CCNU is a key normal university directly under the Chinese Ministry of Education. Located in Wuhan, a major hub of transportation, it has a campus of over 2,000 mu with a construction area of more than 600,000 square meters on Guizishan, a hill bordering the East Lake and the South Lake. It has brilliant flowers and green woods all year round. With a serene environment, especially the fragrance of osmanthus flowers all over, the campus is an ideal place for teaching and studying.

The predecessor of HZU is the combination of Huazhong University, Zhonghua University and the Pedagogical College of Zhongyuan University, with Huazhong University as the main part. Huazhong University was the largest and most influential mission university in South Central China, it developed from Wenhua Academy (the first college of mission school) that was founded in 1903. In 1951, the public Huazhong University came into being after the Pedagogical College of Zhongyuan University merged with Huazhong University. Then, it was reorganized into Huazhong Higher Normal School in 1952 and later renamed Huazhong Teachers College in 1953. In 1985, the university was formally entitled Huazhong University and Deng Xiaoping, one of the founders of Zhongyuan University, inscribed the new name of the university. In1993, President Jiang Zemin wrote an inscription for the university "Developing normal education, improving the nation's quality".

HZU carries on a wide range of international academic exchanges. It has regular academic links and cooperation with more than 20 universities, colleges and research institutes in America, Germany, Russia, Ukraine, France, Italy, Britain, Japan, Switzerland, Bulgaria.

Foreign experts and teachers are regularly invited to teach at the university and many faculty members have been sent abroad for further study, visit or joint research. Most of them have returned home and become the backbone in teaching and research; a good number of them are active on international academic rostrum and have made admirable contributions to science, technology, culture and education exchanges between China and foreign nations.