The Renmin University of China (RUC) is a public university in Haidian, Beijing, China. The university is affiliated with the Ministry of Education, and co-funded by the Ministry of Education and the Beijing Municipal People's Government. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and the Double First-Class Construction.
History The origins of Renmin University of China date back to Shanbei Public School (), established in 1937 by the Chinese Communist Party to "bring up hundreds of thousands of revolutionary comrades to meet the needs of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression." It was later renamed North China United University, and then North China University.
In 1950, several institutions were merged to form a single Renmin University of China. In 1954, Renmin University of China was established as one of China's six national key universities, the youngest institution on that list.
Wu Yuzhang, Cheng Fangwu, Guo Yingqiu, Yuan Baohua, Huang Da, Li Wenhai, Ji Baocheng, and Chen Yulu had successively served as president of the university. the president is Lin Shangli.
Present As of 2022, Renmin University consists of 25 schools, 13 research institutes and the graduate school, with 63 specialties for undergraduate, 8 specialties for the second-bachelor's degree students, 149 specialties for the master's degree candidates, 100 specialties for the Doctor's degree candidates and 33 national key disciplines.
The library of the university covers a total area of 26,000 square meters. It has 15 reading rooms and an economics hall, with more than 2,000 seats.
Renmin University has established its communications and cooperative relationships with 125 universities and research institutions of 32 countries and regions, which enables the university to be the center of academic and cultural communications between China and foreign countries.
Schools and departments
The School of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development The School of Arts The School of Business The School of Chinese Classics The School of Continuing Education The School of Economics The School of Education The School of Environment and Natural Resources The School of Finance The School of Foreign Languages Department of English Studies Department of French Studies Department of German Studies Department of Japanese Studies Department of Russian Studies Department of Spanish Studies The School of History The School of Information The School of Information Resource Management The School of International Studies Department of International Politics Department of Foreign Affairs Department of Politics The School of Journalism The School of Labor and Human Resources The School of Law The School of Literary Studies The School of Marxism Studies The School of Teaching Chinese as Foreign Language The School of PhilosophySchool of Philosophy The School of Public Administration and Policy The School of Statistics The School of Sociology and Population Studies Department of Sociology Department of Social Work Department of Demography Department of Psychology The School of Science Department of Physics Department of Chemistry The Institute of Qing History Sino–French Institute In 2015, the China Academy of Financial Inclusion was established at Renmin University. The academy is a government think-tank tasked with developing financial inclusion mechanisms for China.
On 25 October 2017, Renmin University established a Xi Jinping Thought research center, the first of its kind.
On 25 May 2024, Renmin University opened The Research Center for Shiology. The current director is Liu Guangwei, the founder of Shiology and director-general of the World Shiology Forum.
Rural Reconstruction Center The Rural Reconstruction Center of Renmin University was established in 2005 and is based in Beijing. Its main mission is to explore the theory and practice of rural reconstruction. It partakes in fair trade advocacy, coordination of urban and rural green energy initiatives, and the promotion of fair education.
Campuses
The university currently has two active campuses, one campus under construction and one former campus. The main campus is located at No.59 Zhongguancun Street, Haidian district, Beijing. Most of the university's schools, departments and institutes are located here. The campus's English Corner is well known in Beijing. Every Friday evening, people gather at the Qiushi Garden near the east gate to practice English. The campus is host to about 1,165 international students, many of them from South Korea. There are so many South Korean students that the International Students Dining Room has a separate Korean menu aside from its traditional Chinese menu. The university has a secondary campus located in Suzhou Industrial Park, in the eastern province of Jiangsu. It is home to the RUC Sino-French Institute (IFC Renmin) and its 900 Chinese and international students. In addition, a number of Chinese and sino-foreign Master-level programs from several RUC faculties are also located on the same grounds under the supervision of RUC International College. RUC Suzhou campus is part of the Suzhou Dushu Lake Higher Education Town, together with other international Sino-Foreign oriented graduate and post-graduate schools such as Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University or the Southeast University-Monash University Joint Graduate School. Renmin University is currently building its future main campus in Lucheng, Tongzhou district, currently named "Eastern Campus", to the east of central Beijing. It will be located in the same town as the soon-to-be relocated Beijing municipal government facilities. Completion date is expected by the end of 2017. The former main campus of Renmin University of China is located east of the Forbidden City, in the Dongcheng district. Although the property still belongs to the university, it is no longer used for educational purposes.
Cultural tradition
The motto of Renmin University is "Seek truth from facts"; the spirit of Renmin University is "Establishing learning for the people, and governing the country"; the goal of talent training of Renmin University is "a national example, a social pillar"; and the idea of running Renmin University is "people, people-oriented, and humanistic", which is also the meaning of the three parallel "人" characters in the seal script on Renmin University's emblem.
