Suzhou Polytechnic Institute of Agriculture (SPIA) dates back to its forerunner, Suzhou Government Agricultural School, founded in 1907 (the 33rd year of Guangxu's reign of Qing Dynasty).
In 2001, the school was upgraded to a vocational institution of higher learning and hence got its current name. In 2008, SPIA was approved to enter the list of “Demonstrative Higher Vocational Institutions of Jiangsu Province” under-construction. Establishments on SPIA campus include the Demonstrative Training Base for Rural Labor Shift under the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, and the Suzhou Training Center under the Ministry of Agriculture. According to the National Chronicle of Horticulture, SPIA's horticulture education dates back to 1912, being the earliest to offer this program among its counterparts in China. SPIA is hence renowned for being the cradle of vocational education in horticulture and gardening in modern Chinese history.
The institute consists of the Main Campus, Xiangcheng Campus and Dongshan Campus, covering a total area of over 60 hectares. There are currently 37 diploma programs offered by 10 teaching units, i.e. School of Horticultural Technology, School of Landscape Engineering, School of Economics & Management, School of Environmental Engineering, Smart Agriculture School, School of Food Technology, School of International Business, School of Continuing Education, Center for Quality Education, and Department of Physical Education.
Students admitted to the institute are from 15 provinces in the country, with a total of over 8000 full-time students on campus. The institute has 438 faculty and staff members, including 138 with senior professional titles, 182 with master’s or doctorate degrees, and more than 30 ranked as highly qualified personnel at the provincial or state levels. SPIA has 2 “Provincial Excellent Teaching Teams”, 6 “Provincial Brand-name Majors or Featured Majors”, one “National Quality Course”, 9 “Provincial Quality Courses”, and one “National Quality Course Book” and 12 “Provincial Quality Course Books” compiled by SPIA. International exchanges and cooperation have been heartily carried out between SPIA and 18 sister schools from 8 countries.