The concept of "world-class university" has been there for some time, and everyone wants a world-class university, and no country feels it can do without one. This battle to develop world-class universities lies not only in the gained status but also in the symbolic role of such universities. Universities exist mainly for research and dissemination of knowledge, which have become critical drivers of economic growth. For this reason, world-class research universities are recognized as central institutions in the 21st century economies. This recognition comes with pressure for universities to rethink their research activities and with the need to raise their research status to that of internationally accepted world-class universities. However, in order to attain the world-class research status, there is a need to sustain the efforts being put in place at both national and university levels. This study analyzed university data over nine years, from 2008 to 2016. It examined how Nanjing Agricultural University has strived to sustain its efforts towards attaining world-class research status. The results reveal that consistency and sustainability have resulted in excellence in research and increased research production. The conclusion is that the sustainability of the efforts significantly increases research production and excellence.