On September 28, 2004, Xi'an Jiaotong University and the University of Liverpool signed a cooperation agreement to build Xi??an Jiaotong -Liverpool University (XJTLU).
On August 26, 2005, Ministry of Education approved of the preparation for the establishment of XJTLU.
In May 2006, official approval was issued by Ministry of Education for the establishment of XJTLU and its student enrollment in the unified national plan. On May 29, XJTLU was officially unveiled.
In January 2007, Professor Song Yonghua, Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, became Executive President of XJTLU.
In September 2007, XJTLU enrolled the second batch of 570 senior middle school graduates.
In November 2007, John Denham, Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills, visited XJTLU and spoke highly of its rapid development and long-term planning.
On April 30, 2008, Research Center broke ground and the construction of XJTLU was in full swing.
In August 2008, Professor Xi Youmin, former Vice-president of Xi'an Jiaotong University, took up the post of Executive President of XJTLU and Pro-Vice-Chancellor of University of Liverpool.
In September 9, 2008, XJTLU and Laureate Education Inc. signed a strategic alliance agreement on further improving innovation capability and core competitiveness of the university.
In September 2008, XJTLU enrolled the third batch of 730 students.
In April 2009, Minister Yuan Guiren of Education visited XJTLU and wished XJTLU to make fruitful exploration in Sino-foreign cooperative education and internationalized tertiary education.
In September 2009, XJTLU enrolled the fourth batch of 1,000 students.
In September 2009, the National Natural Science Foundation gave approval to six projects proposed by XJTLU (half of XJTLU's proposed projects), ranking among the best of national tertiary institutions.
In November 2009, new logo of XJTLU was put into use.
In December 2009, XJTLU won Asia Pacific Commercial Property Awards 2009 for its unique designing idea and high-level construction application technology, one of only three award-winning projects from Chinese mainland.
In April 2010, 17 teams of XJTLU took part in COMAP and won five first prizes, nine second prizes and three third prizes, the proportion ranking high among Chinese and foreign universities in the third successive year.
In May 2010, Research Center opened, and foundation was laid for Administration & Information Center and Business Management Building.
In August 2010, the first batch of graduates left the school, and 97% of them went on for their master or PhD study overseas, and 10% of them studied in the world's top-10 universities (according to the ranking of The Times in 2010).
In July 2011, the 5th anniversary of XJTLU was celebrated and XJTLU Education Development Foundation set up.