Huaqiao University is the first institution of higher education named after Huaqiao (Overseas Chinese). With the approval of former Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai in 1960, it was established in Quanzhou, Fujian Province, famous as the hometown of overseas Chinese. In 1983, HQU was granted as one of China's Prioritized Fostered Universities by Chinese Central Government. In 1997, the Jimei Overseas Chinese Tutoring School, located in Jimei School Village, Xiamen, Fujian Province, was incorporated into the university and renamed as the Chinese Language and Culture College. In 2003, the university was qualified as "Excellent" by the Ministry of Education in its first Undergraduate Teaching Performance Assessment. In 2006, Xiamen Campus of the university was officially launched. In 2017, HQU was selected into the construction plan of world-class universities and world-class disciplines (also named as Double First-Class Initiative) of Fujian Province.

HQU is directly under the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council, and jointly constructed by the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council, the Fujian Provincial People's Government, the Quanzhou Municipal Government and the Xiamen Municipal Government. As a comprehensive university, it is also one of the pioneer universities adopting the directorate system. The school board consists of overseas Chinese, compatriots from Hong Kong and Macao, overseas talents from various sectors and many other experts and leaders. Edmund Ho Hau-wah, the deputy chairman of CPPCC and the former chief executive of Macao SAR, served as the Board's honorary chairman. China’s state leaders Liao Chengzhi and Ye Fei, were respectively the first and the second president of Huaqiao University. The incumbent president, Xu Xipeng, has been listed as the Leading Talents in the National High-level Talents Special Support Plan (Ten Thousand Plan) and awarded the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars.

Dedicated to recruiting students from abroad, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, HQU aims to serve the overseas Chinese and spread Chinese culture, committing itself to the school principle of Integration of Chinese Wisdom and Foreign Expertise, Unification of Moral Character and Professional Excellence. Over 200,000 students of all levels have graduated from the university since its establishment, among which around 50,000 currently live overseas, mainly distributed in Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and countries or regions along the Maritime Silk Road, and have become friendship envoy in promoting communication and cooperation between China and those countries. 

HQU currently has 28 colleges with 94 undergraduate programs, among which 10 have achieved the engineering education certification. There are 27 Master's programs of the first-level disciplines, 2 Master's programs of the second-level disciplines and 20 professional Master's programs, together with 8 Doctoral programs of the first-level disciplines, 2 Doctoral programs of the second-level disciplines and 5 Post-doctoral research centers in the university. The university offers 12 discipline categories including Philosophy, Economics, Law, Education, Literature, History, Science, Engineering, Agriculture, Medicine, Management and Arts, forming a coordinately developed discipline system that combines arts with science, integrates science with engineering and couples engineering with management. Steady progress has been made in its research strength, with 41 state or provincial key disciplines and 17 provincial peak and plateau disciplines, among which Engineering, Material Science and Chemistry rank among the top one-percent in ESI (Essential Science Indicators). In December 2017, 16 first-level disciplines were listed in the Assessments of National Academic Disciplines released by the Ministry of Education. In 2018, the university ranked 28^th in the comprehensive universities list of Shanghai Ranking's Best Chinese Universities Ranking 2018 and 86^th among its general list. Shanghai Ranking's Best Chinese Universities Ranking 2018 includes 4,999 disciplines from 460 universities in the Chinese mainland, among which 93 are first-level disciplines. Compared with 19 disciplines in 2017, 20 of HQU have been listed in 2018, which ranked 83^rd among the list.

HQU enjoys 2,672 remarkable teaching and auxiliary staff, including 1,792 full-time teachers, 6 double-employed academicians, scholars supported by the Recruitment Program of Global Experts, National High-level Talents Special Support Plan, National Science Fund for Outstanding Young Scholars, National Millions of Talents Project, National Celebrated Cultural Experts Project, National High-Level Foreign Experts Project, Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University of the Ministry of Education, and about 400 scholars of State Council Allowance. The university also has innovation teams in key areas supported by the Innovative Talent Promotion Plan of the Ministry of Science and Technology, and Program for Chang Jiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team of the Ministry of Education.

