China University of Political Science and Law

China University of Political Science and Law is a priority development university under the “211 Project,” distinguished by its strengths in law and also offering political science, discipline inspection and supervision studies, economics, management, literature, history, philosophy, education, science and engineering. It receives priority development under the “985 Project Innovation Platform for Advantageous Disciplines,” “2011 Program” and “111 Program” for university discipline innovation and talent introduction, and is a national “Double First-Class” university. Directly administered by the Ministry of Education and jointly developed by the ministry and Beijing Municipality, it is accelerating its development into a world-class university based on its positioning as the national center for political science and law education in the new era. It has campuses in Haidian and Changping, Beijing.

Its predecessor was Beijing College of Political Science and Law, formed in 1952 by merging the departments of political science and law at Peking University, Tsinghua University and Yenching University with Fu Jen University’s Department of Sociology. Mao Zedong personally wrote its name in calligraphy. It became a designated national key university in 1960. In 1982, the CPC Central Committee explicitly proposed “preparing to establish China University of Political Science and Law and making it the center of political science and law education in China.” In 1983, Beijing College of Political Science and Law merged with the Central School for Political and Legal Cadres to establish China University of Political Science and Law. Deng Xiaoping wrote its name in calligraphy in 1986. On May 3, 2017, President Xi Jinping visited the university and delivered an important speech, giving rich meaning and major significance to the development of a national center for political science and law education in the new era.

Known as “China’s highest institution of legal education,” the university has trained over 300000 outstanding people in various fields over more than 70 years. It is a principal force in national legal education and the training of rule-of-law professionals. It has participated in almost all national legislative activities since its founding, leading innovation in legal education, legal theory and rule-of-law thinking, and representing the country in international academic exchanges in law and exchanges of legal culture. Its multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary education has also supplied society with many high-level humanities and social science professionals, making it a growing force in talent cultivation for politics, economics, society and culture.

The university has 20,697 students, 1,054 full-time teachers and 175 instances of national, provincial or ministerial high-level talent recognition. It has 27 teaching units and 32 undergraduate programs; 6 first-level doctoral degree authorizations, 2 professional doctoral degree authorizations and 42 second-level doctoral degree authorizations; 16 first-level master’s degree authorizations, 15 professional master’s degree authorizations and 77 second-level master’s degree authorizations; and 4 postdoctoral research stations.

Its 27 teaching units include the School of Jurisprudence; School of Civil, Commercial and Economic Law; School of International Law / School of Foreign-Related Rule of Law; School of Criminal Justice; School of Political Science and Public Administration (MPA Education Center); Business School (MBA Education Center); School of Humanities; Law School; School of Foreign Languages; Central Training School for Political and Legal Personnel; School of Continuing Education (School of Online Education); School of International Education / Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Education Center; Department of Science and Technology Teaching / School of Legal Information Management; Department of Physical Education; School of Sociology; China-EU School of Law; School of Marxism; International Confucian Academy; Guangming School of Journalism and Communication; School of Discipline Inspection and Supervision; Training School; School of Comparative Law (Institute of Regional and Country Law); School of National Security (Institute for Governing Xinjiang According to Law); and Hainan International School / Institute of Rule of Law for the Hainan Free Trade Port.

Its 32 undergraduate programs are law; discipline inspection and supervision; intellectual property; investigation studies; political science and public administration; administrative management; international politics; public affairs management; business administration; economics; international business; financial engineering; philosophy; Chinese language and literature; Chinese language; ideological and political education; sociology; social work; applied psychology; English; legal English; German; French; translation and interpreting; journalism; internet and new media; mathematics and applied mathematics; information management and information systems; information and computing science; social sports guidance and management; artificial intelligence; and politics, philosophy and economics (PPE). Law, political science and public administration, and sociology are national distinctive programs. The university has 6 first-level academic doctoral degree authorizations, 2 professional doctoral degree authorizations and 42 second-level academic doctoral degree authorizations; 16 first-level academic master’s degree authorizations, 15 professional master’s degree authorizations and 77 second-level academic master’s degree authorizations; and 4 postdoctoral research stations. Law is a national key first-level discipline, and political science is a Beijing key first-level discipline. Several first-level disciplines participated in and appeared in the Ministry of Education’s discipline evaluation, with law rated A+.

