West gate of BFSU East Campus (20180125141551)

Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU; ), is a

public university A public university or public college is a university or college that is in owned by the state or receives significant public funds through a national or subnational government, as opposed to a private university. Whether a national universi ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...

, China. BFSU boasts the oldest language programs in China offering the largest number of foreign language majors on different educational levels. Located in

Haidian District Haidian District () is a district of the municipality of Beijing. It is mostly situated in northwestern Beijing, but also to a lesser extent in the west, where it has borders with Xicheng District and Fengtai District. It is 431 square km in ar ...

of Beijing BFSU is divided into east and west campuses. BFSU offers the widest range of language studies in China: as of September 2019, there are 101 foreign languages being taught in this university. It is a Chinese state Double First Class University identified by

Chinese Ministry of Education The Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China is a cabinet-level department under the State Council responsible for basic education, vocational education, higher education, and other educational affairs across the country. The ...

. BFSU is commonly known as Beiwai () in Mandarin. Beijing Foreign Studies University is a sister school to

Peking University Peking University (PKU; ) is a public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education. Peking University was established as the Imperial University of Peking in 1898 when it received its royal charte ...

(PKU) which is also subordinate to the Ministry of Education. For this reason BFSU students are able to register for courses at PKU. BFSU alumni are well known in Chinese diplomacy circles such as the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The enti ...

and Ministry of State Security. Around 400 ambassadors and over 1,000 counselors graduated from BFSU. BFSU is thus known as the “Cradle of Diplomats”. As of 2021, Beijing Foreign Studies University ranked no.1 among universities specializing in language and research according to the latest edition of the

Best Chinese Universities Ranking The Best Chinese Universities Ranking (BCUR) is a ranking table of Chinese institutions of higher education. It is compiled by Shanghai Ruanke, the same agency that is behind the Academic Ranking of World Universities The ''Academic Ranking o ...

. The university consistently features in the top 100 international universities in linguistics as ranked by the

QS World University Rankings ''QS World University Rankings'' is an annual publication of university rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS). The QS system comprises three parts: the global overall ranking, the subject rankings (which name the world's top universities for th ...

History

BFSU was affiliated with the

from its establishment in 1941 to the early 1980s and was classified a

national key university National Key Universities () previously referred to universities recognized as prestigious and which received a high level of support from the central government of the People's Republic of China. The term is no longer in official use by 1990s. The ...

under the

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

. BFSU qualified for the first round of the competition in its efforts to enter

Project 211 Project 211 () was an abolished project of developing comprehensive universities and colleges initiated in 1995 by the Ministry of Education of China, with the intent of raising the research standards of comprehensive universities and cultiva ...

, a university development plan launched by the Ministry of Education in 1996. BFSU is directly under the leadership of the Chinese Ministry of Education. BFSU is one of China's top universities listed under "

Double First Class University Plan The World First Class University and First Class Academic Discipline Construction (), together known as Double First Class (), is a tertiary education development initiative designed by the People's Republic of China central government in 2015 ...

", former “

” and " Project 985 Innovative Platforms for Key Disciplines". BFSU has more than 3,000 international students from all over the world, more than 100 countries. Especially,

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

, Malaysian (IBS) and

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

students (School of Chinese Language and Literature) are the largest ethnic groups on campus. Some foreign students study only in Mandarin with Chinese students but most of the foreign students select international business school undergraduate program which is taught in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

and can take

Chinese language Chinese (, especially when referring to written Chinese) is a group of languages spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and many minority ethnic groups in Greater China. About 1.3 billion people (or approximately 16% of the ...

courses. More than 70 years, over 90,000 people have graduated from the Beijing Foreign Studies University.　

Teaching institutions

* International Business School (IBS) * School of International Relations and Diplomacy (SIRD) * School of English and International Studies (SEIS) * School of Law (BFSULAW) * School of English for Specific Purposes (SESP) * School of European Languages and Cultures (SELC) * School of International Journalism and Communication (SIJC) * School of Asian Studies * School of African Studies * School of Arabic Studies * School of Russian * School of Marxism * School of Chinese Language and Literature * School of Art and Research * Graduate School for Translation and Interpreting * School of French * School of German * School of Spanish and Portuguese * School of Japanese * School of Computer Science * School of Physical Education * School of Information Science and Technology * School of History

Rankings and reputation

Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press (20220624091827)

BFSU is a

research university A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are the most important sites at which knowledge production occurs, along with "intergenerational kn ...

specializing in foreign language studies. BFSU ranked 17th out of almost 3,000 higher education institutions in China according to statistics based on

National College Entrance Examination The National College Entrance Examination (NCEE), commonly known as the gaokao (), is a standardized college entrance exam held annually in mainland China. It is required for entrance into almost all higher education institutions at the under ...

(Gaokao) from 2012 to 2020. As of 2021 Beijing Foreign Studies University ranked no.1 among universities in China specializing in language studies and research in the recent edition of the

. The university consistently features in the top 100 international universities in linguistics as ranked by the

by subjects. BFSU is also highly ranked by the world universities rankings in "Arts and Humanities", "Modern Languages", " English Language and Literature" and "Education".

Notable people

* Gao Xingjian, Chinese French novelist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature "For an Oeuvre of Universal Validity, Bitter Insights and Linguistic Ingenuity." Graduated from the Department of French. *

Jin Liqun Jin Liqun (; born August 1949) is a Chinese politician, banker, and professor. He is currently the President of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). He was formerly the Chairman of China International Capital Corporation, the Vice Pre ...

, President of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and Former Vice President of Asian Development Bank (ADB) * Thae Yong-ho, Member of the

National Assembly (South Korea) The National Assembly of the Republic of Korea, often shortened to the National Assembly in domestic English-language media, is the unicameral national legislature of South Korea. Elections to the National Assembly are held every four years. T ...

. North Korean-born South Korean politician, and former DPRK's deputy

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or s ...

to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

. The first North Korean defector to win a

. * Cui Tiankai, Chinese diplomat and longest-serving Chinese

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or s ...

to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. *

Yang Lan Yang Lan (; born March 31, 1968) is a Chinese media proprietor, journalist, and talk show host. She is the co-founder and chairperson of the Sun Media Group and the Sun Culture Foundation. In 2013, she was ranked number 100 in ''Forbes'' magazin ...

, co-founder and chairperson of the Sun Media Group and the Sun Culture Foundation.

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

magazine's 100 World's Most Powerful Women. * He Jiong, ranked 53rd on

China Celebrity 100 list. * Hao Ping, present president of

, former president of Beijing Foreign Studies University. *

Hu Xijin Hu Xijin (; born 7 April 1960) is a Chinese journalist and the former editor-in-chief and party secretary of the conservative popular media ''Global Times'', a tabloid under the auspices of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s official ''People ...

, former editor-in-chief of

Global Times The ''Global Times'' () is a daily tabloid newspaper under the auspices of the Chinese Communist Party's flagship newspaper, the '' People's Daily'', commenting on international issues from a Chinese ultra-nationalistic perspective. The pub ...

References

External links

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{{Authority control Universities and colleges in Haidian District Language education in China Project 211 Educational institutions established in 1941 1941 establishments in China