Hunan University has been active at academic exchanges, and has established academic cooperation or academic exchange programs with over 160 oversea universities and research institutes across the world since 1998.[45] It has been honorably listed among "China's Top 10" for four consecutive years by the Ministry of Education in terms of placing the joint international education as a top priority program.[46] Hunan University is one of the top universities in China to form the BRICS Network University, a network of the BRICS member countries' higher education institutions engaged in cooperation and joining the BRICS Network University.[47][48]