Established in April 1984, City University Malaysia was founded by a group of scholars.

City University Press publishes the CUeJAR, a double-blind peer reviewed quarterly international open access e-journal.

Plans are afoot for the University to extend its network with the addition of a campus in the multi-media super corridor of Cyberjaya.

Under a Sino-Malaysian bilateral agreement in 2009, City University Malaysia degree programmes are acknowledged by the Chinese Ministry of Education.

[4][5] It partners with Jinan University to form an international think tank on Sino-Malaysian cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative.