Founded in 1898, Peking University was the first national university covering comprehensive disciplines in China, and has been a leading institution of higher education in China since its establishment. At the end of the 20th century, the Chinese government put Peking University at the top of its agenda for promoting higher education, with the aim to build a world-class university in the 21st Century. Peking University has continually played the essential role of a pioneer in the course of China's modernization. The university's traditional emphasis on patriotism, progress, democracy, and science, together with its educational standards of diligence, precision, factualism, and innovation, have been passed down from generation to generation.

Students at STL represent the highest-qualified candidates from a range of backgrounds and disciplines. International students at STL are classmates with students who are among the most academically talented in China.

STL has assembled a distinguished multinational faculty of leading scholars and practitioners from China, the U.S., the E.U., and elsewhere. The faculty includes scholars of international trade law, food safety policy, public international law, investment treaty arbitration, intellectual property, securities regulation, comparative corporate governance, law and economic development, Chinese legal history and philosophy, Chinese environmental and administrative law, innovation in legal services, Chinese civil law, and other important fields.

STL’s curriculum emphasizes lawyering skills and knowledge for the 21st century: (i) transnational law and practice, (ii) cross-cultural competence, (iii) the ability to contend with the complex legal and factual issues characteristic of advanced economies based on technological innovation and global financial services, and (iv) the professional responsibilities of lawyers in these contexts.

STL equips students with deep knowledge and understanding of Chinese and Western legal, commercial and cultural traditions, knowledge that is essential for leadership in today’s inter-connected world and that is prized by the world’s leading law firms, companies, government offices, NGOs and universities.

STL is located in Shenzhen, renowned as China’s “Silicon Valley” and one of the world’s leading centers of innovation and finance. Shenzhen is a coastal city in South China. It is located on the eastern bank of the Pearl River, neighboring Hong Kong. Shenzhen has been a touchstone for China's reform and opening-up policy.

From 1979 to 2018, Shenzhen has skyrocketed from a tiny border town with a population of around 30,000 to a metropolis with a population of more than 10 million. It has become a prosperous, chic, innovative, harmonious and beautiful city and established many firsts in the history of world industrialization, urbanization and modernization.

The Economist marveled at the "Miracle of Shenzhen," saying China's most extraordinary practice since its reform and opening up 40 years ago is the establishment of special economic zones and calling Shenzhen the biggest success of more than 4,000 SEZs in the world.

As one of the most important international cities in China, Shenzhen is one of the most economically dynamic cities in the world. The city is the high-tech and manufacturing hub of southern China as well as a State-level innovative city.

Shenzhen is the best example of China's historic leap from "getting on its feet" to "becoming prosperous." Its GDP has grown from 197 million yuan in 1979 to 2.24 trillion yuan in 2017, ranking only after Beijing and Shanghai, equaling Hong Kong and is among the top 30 cities in the world.

Shenzhen is home to seven Fortune Global 500 companies — Huawei, China Merchants Group, Ping An Group, Tencent, Vanke, Amer International Group and Evergrande. It has attracted more than 200 of Fortune 500 companies to invest here.

Shenzhen offers the best public cultural services, hosts cultural exhibitions and performances regularly and enjoys a beautiful environment. It has nearly 1,000 parks. The enviable "Shenzhen Blue Sky" and its developed volunteer culture have made Shenzhen a paradise for entrepreneurs and makers from all over the world. It has been called "a city without winter" and won the title of "2017 Amazing China — The 10 Most Attractive Chinese Cities for Foreigners."