Shandong University is the Double First Class University on the national list of elite universities in China. The university was founded in 1901, the second national university in the Chinese modern history, but the first founded in compliance with the university’s own charter. Shandong University is therefore well regarded as the “leading university for the modern Chinese higher education”.

Over a hundred more years in the university’s history, law education has always been featured for the brilliance of the university. Back to the 1920s, Shandong college of law was the one of six University colleges. Up to the 1980s, after a brief period of closure, the law education resumed and quickly developed. In 1980, the University admitted students to study law for two years and started B.A.in law program a year after. In 1983, the Law Department of SDU was founded and headed by the Dean, the late professor Qiao Wei. In 1994, the law department was formally changed to Law School. Professor Xu Xianming became the first Dean of the law school. Under the leadership of Qiao Wei, Xu Xianming and other deans, generations of SDU law-schoolers have worked incredibly hard to achieve the success and excellence of the school. Up to date, the law school has been one of the best in China.

The Law School has in China the Class-A academic privilege in offering Ph.D., M.A., and J.M. programs, and provide scholarships for postdoctoral legal studies. The law school has numerous national and local centers, research and training bases or platforms, which include the University Human Right Center (a.k.a. the National Base for Human Right Education and Training), the University and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate Joint Center for Prosecutorial Theory Studies, Chinese Law Association Center/Training Base for Japanese and Korean Law Studies, the Shandong Law Association Center for Legal Studies, the University Research Center for Political Culture and Constitutionalism Studies, the Standing Committee of Shandong Provincial People’s Congress Research Base for Local Legislation Studies, the Shandong Provincial Research Base for Copyright Studies, and the National training base for the National Excellent Legal Talents. In 2017, law school was included into the University’s prioritized “Academic Peak-Mounting Plan”. The Law School has sponsored the law journal on Human Rights Studies, and launched book series on Jurisprudence Studies and Public Law Studies, which have generated broad academic

attention, massive social effects and noteworthy praises from the legal academia.

The law school currently has 70 full-time faculty members, in which 30 are professors, with one professor elected as the Most Outstanding National Jurist, three State of Council Jurists, one University Mount Tai Scholar, two University-wide most outstanding scholars, three Qilu Scholars, seven outstanding future scholars, and many adjunct professors featuring nationally and internationally renowned scholars and legal professionals.

The law school has a total of 2000 students in Ph.D., M.A., and B.A. programs. The majority of students are from the mainland, but a significant number are from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao and foreign countries. The educational goal of the law school is set to help students to become high-quality legal talents, who have solid and well-structured legal knowledge, outstanding legal practical capabilities, excellent humanity senses and professional legal ethics, and have the international vision and familiarity with the international laws. The alumni have proved the success of the law school’s education by their excellent achievements at home and abroad, in academia and legal professions.

The law school vigorously supports the academic studies and the international horizon of the legal education. The Law school has kept close academic cooperative relations with the top law schools in China and frequent academic exchanges with tens of universities and research institutes in U.S., E.U, Japan, Korea and etc.. The law school sets aside funding to support students to study abroad and increase their competence on the international market.

In 2016, the SDU Qingdao campus formally and officially opened. Law school was among the six schools relocated in 2017 into the Qingdao campus, and at the same time kept several programs intact on the Jinan campus. The law school has ever since gained unprecedented developing opportunities. In the June of 2019, Xu Xianming, the founder of the law school and the leading national legal education policy-maker, became the honorary dean of the law school.

Most importantly, at the new turning point of law school development, faculty members and students alike are motivated and determined to work harder together to pursue for the law school to grow from better to the best.