The history of the School of Liberal Arts at Lanzhou Jiaotong University dates back to 1980, originating as a Teaching and Research Section of Literature and Art. In 2003, the Chinese Department was established. It became an independent teaching unit in 2006. In 2008, it was renamed the School of Literature and International Chinese Education. In 2021, it was renamed again as the School of Liberal Arts.

The School currently offers 2 undergraduate majors and 2 master's degree programs. Among them, the undergraduate major in Chinese Language and Literature was established in 2003, and the undergraduate major in Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages (TCSOL) was established in 2006. In 2014, it obtained approval for a master's degree program in TCSOL, and in 2021, it obtained approval for a first-level discipline master's degree program in Chinese Language and Literature. One provincial first-class professional construction site and two provincial first-class courses have been approved for the School.

The School currently has 48 faculty members, including 37 full-time teachers, 5 professors, 19 associate professors, and 26 individuals with doctoral degrees. Among them, there is 1 "Leading Talent in Gansu Province," 1 talent from Gansu Province's "Four Batches" program, 1 visiting researcher at the Modern Chinese Literature Museum, and 1 member of the Committee for College Chinese Language Teaching Guidance and Textbook Development.

The School has obtained approval for 19 National Social Science Fund projects and 34 provincial and ministerial projects. It has published over 130 high-level papers in academic journals such as People's Daily, Guangming Daily, Literary Review, Literary Heritage, Literary and Art Studies, Studies in Modern Chinese Literature, Contemporary Writers Review, Theory and Criticism of Literature and Art, and has published 21 monographs. It has won various awards, including the Dunhuang Literature and Art Award and the Outstanding Achievement Award in Philosophy and Social Sciences of Gansu Province.

In 2020, the School was approved as one of the first batch of "National Language Promotion Bases" by the Ministry of Education. The base includes a language training and testing station, a language promotion station, a language research center, and a foreign affairs center.

The School currently possesses over 20,000 volumes of various documents, classics, and periodical materials, and opens an independent library resource center and an periodical reading room.

The School has established an overseas internship base for TCSOL master's students at Rajamangala University of Technology Isan in Thailand and has set up the "China-Thailand Transportation Culture Research Center". Since 2016, 89 master's degree students have engaged in Chinese teaching volunteer work in 28 countries including Thailand, South Korea, Brazil, the United Kingdom, and South Africa.