Southwest University of Political Science and Law (SWUPL) (the predecessor being Southwest Institute of Political Science and Law) was founded in 1953 on the basis of Department of Political Science & Law in Southwest University of People’s Revolution by merging Chongqing University Law School, School of Political Science & Law from Sichuan University, Department of Law from Chongqing School of Finance & Economy, Guizhou University Law School and Yunnan University Law School during the restructuring of the higher education institutions in 1950s. In 1978, the University was accredited as one of the first group of key universities by the State Council and was placed under the Ministry of Justice to enroll students from all over China. In 1995, the former Southwest Institute of Political Science & Law was renamed Southwest University of Political Science & Law with the approval of State Education Commission and Ministry of Justice. In February 2000, the University was placed under Chongqing Municipal Government on account of China’s educational reform. SWUPL has since been under the supervision of the State Council and Chongqing Municipality.

   The University occupies an area of 100 hectres (over one million square metres), consisting of Shapingba Campus and Yubei Campus. The University has 1069 faculty members, of whom 462 are regular teachers, 242 are professors, 19 ranks among the honorary specialists special academic subsidies awarded by the State Council. The student population on the campus reaches more than 20,000, including 1,100 working for their doctorate or master’ s degrees, more than 10,000 undergraduates or those working for their second degrees in law and other disciplines, more than 8,000 adult education students and more than 1,000 specialized vocational training students.

   Law Program has long been the strength of the University. In July 2003, it was designated as the first group of Primary Key Programs of Law to confer the doctoral degrees by the Evaluation Committee of Academic Degrees of the State Council, which involves the conferring of doctoral degrees of law in any secondary doctoral degree programs (for example, Civil Law & Business Law, Criminal Law, Procedural Law, Economic Law, Philosophy of Law, Legal History and others). In addition, the University has 17 master degree programs (with 36 orientations), including Philosophy of law, Legal History, Criminal Law, Civil Law and Business Law, Economic Law, Procedural Law, Administrative Law, International Law, Environmental Law, Juris Master, Politics, Marxist Philosophy, Marxism and Ideological Education, Journalism, National Economics, Foreign Linguistics and Applied Linguistics, Public Administration. Up to now, the University has grown to be one of the most nationally influential legal education bases for the advanced legal personnel training, the most significant and most comprehensive institution of higher learning in the Western Region of China.

   The University has in recent years undertaken more than 100 state research projects, more than 1,000 monographs have been published and translated, more than 5,000 theses published. There are three key social science and humanities research bases of ministerial authorization (The Centre for Research on Drug Related Crimes and Prevention, Legal Study Institute of Market Transaction and China’s Rural Economic Law Research Center), and 22 other research institutes.

   “Modern Law Science” (the University law journal) ranks among State-level key academic periodicals. In January 2003, it won “China’s 100 Best Journals” award in the 2^nd National Appraisal of the State-level Periodicals.

   The University library has a collection of more than one million books, 2000 kinds of academic journals. In addition, the University has established academic and resources exchange programs with 500 domestic institutions of higher learning and more than 20 institutions abroad.

   Since its founding, the University has established close ties with institutions of higher learning from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, Thailand, and the United States of America and institutions of higher learning from Hong Kong and Taiwan. Up to now, more than 300 teachers and students have been sent abroad to further their studies, 1,000 overseas students has been enrolled and 3,000 volumes of academic journals and other resources have been exchanged.

   In the past fifty years, over 100,000 specialized students with various levels of degrees and diplomas or certificates have graduated from the University. In the new millennium, the University is determined to assume the historic mission as a pioneer in the educational reforms and development so as to make herself a first-class and world-renowned comprehensive university, especially in the field of social sciences and humanities.