In 2000, Southwest University of Political Science and Law established the Justice and Human Rights Research Center, the Foreign Family Law Center, the Women’s Theory Research Center and five other academic institutions specializing in human rights education and research.

In October 2011, complying with the requirements of the nation’s human rights strategy and plan, and in the spirit of coordinated innovation, the university decided to transform the seven research institutions into the Human Rights Education and Research Center of the Southwest University of Political Science and Law.

The center now has floor space of 1,070 square meters, with a collection of 10,000 books, including more than 1,000 foreign-language books.

University President Fu Zitang serves as the director of the center, and Prof. Zhang Yonghe is executive director of the center, which has six research offices, four task forces and 18 full-time employees.

The center has formulated management methods related to development expenses, management of researchers and academic results, etc., establishing regulations and management rules, and ensuring the institutionalized and standardized operation of the center. The center upholds the concept of “returning to the human rights classics and paying attention to human rights realities.” It has developed its own advantages and special characteristics, training a politically correct, down-to-earth and academically rigorous team of researchers, and becoming a human rights education and research institution that serves the nation’s human rights strategy.

The center has always held to the policy of using empirical evidence in the service of human rights, promoting human rights concepts through action, and training professionals through education. After many years of construction and accumulation of experience, the center has made great achievements in human rights research, the popularization of human rights concepts, and human rights education.