Shenzhen University (SZU) is a full-time comprehensive university accredited by the State Council of the People's Republic of China and is funded by Shenzhen local government. SZU was founded in 1983 and undertook its first enrollment the very same year at what Deng Xiaoping called "Shenzhen Speed".

Located on the picturesque coastline of Shenzhen Bay in South China, SZU's 1.44 square kilometer campus, which boasts its own lake, spreads across rolling hills covered with lichee trees, an abundance of green space and works of art.

China's Ministry of Education (MOE) attached great importance on the initial establishment of SZU in the Special Economic Zone, and appointed Professor Zhang Wei, the former vice-president of Tsinghua University, and Academician of the China Science Academy and the China Engineering Academy, as the first president of the university.

SZU now has 22 colleges, providing 54 undergraduate programs, 66 Master programs and doctorate degrees in three faculties spanning eight programs. It has seven key science and engineering laboratories and four humanities and social sciences research centers.

The university faculty is noted for its high qualifications, multi-academic background and innovative spirit. It is comprised of 1,100 teachers and researchers; 253 professors, 568 associate professors, of which 443 have doctorate degrees. It has one academician in the Chinese Academy of Engineering, six academicians in both the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering and 37 supervisors of doctoral candidates.

SZU library proudly holds a collection of roughly 3.16 million items, comprising 2.12 million journals and books and 1.04 million e-books in Chinese and foreign languages. In addition, some 40,000 full-text e-journals, 189 academic CD-ROM databases as well as online databases are accessible via PC and Internet retrieval terminals.

SZU benefits from a unique geographic location and is continually developing its international cooperation. It has granted diplomas to 2,000 graduates and trainees for the Hong Kong and Macao Special Administration Regions as well as for various positions in Taiwan. SZU has also established "dual-campus" joint-programs for undergraduate degrees with institutions in Great Britain and other foreign countries. 2,500 students have graduated from these joint programs since the university's inception, and the quality of programs has been ascertained by the British Council. SZU annually exchanges students and teachers with its sister universities in institutions of higher learning in the United States of America, Great Britain, Japan, and South Korea.