Founded in 1898, Peking University (PKU) was originally known as the Imperial University of Peking. It was the first national university in China to offer courses of study in a comprehensive range of disciplines, and has been a leading institute of higher education in China since its establishment. 

 The top university in China, Peking University is also a leader in the field of African studies. Since the 1950s, the university has made a special effort in the research and teaching of African history, literature, language, ethnicity, and geography.

The top scholars on Africa in China have gathered at Peking University. Historian Yang Renpian and his students Professor Zheng Jiaxin, Professor Lu Ting'en, and Professor He Fangchuan are scholars who first took up African studies after the People Republic of China was founded in 1949, and made pioneering contributions to African studies in China.

In the 1960s, as national independence movements grew in Africa, Peking University correspondingly strengthened its focus on researching the political, economic, and social development issues of African countries. The year 1963 saw the establishment of the Institute of Asian and African studies in Peking University, the earliest academic institute researching Asian and African history in China. The institute studied African affairs in a comprehensive manner, covering politics, economy, international relations, history and culture. It also enrolled master's and doctoral candidates majoring in international politics and focusing on African issues.

In 1996, the institute was incorporated into the Institute of International Relations. But only two years later, the importance of African studies spurred PKU to make another decision, leading to the foundation of the Peking University Center for African Studies in 1998. The center is an interdisciplinary institute for comprehensive African research. It consists of teachers and research fellows from different departments and institutes at the university including the Department of Arabic Language and Culture, the School of Asian and African Studies, the Department of Archaeology, the School of International Relations, and the Department of History. Staffed by teachers with experience of African study and research, the center allows instructors to work independently in their respective disciplines while specializing in African politics, economy, culture, history, sociology, languages, and literature.

The mandate of the center is to promote African studies, and improve its connections with other institutes. It holds seminars and lectures, and assists in the training of students of master's and doctoral programs. Moreover, the center also accepts internal and external consultation, undertakes personnel training responsibilities, and organizes and promotes various domestic and international academic exchanges.

So far, the center has published several series of proceedings and two annual reports monitoring the status of China's African studies and African development. In addition, since July 2010, when the center voluntarily started sending Peking University African Tele-Info to all parts of the community on a weekly basis, its fixed subscribers have come to number in the thousands.

Its close ties with Africa make PKU the preferred choice for African students who want to study in China. And it was some of these insightful young students who gathered and founded the PKU African Students Association, building a platform for communication between Chinese and Africans on campus. Dedicated to organizing seminars and cultural exhibitions, they hope to help Chinese people learn more about Africa.