China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL) is well known for legal academics and enjoys a distinguished reputation in politics, economics, management, arts, history, philosophy, education, as well as disciplines related to engineering and sciences. It is one of the China's top universities listed under the Double First-Class University Plan, Project 211 and Project 985 Strength Discipline Innovation Platform. CUPL is also listed in Project 2011 and Plan 111, i.e., the Program of Introducing Talents of Discipline to Universities. CUPL is a prestigious university in China under the direct leadership of the State Ministry of Education (MOE), and co-sponsored by  MOE and the People's Government of Beijing Municipality. Now, CUPL is focusing on developing itself into a world-class university with world-class disciplines. Located in Beijing, CUPL has two campuses, the Haidian campus and the Changping campus.

CUPL's predecessor (The Peking College of Political Science and Law - founded in 1952), combined the departments of law, political science and sociology of Peking University, Tsinghua University, Yenching University, and Fu Jen Catholic University. The then Chinese leader Mr. Mao Zedong, donated his own handwriting of the school's name. The college was originally located at the Beach Charm in Beijing and moved to Xueyuan Road in 1954. In 1960, it became the key national college designated by China. During the Cultural Revolution, the school was suspended and was later reopened in 1978. In 1983, it merged with the Central Cadres' College of Science, it was subsequently renamed the China University of Political Science and Law. Then Chinese leader Mr. Deng Xiaoping, donated his own handwriting of the school's name. Subsequently, three divisions emerged: an undergraduate school, a postgraduate school, and a school of advanced training. Later the school of advanced training was renamed the Central Leadership Institute of Politics and Law and operated independently for a certain period. Then in 2000, the independent school was re-incorporated into CUPL. On May 3, 2017, President Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and Chairman of the Central Military Commission of China, visited CUPL and delivered an important speech. President Xi's speech is viewed as a guideline and roadmap for the development of CUPL.

CUPL is praised as the “the most prestigious law school for legal talent cultivation in China”. Over the past 70 years or so, CUPL has educated and trained more than 300,000 talents for the State. It is the main force of national legal education and legal personnel training. Since the establishment of CUPL, the university has participated in almost all legislative activities in China and has assumed a leading role in the innovation of national legal education, legal theory and legal thought. CUPL has played a key role in representing the country in international legal academic and legal cultural exchanges. At the same time, the multi-disciplinary and interdisciplinary talent training model has provided a large number of high-level specialists in humanities and social science for society, and CUPL has become a new force in the training of talents in fields such as politics, economics, social sciences and culture in China.

There are 18,442 students in the university, including 9630 undergraduates, 8053 graduate students, and 759 students from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan of the P.R.C. and foreign countries. There are 1058 faculty responsible for teaching and research, including 718 with senior-titled positions, as well as 320 and 884 supervisors for doctoral and master's students respectively. Among them, doctoral and master's degree holders accounted for 87.7% of the faculty.

CUPL comprises 21 teaching units, including the Law School, Civil, Commercial and Economic Law School, School of International Law, School of Criminal Justice, School of Political Science and Public Administration, Business School, School of Humanities, School of Foreign Studies, School of Marxism, School of Sociology, Guangming School of Journalism and Communication, China-EU School of Law (CESL), School of Juris Master, International Confucian Academy, School of International Education, School of Continuing Education, Department of Science and Technology / School of Information Management for Law, Department of Physical Education and CUPL Training School.

CUPL offers 27 undergraduate programs, including Law, Science of Investigation, Political Science and Administration, Administration Management, International Politics, Public Service Administration, Business Administration, Economics, International Business, Financial Engineering, Philosophy, Chinese Linguistic and Literature, Chinese, Education in Ideology and Politics, Sociology, Social Work, Applied Psychology, English Language and Literature, German Language and Literature, French Language and Literature, Translation and Interpreting, Journalism, Networks and New Media, Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, and Information Management and Information Systems (Rule of Law Information Management), and Information and Computer Science, of which Law, Political Science and Administration as well as the Sociology are national-level featured programs.

CUPL offers 39 doctoral programs, 77 academic master degree programs, 11 professional master degree programs and four post-doctoral research programs. Law, Political Science, Marxist Theory and Theoretical Economics are the authorized primary Doctoral specialties; Philosophy, Applied Economics, Sociology, Psychology, Foreign Languages and Literature, Journalism, Chinese History, Business Administration, and Public Administration are the authorized primary Master's specialties, of which Law is a first-degree national key discipline and politics is a first-degree key discipline in Beijing. Evidence Science has been selected into the List of Advanced Discipline in Beijing's Universities and Colleges. In the fourth round of the China Disciplines Assessment, nine first degree disciplines of CUPL were assessed and rated by  MOE. The discipline of law was rated A+.

CUPL is the important research hub of the research of humanities and social sciences, especially for law, and is the only “legislative contact point” set up by the Legislative Affairs Committee of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) in higher education institutions. CUPL hosts the Institute of Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law,  one philosophy and social sciences laboratory of the MOE, i.e., the Laboratory of Data on the Rule of Law,one national high-end think tank incubator, and one national human rights education and training base, i.e., the Institute of Human Rights. The university is also home to two key research bases for humanities and social sciences and one key laboratory established by the MOE, i.e., the Procedural Law Research Institute, the Legal History Research Institute, and the Institute of Evidence Law and Forensic Science. The School of Law-based Government of CUPL is a Beijing Municipal Key Research Base for Philosophy and Social Sciences, a Juvenile Legal Education Base, a Teachers' Legal Education Base, as well as a National Training Base for Law Faculty of the MOE.

The Institute of Chinese Ancient Legal Documents of CUPL is a research institute under direct contact of the Ancient Documents Research Committee of the National Institute of Higher Education of  MOE. Moreover, CUPL boasts the Beijing Municipal Research Center for Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era, the Collaborative Innovation Center for Research on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in Beijing Universities, and nine high-level research bases co-established by CUPL and state agencies above the provincial and ministerial level, such as the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP). In addition, the university has nine important research institutes, such as the College of Comparative Law, School of Law and Economics, and the Globalization and Global Issues Institute, as well as twelve self-funded research institutes.

CUPL has a fully-fledged strategy for internationalization to consistently enhance its international engagement. Each year, thousands of teachers and students travel abroad for international exchanges and studies, and hundreds of long-term and short-term foreign experts are invited to give lectures at CUPL. And the pattern of training international talents at the university has taken shape. CUPL collaborates with 297 distinguished universities, institutions and international organizations in 58 countries and regions. It participates in the Eurasia-Pacific UNINET, Law Schools Global League, China-Central Eastern European Countries Higher Education Institutions Consortium, Asian Law Institute and other international organizations. It initiated the Mainland - Hong Kong - Macao Legal Education Alliance. The China-EU School of Law is the most comprehensive Sino-EU joint program in the field of legal education. The Joint Collaboration of the School Operating Double Master Program in International Law between Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL) and CUPL is a high-end platform for Sino-US cooperation in legal education. CUPL has co-established three Confucius Institutes in the UK, Romania, and Barbados.

CUPL's Motto: Houde, Mingfa, Gewu, Zhigong (literally keeping integrity, mastering the law, looking for truth and serving the public).

CUPL will continue to follow the national education policy and the rules of higher education, carry forward the tradition while keeping pace with changes. CUPL will also continue to develop its international reputation - striving for excellence in openness, innovation, multiple disciplines and international reach.

Notes: statistics about students and teachers were updated in September 2023 and other statistics were updated in January 2024 .