Zhongnan University of Economics and Law (ZUEL) is a national key university directly under the administration of the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China. It is one of the universities to be admitted into the "211 Project" (the major project sponsored and funded by the Chinese government aimed at constructing top 100 key universities in China as a national priority in the 21st century) and “985 Project Innovation Platform for Dominant Discipline”. After more than 60 years’ development since its foundation in 1948, the university has established economics, law and management as its core disciplines with coordinative development of 6 other disciplines in philosophy, literature, history, science, engineering, and arts. In October 2012, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Finance, and the Hubei Provincial Government signed a formal agreement to make a concerted effort to develop ZUEL.

ZUEL has two campuses in Wuhan. One is located by the picturesque Nanhu Lake and the other is next to the historic Yellow Crane Tower. At present, the university has a total enrollment of more than 20,000 full-time undergraduates, 6,000 graduate students and 700 doctoral students. It consists of 19 schools, offering 54 undergraduate programs, 104 postgraduate programs (15 first-grade disciplines and 89 second-grade disciplines) and 57 doctoral programs (6 first-grade disciplines and 51 second-grade disciplines), 15 professional master’s degree programs and 5 post-doctoral research centers. It is also granted the right to admit overseas students and students from Hong Kong, Macao and Tai Wan at all levels. ZUEL has 4 national key disciplines and 1 national key nurturing discipline, 10 first-level key disciplines of Hubei Province, 1 key base for humanities and social sciences research at the level of the Ministry of Education and 1 innovative research team development program at the level of the Ministry of Education, 3 national laboratory teaching demonstration centers, 97 teaching and practicing bases, 2 experimental areas for training innovative talents, and 1 off-campus practical education base. Up to date, the university has 8 state-level characteristic specialties, 5 state-level excellent teams of faculty, 7 provincial excellent teams of faculty, 16 provincial well-known majors, 16 state-level quality open courses, 6 national bilingual courses, 31 provincial quality courses, 68 school-level quality courses and 2 state-level excellent textbooks.

ZUEL believes that the greatest assets are its people. ZUEL has abundant qualified teachers. The university is home to 2,600 faculties and staff. Among 1,200 teachers (300 professors and 500 associate professors), 1 professor is honored with the title of “Yangtze River Scholar”，23 received the title of “Chutian Scholar” of Hubei province and 47 professors granted “Government Allowance” by the State Council. Since 2000, there have been 2 winners of “Outstanding Young University Teacher Prize”, 9 admitted into the “Excellent Young Teachers Program” of the Education Ministry, 24 selected by the “New Century Outstanding Talents Program” of the Education Ministry, and 6 listed in national “Millions of Talents Program”.

Since 2000, the faculty have accomplished more than 800 key research projects at the national and provincial level, among which, over 300 projects were supported by National Social Science Foundation of China, National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Key Project of the Ministry of Education, and another over 30 projects were supported by the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Justice and so on. In addition, more than 20,000 research results have been achieved, including over 900 monographs, 1000 textbooks, 17000 papers, together with 600 publications in foreign countries.

ZUEL adheres to the principle of combing scientific researches with modernization, aiming at bringing into full play the value-orientation of philosophy and social science, offering advice to the government and giving serve for the society. Its developmental strategy is “towering from earth to sky” (i.e.: going deep in fundamental researches and being practical in applied researches). The university makes great efforts to nurture a think tank in the field of economics and law, providing great intelligent support for national intellectual property strategy, legal system and economic development.

On the way to internalization, ZUEL has established world-wide cooperative researches and academic exchange programs with universities and research institutions of more than 20 countries and regions in America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. More than 400 overseas students from over 70 countries are studying in ZUEL.

ZUEL emphasizes teaching quality and talents cultivation and establishes its scientific education ideas as “being students-based”, “being quality-oriented”, “winning by characteristics”, “developing coordinately” etc. The university highlights “innovation, integration and internationalization” as its features of talents cultivation, establishes “giving prominence to characteristics and striving to be one of the top universities” as its mission and accordingly develops its talents cultivation modes. For one thing, ZUEL offers special subjects, including Business English, Legal English, Jural News, Economic News, Judicial Accounting, Economic Ethics, Law and Economics, and Economic Investigation etc. For the other thing, it initiates 3 compulsory common courses for nation-wide universities, including General Theory of Economics, General Theory of Laws and General Theory of Management, which effectively promote the interaction and integration between disciplines of economics, law and management. In order to improve students’ overall abilities, especially their innovative capability, scientific spirits and team work and create a good cultural atmosphere on campus, ZUEL not only attaches great importance to its classroom teaching quality, but also holds, assists or participates in a series of competitions for undergraduate students at both regional and national level, in which our students achieved excellent results.

ZUEL has cultivated more than 300,000 students and has a good reputation for its highly skilled graduates. The employment rate of graduates from ZUEL has remained at a high level over the years. A large number of graduates have grown into senior leaders, outstanding scholars and eminent entrepreneurs, taking a lead in the society.