With the construction of the rule of law and higher education in new China, a group of pioneering law experts from Peking University, Tsinghua University, Yenching University and Fu Jen University, approved by the Central Government, organized the Beijing Academy of Political Science and Law, the first political and legal university in new China, in 1952. At the beginning of the establishment of the school, the teaching and research of international law had already become an important part of the school's legal education. Qian Duansheng, Wang Tieya, Wang Xuan, Zhu Qiwu, Yao Zhaohui, Qian Hua, Zhou Ren and other international law scholars of the older generation laid the foundation stone for the development of the discipline of international law of the China University of Political Science and Law with their profound academic cultivation and broad international vision.

The teaching of international law was resumed after the reopening of the university in 1978, and the Department of International Economic Law was set up in 1989, which was officially renamed as the School of International Law in 2002. More than thirty years have passed by, under the guidance of many forefathers of law, all the teachers and students of the School of International Law have been unflinching in their original intention, and have worked hard to build the School into one of the main bases of national international law research and high-level talent training.

After years of efforts and accumulation, the School has a faculty with reasonable structure, good quality and high degree of internationalization, bringing together a large number of young and middle-aged experts in international law. A number of teachers have been honored with various outstanding titles and awards at national, provincial, ministerial and university levels. Many experts hold important positions in academic organizations at all levels and are employed as experts, consultants and advisors by legislative, judicial and administrative organs at all levels.

On the basis of the three major research institutes of public international law, private international law and international economic law, and guided by the construction of a high-level think tank, the institute has set up the Arbitration Research Institute, and the 111 Intellectual Attraction Base recognized by the State Administration of Foreign Experts - the Research Center for Rule of Law and Global Governance. -Rule of Law and Global Governance Research Center”, ‘International Judicial Assistance Research Base of the International Cooperation Bureau of the Supreme People's Court’, ‘World Trade Organization Research Center’, ‘Country Research Base of the Ministry of Education’, and ‘World Trade Organization Research Center’, ‘National Collaborative Innovation Center for Territorial Sovereignty and Maritime Rights and Interests’ and other research units. In terms of foreign-related rule of law research and talent cultivation, the College has been selected as a “State-level Foreign-Related Rule of Law Research Base” by the Central Committee for Comprehensive Rule of Law, the Propaganda Department, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Commerce and other ministries, as well as the “Innovative Base of Collaborative Cultivation of Foreign-Related Rule of Law Talents” by the Office of the Central Government for Rule of Law and the Ministry of Education. The College is also the “State-level Research Base for Foreign-related Rule of Law” of the Central Office for Rule of Law and the Ministry of Education.

Together with experts, scholars and colleagues in international law from domestic universities, research institutes and practical departments, the Academy has established close collaborative relationships at multiple levels, of various kinds and in multiple forms, making joint efforts for the application and development of the discipline of international law, and contributing to the development of the rule of law relating to foreign affairs of the country and the advancement of domestic and international governance. At the level of international academic exchanges, the Academy has established a multi-form academic seminar exchange mechanism with international organizations and renowned research institutes such as the United Nations United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and the Royal Institute of International Affairs of the United Kingdom, as well as many famous universities and scholars and experts from overseas, and has been invited to give lectures and hold academic lectures in the Academy.

Over the years, the Academy has obtained more than 100 national, provincial and ministerial level vertical research projects, undertaken more than 30 horizontal projects from various ministries and international organizations, published hundreds of monographs (including textbooks) and thousands of papers, and some of its academic achievements have been awarded by the state, provinces and municipalities for their scientific research achievements. The School has sponsored the Chinese academic journal of international law - International Law Review and the English journal of international law - China Journal of Global Governance.