School Song The school song of Renmin University of China has gone through multiple versions, including the "Song of Northern Shaanxi Public School" created in Yan'an in 1937, "The School Song of North China Associated University" in Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei border area in 1937, and "School Song of North China University" in Zhengding, Hebei in 1948, "Song of Renmin University of China" written by Wu Yuzhang, "Song of Renmin University of China" written by Cheng Fangwu, and "Song of Renmin University of China" written by Ji Baocheng. "The Song of Renmin University of China", written by Ji Baocheng, was identified as the school song in 2007, replacing the old school song that has been adopted since 1980 with strong political overtones. In 2017, "Song of Northern Shaanxi Public School" was identified as the representative school song of Renmin University of China.
Rankings and reputation
In 2022, Renmin University, along with Nanjing University, became the first batch of elite institutions in China to drop out of all international rankings. The university was selected as a pilot program to test a new system of local rankings that reflect "Chinese characteristics" and are representative of their Chinese traits. It is expected that more Chinese institutions will drop out of international rankings as China aims to create its own benchmark for elite institutions.
In 2015, the Chinese University Alumni Association (CUAA) in partnership with China Education Center ranked it 5th among all Chinese universities. The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2014 placed Renmin 5th in China (after Peking, Tsinghua, University of Science and Technology of China, and Fudan), 13th in emerging countries, 32nd in Asia, and inside the top 250 in the world.
In 2020, the QS World University Rankings had the university as one of the top 300 worldwide for academic reputation and employer reputation. Renmin graduates are highly desired in China and worldwide, with its Graduate Employability rankings placed in the top 181–190 universities globally and a crop of high-achieving graduates every year, according to the 2022 QS Graduate Employability Rankings.
Subject rankings According to the latest evaluation by the Chinese Ministry of Education RUC ranked No. 1 among all Chinese universities for 9 disciplines, which include theoretical economics, applied economics, law and legal studies, political science, sociology, journalism, statistics, business management and public administration. RUC is also entitled 25 national key disciplines (ranked number 5 in China), 13 national key research bases of humanities and social sciences (ranked number 1 in China), and 6 national teaching and research bases of fundamental arts disciplines (ranked number 1 in China). Renmin has taken a leading position among Chinese universities in the number of social science and arts and humanities-related majors. For example, in the 2022 rankings of Chinese universities by undergraduate majors in 92 professional categories, Renmin had 25 majors ranked as the best in the country, 48 majors in the top 5, and 57 majors in the top 10.
According to the 2021 QS World University by subject, RUC was ranked among the top 100 in the world in "Arts and Humanities" & "Social Sciences & Management" related subjects. According to the 2021 QS World University by subject, the university was ranked among the top 40 in the world for philosophy, top 80 in social sciences and management and top 51 in legal studies and law.
According to the Financial Times, its business school, the Renmin Business School, is one of the top 50 in the world, with its global MBA ranked 38th, Executive MBA ranked 43rd, and its executive education ranked 11th internationally (the best in Asia).
As of 2026, the U.S. News & World Report ranked Renmin 3rd in China & Asia, and 11th globally in economics and business.
As of 2024, according to the Academic Ranking of World Universities, RUC ranked No. 9 in the world in "public administration", #31 in "finance", #43 in "Library & Information Science", #51 in "management" & "statistics", and #76 in "business administration" & "economics".
Notable faculty Huang Da – Professor Emeritus, School of Finance; President, Renmin University of China (1991–1994). Jin Canrong – Professor, School of International Studies. Liu Xiaofeng – Professor, School of Liberal Arts. Manuel Pérez García – Former associate professor, School of International Studies (2013–2017). Mao Shoulong – Professor, School of Public Administration. Pan Suiming – Professor, School of Sociology and Population Studies, scholar of sexology. Shi Yinhong – Professor, School of International Studies, see :zh:时殷弘 Song Xinning () – Jean Monnet Professor, School of International Studies. Wang Liming – Professor and former dean (2005–09), School of Law, scholar of civil law. Wen Tiejun – Professor and dean, School of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development. Wu Xiaoqiu () – Professor, School of Finance. Yang Ruilong () – Professor and dean, School of Economics. Baron von Pfetten – Visiting professor, School of Economics. Zeng Xianyi – Professor Emeritus and former dean (1990–2005), School of Law, scholar of legal history. Zhang Kangzhi – Professor in the Department of Public Administration. Zhang Ming () – Professor, School of International Studies. Zhou Xiaozheng () – Professor, School of Sociology and Population Studies.
Notable alumni
Academics Liu Yu – Political scientist at Tsinghua University Wu Shuqing – President of Peking University (1989–1996), economist