The Overseas Campus of Tongji University in Florence is the first overseas base that Tongji has established, making innovative progress in cooperation with Italy. In April 2013, Tongji University, the Italian Ministry of the Environment, Territory and Sea (now Ministry of Ecological Transition), the Tuscan Regional Government and the Municipality of Florence signed a quadripartite joint declaration to co-establish the Overseas Campus, which was officially inaugurated in March 2014.

The Overseas Campus offers students and faculty in Tongji the access to abundant resources in art, architecture and design and innovation, and is set down as an important base for general education and innovative practices, serving the international cooperating and communicating strategy of Tongji University. For the cultivation of talents of international competence, the Overseas Campus organizes short-term exchange programs and academic forums in Italy on the basis of mutual recognition of courses and credits.

With the support and promotion of TJSIC, from 2017 to 2019, about 600 students and more than 80 teachers from 31 groups of more than 10 colleges of Tongji University attended the summer school program in Italy. The program combines the characteristics of individual disciplines and local teaching resources in Italy, and carries out various teaching activities, including classroom teaching, field trips, lectures, internships in local enterprises and museum tours etc. Partner institutions include Italian universities, enterprises and museums, thus forming an overseas general education and practical teaching model.

The establishment of the Overseas Campus has further boosted Sino-Italian educational cooperation. In 2019, on the basis of the overseas exchange programs in Florence, the College of Architecture and Urban Planning and the School of Politics and International Relations of Tongji University have signed cooperation agreements with the corresponding disciplines of the University of Florence for master's double-degree programs respectively.

In March 2014, the Confucius Institute, jointly established by the University of Florence and Tongji University, was officially inaugurated. As the fourth Confucius Institute of Tongji University, it makes the best of the history and culture of Florence, the birthplace of the Renaissance, and shows distinctive features highlighting the themes of humanities, art, design and historical heritage conservation, while keeping up collaboration and interaction with the Tongji Overseas Campus in Florence.

The Confucius Institute at University of Florence has made great contributions to Chinese language teaching and promoting Chinese culture over the years. The Institute offers Chinese language courses for the public at three teaching locations, at levels of beginners, intermediate and advanced; it organizes the HSK Chinese language proficiency test, as well as numerous activities in the fields of architecture, art and design. The Institute plays a significant role as the window and platform for Sino-Italian, Sino-European cultural exchanges in design and innovation.

Apart from regular Chinese courses, the Institute organizes a variety of cultural activities in cooperation with Tongji University including cultural experience activities, academic forums, the Confucius Institute Day, Dragon Film Festival, thematic lectures and Chinese art exhibitions etc., which were received by Italians with enthusiasm. The events greatly promoted the exchange and appreciation of traditional Chinese culture in Italy.