South China University of Technology (SCUT) was established in 1952, through the amalgamation of the technical faculties of 12 universities in 5 provinces in central and southern China. It was formerly known as the South China Institute of Technology, and was renamed South China University of Technology (SCUT) in January 1988.

In 1960, SCUT ranked among the key universities of China. In 1981, it was authorized by the State Council to confer doctoral and master’s degrees, and was among the first universities in the country to do so. In 1995, it was selected as one of the universities into which China would make a significant investment in the 21st century. In 1999, it was rated "excellent" during the Undergraduate Teaching Assessment, and was among the first in the country. In 2000, it was authorized to establish a Graduate School. In 2001, it was listed among the top universities in the country. After more than 50 years of development, SCUT has become a comprehensive research-oriented university of high reputation, whose main focus is engineering and science. It also has well established programs of management, economics, humanities and law. Subjects currently offered at SCUT cover 10 academic categories.

SCUT is presently made up of 30 colleges. It has a faculty of over 4,400, including over 2,100 teachers and researchers, with two fellows of the China Academy of Sciences, two fellows of the China Academy of Engineering, one foreign fellow of the Russian Academy of Science and 19 double appointed fellows (honored by two universities).  SCUT has over 60,000 registered students of which over 33,000 are full-time. Currently there are 22,201 undergraduates and 8,808 postgraduates. The university offers 67 undergraduate programs, 177 master's programs, including the master of engineering (in 19 fields), master of architecture, master of business administration (MBA, EMBA), and master of public administration (MPA).  They also offer 14 doctoral programs in primary disciplines, 75 doctoral programs in secondary disciplines, and 11 post-doctoral research stations covering 52 disciplines.

SCUT is the location of six national key disciplines. In addition, the following leading research centers are located here: a State Engineering Teaching Center for Mathematics, a State Higher Education Center for Cultural Quality, a State Key Lab, three State Key Engineering Research Centers, a State Class-A Architectural Design and Research Institute, a State University Science Park, four Key Labs of the Ministry of Education, and six Key Labs of Guangdong Province.

SCUT has persistently attached great importance to international cooperation and exchanges. It has established friendly interuniversity collaborations with over 50 overseas universities in 23 countries and regions. Each year over 550 teachers or researchers at SCUT are sent abroad for academic activities or exchanges, and over 500 foreign experts and scholars are invited to SCUT for lecturing, cooperative research or academic exchanges. Over 400 foreign students from 59 countries come to study at SCUT.

Today SCUT is committed to carrying out the strategy of Revitalizing China through Science and Education, in accordance with the objectives and requirements of Bringing China into an Innovative Country, at the same time working toward our goal of developing into a top national university with international recognition.