Sanctioned by the Ministry of Education of China, Shenzhen University was founded in 1983. The Central Government, the Ministry of Education, and the local government attached great importance to higher education in Shenzhen Special Economic Zone. Since its inception, the University has been committed to education reforms with regards to developing scholarship programs and work-study programs, adopting a modern academic credit system, providing students with a wider range of job opportunities, improving the quality of student services, and introducing a modern tenure-track system. Many reform policies have been recognized as breaking new ground on the scene of Chinese higher education.
Since its foundation 36 years ago, Shenzhen University has closely followed the pace of Shenzhen Special Economic Zone and has been committed to reform and rapid development. The Universityadheres to the motto of "self-reliance, self-discipline, self-improvement" and strives to become "the Special Economic Zone University, the Window University, and the Experimental University." The University is committed to high-quality social service in the pursuit of excellence in teaching, learning, and research. It is a comprehensive university which offers a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate programs and provides leading-edge facilities and excellent services to students, faculty and staff.
The University has been fully committed to supporting research excellence. In 2018, the University budgeted more than 1.1 billion yuan in research.
The University proactively promotes "internationalization in talents training, research cooperation, faculty development, and cultural exchanges." It has worked with 256 overseas universities to provide high-quality student exchange programs, joint degree programs, research collaborations, and a variety of other forms of international collaboration and partnerships.