BUCM has experienced significant changes since its establishment more than 50 years ago. Six events have notably contributed to making it one of the top traditional medicine institutions nationwide.  

----   In 1956, Beijing College of Traditional Chinese Medicine and other three institutions of Chinese medicine were established, inaugurating the modern era of Chinese medicine higher education.

----   In 1960, the newly established Beijing College of Traditional Chinese Medicine was appointed by China’s Ministry of Education as national priority higher education institution. As a result, the college received more funding and greater efforts were placed on developing top-quality Chinese medicine education programs.

----   In 1993, the former Beijing College of Traditional Chinese Medicine became Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, thus providing the university with better opportunities for development.     

----  In 1996, BUCM was appointed to participate in China’s “211 Project”, a national development project committed to providing first-class, international-level education and scholarship. This step further promoted the academic status of the university and improved its teaching and research standards.   

----  In 2000, the former BUCM merged with the Beijing College of Acupuncture, Orthopedics and Traumatology. The newly merged BUCM became a priority institution directly under the supervision of the Ministry of Education. The rearrangement of its institutional structure and the integration of resources strengthened its academic competence.    

----   In 2007, the Ministries of Education, Public Health and the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine worked together to promote the university’s development through the use of combined education and health resources.

----  Since 2011, BUCM has been listed under the Project 985, a major decision made by CPC and the State Council on building first-class universities of the international standard at the turn of the century.

----   In 2017,  three disciplines of BUCM have been listed under China's “Double-First Rate”initiative (world-class universities and first-class disciplines), specifically Chinese Medicine, Integration of Chinese and Western Medicine and Chinese Materia Medica.