The university is an “academic stronghold in China’s humanities and social sciences,” particularly in legal research, and was the first university legislative liaison point of the Legislative Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress. It has established a dedicated Institute for the Study of Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law. Its existing research bodies include a unit under cultivation for national high-end think-tank development and 1 national human rights education and training base (Institute for Human Rights / Institute of Contemporary Rule of Law); 1 national foreign-related rule-of-law research base (Institute of Foreign-Related Rule of Law); 2 Ministry of Education key humanities and social science research bases (Institute of Procedural Law and Institute of Legal History); 1 Ministry of Education key laboratory (Institute of Evidence Science); a Ministry of Education philosophy and social science laboratory and 1 Beijing university philosophy and social science innovation center (Institute of Data and Rule of Law); a Beijing philosophy and social science research base, a Ministry of Education youth rule-of-law education base, a Ministry of Education teacher rule-of-law education research center and 1 Beijing education rule-of-law research base (Institute of Law-Based Government); 1 directly affiliated unit of the Ministry of Education’s National University Committee for the Collation and Study of Ancient Books (Institute for the Collation and Study of Ancient Legal Texts); 1 Beijing key laboratory (Institute of Artificial Intelligence Law); 1 university base of the Beijing Research Center for Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era; 1 Beijing university collaborative innovation center for the study of the theory of socialism with Chinese characteristics; 17 high-level research bases jointly developed with national bodies at provincial or ministerial level and above, including the Supreme People’s Court and Supreme People’s Procuratorate; and 6 formally established research institutions, including the Institute of Comparative Law, Institute of Law and Economics, and Institute of Globalization and Global Issues.

The university comprehensively implements an international development strategy and continually improves its internationalization. It has established regular cooperation and exchange platforms with 323 renowned universities, research institutes and international organizations in 62 countries and regions. It has initiated China-Central Asia, China-Brazil and China-ASEAN legal education alliances, developing a network for exchanges and mutual learning among legal civilizations across Asia, Europe, Latin America and other regions. As a flagship of China-EU cooperation on the rule of law, its China-EU School of Law is the largest and highest-level intergovernmental cooperation project between China and the EU in legal education. It also works with renowned overseas universities such as Washington University in St. Louis in the United States and the University of Ottawa in Canada to implement multiple Sino-foreign cooperative education programs. It has jointly established three overseas Confucius Institutes in the United Kingdom, Romania and Barbados, using language and culture to strengthen the public foundation for dialogue among legal civilizations. It regularly hosts major academic events such as the “Conference on Exchanges and Mutual Learning among Legal Civilizations,” promoting inclusive coexistence among different legal systems and civilizations, supporting a community with a shared future for humanity, and helping build a fairer and more reasonable global governance system.

Taking service to the nation as its highest pursuit, the university is developing a strategic structure of “one center and multiple bases.” It has established the “Center for the Study and International Communication of Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law” and substantive research institutions in nationally strategic locations including the capital, Xiong’an, Xinjiang, Hainan and Sichuan: the Capital Research Institute, Xiong’an Research Institute, Institute for Governing Xinjiang According to Law, Institute of Rule of Law for the Hainan Free Trade Port and Sichuan Research Institute. These support Chinese modernization within the rule of law. Anchored in its 15th Five-Year strategic plan, it will continue strengthening its role as the national center for political science and law education in the new era, make the center for exchanges and mutual learning between Chinese and foreign legal civilizations a key part of that role, and accelerate its development into a world-class university.

The university’s motto is: Cultivate Virtue, Understand the Law, Investigate Things and Serve the Public.

Its educational positioning is: the national center for political science and law education in the new era.

Its educational philosophy is: build on scholarship, strengthen through talent, flourish through quality, develop distinctive strengths and govern according to law.

Its educational tradition is: loyalty and responsibility, hard work, truth-seeking and pragmatism, and dedication to law and progress.

Its educational mission is: educate people for the Party, cultivate talent for the country and contribute to legal civilization.

Its talent cultivation goal is: uphold both virtue and law, understand the law and practice it diligently, and develop pillars of the nation with firm ideals and convictions, a strong commitment to family and country, noble moral character, solid theoretical foundations and outstanding practical abilities.

Following national education policy and the principles of higher education, the university will carry forward its traditions, keep pace with the times, and strive to become a world-class university committed to building a law-based China.