The university adapts to the major needs of national and social development and actively serves national strategies. On September 13th, 2013, President Xi Jinping announced at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization(SCO) Bishkek Summit that the China National Institute for SCO on International Exchanges and Judicial Cooperation(CNISCO) will be established at SHUPL to foster judicial talents for other SCO member states. In 2014, 2015 and 2018, President Xi stressed thrice at the SCO summits in Duschanbe, Ufa and Qingdao that the institute should serve to help member states train their judicial talents. In 2017,CNISCO has been listed by the Shanghai Municipal Government in the Action Plan of Shanghai for Playing a Bridgehead Role under the“Belt and Road”Initiative.

The university brings the three functions of CNISCO, namely training, think tank and forums, into full play. Entrusted by central government departments including the Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Commerce, the institute has completed a number of training missions. The university has successively been approved the fourth civil court of Supreme People’s Court Belt and Road” Judicial Research Base，Supreme People's Pastorate SCO Procurator Training Base，Ministry of Justice Cooperation base of China-SCO legal service committee，Ministry of Justice Mediation Theory Research and Talent Training Base,the regional and country research center authorized and registered by the Ministry of Education,a humanities and social sciences research base for universities in Shanghai,Shanghai Education Legislation Counseling and Service Research Base,and Shanghai Normative Document Filing Review Research Center. SHUPL is a member of the “Belt and Road Think Tank Cooperation Alliance”.SCO Research Institute and the “Belt and Road” Safety Research Institute are CTTI (China Think Tank Index) source think tank.