The university was established in March 1941, in the revolutionary base area of the Chinese Communist Revolution, Yan'an.

It had several names, it was called the Yan'an School of Foreign Languages (Chinese Military and Politics University of the Anti-Japanese Invasion) in the time of the early 1940s.

It is famous in languages, commercial law, Marxism philosophy, business study, and water conservation.

It has more than 34,000 students, with 30 sponsoring entities and teaching college-level units and independent secondary colleges.

Opening of the 10 disciplines, covering 75 undergraduate programs, including national characteristics, professional 10, 21 provincial key specialties.

It has equipment worth 300 million yuan, more than 5 million copies of book collections, a capacity of 40,000 students, a university city, a state-of-the-art laboratory building, a teaching building, 2 libraries, a gymnasium, 2 swimming gyms, 3 dining centers, school infrastructure, and broadband network, multimedia, and other modern teaching resources.

Meanwhile, Heilongjiang University attracts a large number of students from South Korea, Japan, Russia, Germany, the UK, Africa, and the United States to study Chinese language and International business every year.

The University of Heilongjiang is host to a range of foreign exchange students, primarily Russian and Korean.