In November 2010, the eight universities mentioned above signed the "Framework Convention on the Education of Excellent Talents" () at Tongji University, Shanghai, China. Since then, the League started to boost comprehensive cooperation among member universities holding the principle of Pursue Excellence and Share the Resources. On November 30, 2010, Chongqing University declared its participants in the League, which expanded the League's coverage to 9 universities. In December 2010, the League was officially called E9 League because of this.