HQU has 25,551 full-time undergraduates, 5,953 graduates, among which 4,969 are students from over 50 countries and regions including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. HQU is one of the universities that recruit the largest number of overseas students in China. The university provides comprehensive and complete humanity education for every student, with enhancing morality while cultivating students as its core. In recent years, the university has won over one hundred awards and landmark achievements, including both National and Provincial Teaching Achievement Awards, Quality of Massive Open Online Courses, Innovative Experimental Area, Teaching Team for Talents Cultivating Model and Characteristic Majors.

HQU is a National University Students' Cultural Quality Education Base and a National Demonstrative University for Deepening the Educational Reform of Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Its graduates are well-received among employers; hence the employment rate comes out top among universities and colleges of similar levels. HQU students have gained wonderful achievements in many international and domestic competitions, including the Archiprix International, iF Product Design Award, Mathematical Contest In Modeling (MCM/ICM), China "Internet Plus" Innovation and Entrepreneurship Contest for College Students, "Challenge Cup" National Undergraduate Curricular Academic Science and Technology Works, "Challenge Cup" – the National Undergraduate Entrepreneurial Plan Contest, Model United Nations, the National Undergraduate Electronics Design Contest, the National Software Design and Entrepreneurship Competition for Professional Talents, the National Undergraduate Architectural Design Competition, China Universities Industrial Design Competition, and the National English Competition for College Students. The love for diverse sports and cultures prevails in the university. The HQU Men's Basketball Team won nine champions in Chinese University Basketball Association (CUBA), which has been held for 20 times. 3x3 FISU World University League Finals co-organized by FUSC and HQU has been successfully held for four consecutive years. HQU won the championship of the 3x3 World University League - 2018 Finals, becoming the first in China to take the men's title of the event. HQU students - Lin Dan, Chen Long and Li Xuerui - won glory for China in the Olympic Games. The university is committed to improving the humanistic environment for education and the cultural tastes on campus. One-culture Oriented, Multi-culture Integrated, Diversities but Harmony has been the university's unique campus culture, which helps winning the first prize of Excellent Achievements of National University Campus Cultural Construction for two consecutive years.

HQU dedicates itself to cultivating creativity, establishing 70 teaching and researching platforms at national and provincial level, including the national experimental teaching demonstration center, the theoretical research base of Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the PRC State Council, the engineering research center of Ministry of Education, the key laboratory of Fujian province and the provincial experimental teaching demonstration center. HQU has undertaken an increasing number of National Natural Science Foundation Projects and National Social Science Foundation Projects in recent years. Moreover, the university has received 40 science awards, including the National Prize for Progress in Science and Technology, MOE Science and Technology Prize for Higher Education Institutions and Fujian Provincial Prize for Science and Technology. 86 awards for social sciences have also been collected, including the MOE Prize of Outstanding Social Science Study for Higher Education Institutions, and the Fujian Provincial Prize Outstanding Social Science Study for Higher Education Institutions. HQU is producing more influential research papers of high quality, ranking 70^th from the Chinese mainland among the TOP100 Universities and 426^th globally in Nature Index 2018 Table issued by Nature Publishing Group based in Britain, and 65^th among the universities of the Chinese Mainland in 2018 Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings. The university was also listed No.2 in the Belt and Road Initiative Rankings of Chinese University Think Tank Influence published by the National Development and Reform Commission in 2018.

HQU engages itself in international exchanges and cooperation, signing cooperation agreements with over 200 universities from more than 50 countries and regions in 5 continents. The university is one of the officially acknowledged universities that are enrolling international students funded by the Chinese Government Scholarship and has 84 admission offices across the globe and an International School with courses offered in English.

HQU is designated by the Chinese Teaching Base of Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the PRC State Council and the Ministry of Education as one of the Key Institutions of Chinese Teaching in Support of Neighboring Countries, initiating a series of famous projects for Chinese education including Chinese Class for Foreign Government Officials and Class for Technical Personnel of Angolan Government.

HQU has two campuses, covering an area of 2,147,800 square meters, among which the built-area is 1,073,000 square meters. Books and materials in the university amount to more than 4,720,000 copies.   

HQU will stick to the development strategy of running an excellent university for overseas Chinese in this new era. With the advantage and opportunity of the government promoting Double First-Class initiative, the university will make further progress by improving its academic competence, keeping its uniqueness and cultivating top minds to better serve overseas Chinese and the economic and social development of China, and will aim high and spare no efforts to maintain excellence in both quality and reputation world-wide.