Xiamen University was founded in April 1921 by Tan Kah Kee, a well-known patriotic leader of overseas Chinese. It was the first university in China founded by an overseas Chinese. At present it is the only key comprehensive university directly affiliated with the Education Ministry in any of the five special economic zones and is one of China's higher-level universities designated for the state key construction of the "211 Project" and the "985 Project".

With 20 schools containing 41 departments, and many key research institutes, Xiamen University has become a comprehensive university providing a fairly complete range of educational programs in humanities, social sciences, natural science, engineering and technology, management, law, art education, and medical science. The university now offers 71 undergraduate programs and 150 graduate programs, including 4 professional masters programs, 87 Ph.D. programs, and post-doctoral research centers established in the 12 fields. 13 subjects have been assessed and awarded as "the national key disciplines", and 5 subjects have been designated as "national educational centers for talents". Currently, there are over 4,500 staff working for Xiamen University, including 1800 full-time faculty and professional researchers, among them there are 8 academicians of CAS, 1 academician of CAE, 7 adjunct academicians. The university¢s total enrollment of 25,000 full-time students on campus includes 15,813 undergraduates, 7,387 graduate students, 847 overseas students, and 426 students from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan. Xiamen University has established over 70 research institutions, including 1 State Key Laboratory, 1 State Specialty Laboratory, 3 Education Ministry Key Laboratories，and 4 state key research bases in humanities and social sciences.

Xiamen University has now become one of the most opening universities in china. It has successively established inter-university cooperative ties with 70 institutions of higher education, which include Cardiff University from Britain, Cornell University and Washington University from America, Gunma University from Japan, Inha University from South Korea, University of Amsterdam from Netherlands, and People's Friendship University from Russia. More than 550 staff have experience of studying or working abroad for a long time.

In order to meet the competition and challenge of the new century, Xiamen University has set its goal of "building a higher-level university well-known both at home and abroad" and is now making great strides towards that goal.