Founded in 1953, Harbin Engineering University (HEU) stands as China’s national key universities of "211 Project", “National Superior Discipline Innovation Platform Project", and "Double First-class" initiatives for universities.

HEU consists of 23 colleges, schools and departments, more than 40 scientific research institutions and over 150 scientific research laboratories. HEU provides PhD degree programs in 18 primary disciplines, master's degree programs in 43 primary disciplines, 15 post-doctoral research stations / workstations, and 43 undergraduate programs. Engineering, materials science, computer science, chemistry, environment/ecology, and physics ranked in the top 1% of ESI, of which engineering ranks in the top 1‰ in the world.

HEU has four campuses, which are Harbin, Qingdao, Yantai, and Sanya. It has about 3000 faculty and staff, including 7 academicians and 1,942 full-time teachers. There are more than 30,000 students, including more than 16,600 undergraduates, more than 12,700 postgraduate students and more than 3,600 doctoral students.

HEU focuses on science and engineering, and maintains a harmonious development across other fields including management and humanities. In China, the discipline of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering ranked TOP 1, Nuclear Science and Technology ranked TOP 3 in China, and Control Science and Engineering ranked TOP 6. The University adheres to a high level of opening up and cooperation with the internationalization and globalization, to carry out international academic research, educational cooperation and cultural exchanges, attract high-quality educational talents at home and abroad, and to enhance the university's international influence and competitiveness. Currently, there are more than 1,300 international students on campus from more than 90 countries all over the world.

HEU has established partnership with more than 100 institutions from 25 countries. HEU has been approved for the “Chinese Government Scholarship (High Level Graduate Students Program, Silk-road Program)”, “Atomic Energy Scholarship of China”, “Marine Scholarship of China”, and “IAEA Marie Sklodowska Curie Fellowship Program”. The “Confucius Institute”, jointly established with the South Ukrainian National Pedagogical University awarded the prize of “Global Advanced Confucius Institute”. HEU initiates “International Innovation and Cooperation in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering Alliance (ICNAME) ”, which has 18 international institute members from 8 countries. It is also a member of the “University of Arctic”, “China-Pakistan Economic Corridor University Alliance”, and “BRICS University Alliance”.