Department of Public Finance at Nankai University was established in 1949, and was shut down in 1950s due to the national-wide faculty adjustment. In 1985, Nankai University established the Department of International Economics, and in 1993 founded the Master program in World economy with the concentration on Banking and Public Finance. The Ph.D. program with concentration on Public Finance was launched in 2001. With the development of research and teaching, the undergraduate program in Public Finance was launched in 2002. In 2006, with the efforts of Zhang Zhichao, Qu Shaohong, Tao Jiang and other professors in School of Economics, the Senate committee at Nankai University officially re-established the Department of Public Finance.

Department of Public Finance now has 14 full-time faculties and 29 part-time faculties. The full-time faculties include 4 professors, 6 associate professors, and 4 lecturers; among which 4 are qualified as doctoral supervisors, and 10 as master’s supervisors. The part-time faculties serve extensively at government agencies, fiscal and taxation authorities, financial sector, universities, think tanks, and state-owned enterprises.

Up to July 2016, over 60 students have graduated with the Ph.D. degree in the PhD program, and nearly 200 students have graduated with the master degree in the master program. More than 50 students get into the undergraduate program each year, and about 50 students get admitted into the graduate program (including master and Ph.D. program) each year.

The faculties at Department of Public Finance produced excellent research, conducted more than 30 projects of social sciences at the national, provincial and ministerial levels, published over 40 academic reports, textbooks and translated books as well as more than 200 academic journal papers. The Department aims to equip students with comprehensive understanding about modern economic and fiscal theories, and in-depth knowledge of domestic and foreign practices of finance and taxation. Faculties at the Department devote themselves to academic research, take rigorous attitude toward research; Department of Public Finance sticks to the belief of dedication to the public interests and society service.