CESL was founded on the basis of an agreement between the European Community and the government of the People’s Republic of China.

The former Chinese Minister of Justice, Zhang Fusen, first talked about the idea of creating a Sino-European law school in 2003.

[10] The UK House of Lords considered that "the creation of the China-EU School of Law (CESL) in 2008 was the first attempt to institutionalise legal cooperation" between China and the West.

[12] European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso stated "of course there are hundreds of law schools in China.

The Asian Correspondent recognized the School as being "geared to educate the best of legal minds that practice within the framework of Sino-European relations.

"[19] Nicolas Chapuis, Ambassador of the European Union to China said "CESL has proven to be a center of excellence in legal education.

It also has created a unique platform for exchange between Chinese and European students, scholars and legal practitioners.

"[19] The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation called CESL "one of the country's best universities providing legal training.

Monika Auweter-Kurtz, President of the University of Hamburg, noted that CESL has an "unrivalled position in the global sphere of higher education.

"[18] The EU Ambassador to China, Nicolas Chapuis, stated that "the China-EU School of Law is the flagship of European-Chinese cooperation.

"[22] European Commission President, José Manuel Barroso, has also identified CESL as the "flagship of our strategic partnership" between China and the EU.

[29] The German Minister of Justice, Brigitte Zypries, said "the founding of the China-Europe School of Law represents a project of enormous importance to Germany.

[39] The majority of graduates join large law firms (41%), followed by jobs in the public sector (27%), in the legal department of financial institutions (13%), or as in-house counsel for other types of companies (6%), and the remaining (8%) pursue further studies.

"[42] Michael Westhagemann, the past CEO of Siemens AG, said "graduates of CESL who have learned to structurally analyse both Chinese and EU legal issues meet our demands excellently.