On the morning of September 5th, 2021, the opening ceremony of the 2021 freshmen of Beijing Jiaotong University was held in the West Playground. Party Secretary Huang Taiyan, President Wang Jiaqiong, Liaison Officer of Party Construction in Universities directly under the Ministry of Education, former Standing Committee Member and Vice President Chen Guangju of Beijing Normal University, Deputy Secretary and Vice President Sun Shouguang of Party Committee, Deputy Secretaries of Party Committee Guo Hai, Wen Haitao and Xu Anguo, Vice Presidents Gao Yan, Yu Zujun and Zhao Peng, Standing Committee Member of Party Committee Lan Xiaoxia, Assistant Presidents Wu Qiang and Zheng Guangtian attended the opening ceremony. Delegation of teachers, the “Most Beautiful Railway Science and Technology Worker” in 2021, Professor Nie Lei, a famous teacher in Beijing colleges and universities, Professor Zhao Yao, a member of the Discipline Review Group of the State Council and winner of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, Professor Xu Longhe, a winner of the National Science and Technology Progress Second Prize in 2021, responsible staff of all units and all freshmen of 2021 with their class teachers attended the opening ceremony.

At first, President Wang Jiaqiong expressed warm welcome and heartfelt congratulations to the new students. With the theme of Great Learning, he led the students to start a brand-new journey of studying. At an innovative process of deepening understanding and exploring the field of study in the university, in his view, students should cherish the strong academic atmosphere and good learning conditions provided by the university, always keep the spirit of seeking knowledge and exploring, constantly improve their learning and research capabilities, which can lay a solid and broad foundation for future development. In addition, he hoped that the students can inherit the fine qualities of the young people of Beijing Jiaotong University, such as courage, self-improvement, perseverance and silent dedication, and constantly cultivate the life details of respecting morality and being good at the university stage. More importantly, students should inherit and practice the spiritual pursuit of the generation of Beijing Jiaotong University "the unity of knowledge and action, serving the motherland". It is what every student of Beijing Jiaotong University should do to closely combine personal development and value realization with national demand and social progress, especially to aim at the national strategy and key core technology fields in the direction of study and research, and to accumulate strength for overcoming the bottleneck of national scientific and technological development in the future. Finally, President Wang wished the students the right to choose the future development in their own hands, keep forging ahead along the goal, and have a full, wonderful and memorable campus time.

Xu Anguo presided over the opening ceremony and introduced the basic situation of 2021 freshmen.

Professor Nie Lei spoke on behalf of all the teachers. She hoped that the freshmen will not only make progress in their studies, but also make friends and exercise, and meanwhile develop the good habit of independent thinking. More importantly, students should be down-to-earth, remain modest, face various of adversities calmly. Only in this way, they can grow their talents and accumulate experience in layers of experience.

Next, the student representative An Ruolin, a 2019 master graduate student of the School of Electronic and Information Engineering, spoke on behalf of the students. The sentiment of studying in Beijing Jiaotong University for eight years led to her speech, especially the experience of taking part in the chorus in the General Assembly Square to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China（CPC）was unforgettable. She encouraged the students to contribute to the society, always remind the initiative mind and strive to be a responsible BJU student.

The leaders and teacher representatives of our university seated on the rostrum wore school badges for the freshmen representatives. This badge not only represents the identity of Beijing Jiaotong university, but also carries the glorious tradition of “When you drink water, never shall you forget its source；Love your motherland and bring honor to your almamater”.

Then Liu Yanjun, a Tujia freshman from Hubei Province, Gao Chenchen, the youngest（15-year-old）freshman, Li Zhishuo, a freshman from Henan Province, and Lei Bixiao, whose father has been rooted in the railway grassroots for many years, jointly recited “the Dream of Becoming a Talent, the Dream of Beijing Jiaotong University and the Dream of Chinese People”on behalf of the freshmen of 2021. Their passionate attitude, forceful voice and affectionate language expressed the freshmen's reverence for over 100-year history of our university and their determination to be inspirational.

All 2021 freshmen solemnly read the oath and promised to be a member of Beijing Jiaotong University：“We will uphold the motto of ‘The unity of knowledge and action’, carry forward the tradition of ‘When you drink water, never shall you forget its source；Love your motherland and bring honor to your almamater’. We will be brave to be the pioneers and devotees in the forefront of the times, and work hard to realize ‘the Dream of Becoming a Talent, the Dream of Beijing Jiaotong University and the Dream of Chinese People’.

In 2021, a total of 9,613 new students were enrolled in our university, including 614 doctoral students, 4,063 master students, 4,114 undergraduates (including 600 in Weihai campus), 550 second bachelor degree students, 31 candidates for Xinjiang Cooperation Program (matriculation) and 241 international students from 68 countries. Among them, the ratio of male to female graduate students is 1.20:1, and there are 283 minority students in 22 ethnic groups. The ratio of male to female among undergraduates is 5:3, with an average age of 17.96 years. Among freshmen, the oldest is 33 years old, the youngest is 15 years old, and there are 551 ethnic minorities distributed in 34 ethnic groups.