nanshui Civil Engineering Co., Jiangsu Kexing Engineering Construction Supervision Co. and Nanjing Yunda Co.

Established with the support of the strong expertise of NHRI, the State Key Lab of Hydrology-Water Resources and Hydraulic Engineering, the Key Lab of Water Science and Hydraulic Engineering of the Ministry of Water Resources, the Key Lab of Port, Waterway and Sedimentation Engineering of the Ministry of Communications, the Research Center on Hydrology and Water Resources Engineering of the Ministry of Water Resources and the Research Center on New Materials in Hydraulic Structures of the Ministry of Water Resources are stationed in NHRI.

The Institute, with two experiment stations, namely Water Experiment Center at Tiexinqiao of Nanjing and Watershed Hydrology Eco-environment Experiment Station at Chuzhou, covers a total area of over 40 hectares, where over 40 large-size testing halls and various laboratories have been built with over 6,000 sets of various instruments and facilities.

The Institute has storage of 320,000 technical books and periodicals in various languages. 7 national journals are regularly published by the Institute: Hydro-Science and Engineering, The Ocean Engineering, China Ocean Engineering (in English, distributed worldwide), Journal of Geotechnical Engineering, Advances in Water Science, Small Hydropower, and SHP News.

The administrative bodies of China National Committee of International Association of Hydrological Science, the Chinese Ocean Engineering Society, the Rock and Soil Mechanics Committee of the Chinese Hydraulic Engineering Society, the High-Dam Navigation Engineering Committee of the Chinese Hydroelectric Engineering Society and the Small Hydropower Committee of the Chinese Hydroelectric Engineering Society are stationed in the Institute.

Adhering to the working principle of being “Scientific, Practical, Innovative and Dedicated” and the quality control policy of being “Scientific, Standard, Honest and Outstanding”, the Institute has completed a considerable number of important research programs and trained professionals of various research interests for national key projects. From 1978 to 2007, 6,600 and more research reports had been submitted, over 4,500 papers and 290 books published, 32 patents registered, 406 national and provincial prizes awarded, including 69 national-level prizes. In November 2000, the Institute was issued the Quality Certificate of ISO9001. At present, the Institute has the First-Class Credentials of Engineering Supervision for Geo-Hydrology, Hydroelectric Power, Water Conservancy, Port Engineering, River Engineering and Ocean Engineering, the AAA-Class (top-class) Credentials of Consulting Enterprise in Jiangsu Province, the First-Class Credentials for Hydrology and Water Resources Investigation and Assessment, the Credentials for Environmental Planning Assessment, the Second-Class Credentials for Engineering Measurement, Geotechnical Engineering and Construction Engineering, the First-Class Credentials for Waterway Transportation (Harbour Engineering), the First-Class Credentials for Engineering Investigation (Geotechnical Engineering), the Second-Class Credentials for Waterway Transportation (Navigation Structure and Hydraulic Structure of Shipyard), the Second-Class Credentials for Water Sector (Reservoir Projects and River Training), the Second-Class Credentials for Civil Engineering, the Second-Class Credentials for Engineering Investigation and Design (Hydrological Geology Investigation and Engineering Measurement), the Top-Class Credentials for Supervision of Hydraulic Engineering, Waterway Engineering and Highway Engineering, the Contracting Credentials for Foundation Engineering, and for Anti-Corrosion and Thermal Insulation Engineering.

International cooperation ties have been established with a good number of institutions in foreign countries and regions. The Institute is authorized to carry out international trade business. The Hangzhou Regional (Asia and Pacific) Center for Small Hydro Power was jointly established by the Chinese government and UNDP in NHRI.

NHRI is one of the first national institutions authorized to confer Doctorate and Master degrees of related disciplines. At present, the Institute has the postgraduate education programs for Ph. D. of Hydraulic Engineering (First-Class Subject), Ph. D. of Geotechnical Engineering, Hydrology and Water Resources, Hydraulic Structure Engineering, Hydraulics, River Dynamics, Hydroelectric Engineering, and Port, Coast and Offshore Engineering (Second-Class Subject), and M. Sc. of Geotechnical engineering and other 8 disciplines. A Post-Doctorate Working Station in Hydraulic Engineering is under operation.

For 80 years since the founding of the Institute, a large team of renowned water experts including Huang Wenxi, Yan Kai, Dou Guoren and Shen Zhujiang, all academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, have made great contributions to the advancement of water science in China, thus having written an important chapter of the history of the modern Chinese water science.