Beijing Foreign Studies University

(copied from the website)
BFSU is engaged in extensive international cooperation ad exchanges activities. It has established academic links with 165 international institutions of higher education from over 45 countries and regions over the last two decades.

China first enrolled international students in the 1950s. The number of overseas students in Chinese universities rose quickly after China endorsed the reforms and opening up policies two decades ago. BFSU has recruited 3,183 long-term international students from 37 countries, including 466 undergraduate students from Japan and 2,226 short-term overseas students. Some of them have returned to their home countries to take up positions in related areas and some are working at their embassies in China.

BFSU receives a number of governmental, diplomatic, educational and cultural visits from around the world each year. A number of distinguished public figures, including state leaders have also visited BFSU, including German Chancellor Kohl, Australian Premier Hawk and Swedish Prime Minister Perrson in the past.

BFSU recruits around 70 international faculty members each year, which tops other universities in China. The international faculty members are well-recognized for their contributions to BFSU in improving the qualities of teaching, developing new programs, offering teacher’s training and expanding academic links overseas.

Additional Information

There are 9 academic departments at BFSU. They are departments of English, German, French, Arabic, Spanish, Japanese, Afro-Asian Languages, East European Languages and Social Sciences. In addition, there are 7 schools and institutes at BFSU. They are School of Russian, Graduate School of Translation and Interpretation, School of English Communication, School of Adult Education, School of International Economy and Trade, School of International Exchange and Research Institute of Foreign Languages and Culture. Other facilities include the University A-V Center, and the University Library.

BFSU offers 30 undergraduate programs in foreign language studies including English, Russian, French, German, Japanese, Spanish, Arabic, Italian, Swedish, Portuguese, Kampuchean, Vietnamese, Lao, Burmese, Thai, Indonesian, Malay, Sinhalese, Turkish, Korean, Swahili, Hausa, Polish, Czech, Hungary, Romanian, Bulgarian, Serbo-Croatian, and Albanian. BFSU also provides undergraduate programs in information management, Chinese as a foreign language, international economy and trade, and international studies.

BFSU provides post-graduate programs leading to a master’s degree in arts or a doctoral degree in philosophy. BFSU has 7 Ph.D. programs in the areas of English Language and Literature, Russian Language and Literature, German Language and Literature, Arabic Language and Literature, Japanese Language and Literature, Spanish Language and Literature, and European Languages and Literature. BFSU also offers post-doctoral fellowships in Foreign Languages and Literature studies. There are 11 MA programs at BFSU including English, Russian, German, Arabic, Japanese, Spanish, European Languages, French, Afro-Asian Languages, linguistics and applied linguistics in foreign languages, and linguistics and applied linguistics in Chinese. English Language and Literature at BFSU is a state-recognized key study of the discipline.

BFSU offers the largest number of language learning programs and other interdisciplinary studies in China. The university draws the support from her highly-qualified and well-recognized faculty and staff in teaching and research in the areas of foreign language studies, literature, linguistics, translation and culture studies. Two of the professors at BFSU are members of the Academic Disciplines Subcomittee of the Academic Degrees Committee under the State Council; Twelve professors at BFSU sit on the University English Teaching Steering Committee under the MOE. Four professors are recognized by the state for their distinguished academic achievements. Another 115 faculty members are recognized by the state for their academic performance and receive state subsidies. The faculty members at BFSU have scored fruitful results in teaching and research in their academic fields over the past decades. They have contributed to the training of qualified professionals well-versed in foreign languages and to the progress of BFSU’ s teaching, research and program development. Many of them have become leading figures in their academic fields and enjoy good reputation in the academic community.

BFSU has won the name of “garden university” with her attractive physical environment for learning in the Western suburbs of Beijing. The campus occupies an area of 304,553 square meters, with a student dorm area of 40,000 m2 and a library of 9997 m2. Other facilities on campus include an A-V Center, dinner halls, a university hospital, a stadium and tennis courts.

BFSU was qualified for the first round of the competition in her efforts to enter the “ 211Project”, launched by the Ministry of Education in 1996. The initial success is a hallmark in the history of the development of BFSU. BFSU aims at developing into a world class university known for her excellence in language learning/research and multi-disciplinary studies and providing learning opportunities to cater the growing needs in the Chinese society for well-training and competent professionals with high levels of proficiency in foreign languages.

Beijing Foreign Studies University evolved from the Yan’ an School of Foreign Languages based on the Russian Language Unit of the Third Branch of the Chinese People’ s Anti-Japanese Military and Political College. The latter was established by the Chinese Communist Party in response to the development of the war against the Japanese invasion. Ever since her initiation, the Party Central Committee and the late Chinese leaders, including Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, has provided great care and teachings for the development of the university. BFSU has been China’ s principal base offering excellent training in foreign language learning and teaching. The university has turned out a large number of graduates with high levels of proficiency in foreign languages, who work in government departments of foreign relations or related areas since 1949. In her history of over half a century, Chinese leaders Zhou Enlai, Zhu De, Chen Yi, Ye Jianying, Yang Shangkun, Liao Chengzhi, among others, have provided great care and guidance to the university. BFSU was affiliated to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from her establishment to the early 1980s and it is currently a key university under MOE.

During the 90s, BFSU boosted up its cooperation and exchanges with 53 major foreign universities and educational institutions. The activities include academic conferences, visits and student exchanges programs and exchange of information and teaching resources. Since 1981, BFSU has offered overseas study and training to 846 teachers and students in over 46 countries and regions for periods of six months or above

Due to these extensive international cooperation and exchanges, BFSU enjoys a good reputation overseas. BFSU is also known for its excellent pool of international faculty members. The university attracts outstanding academics throughout the world. As a result, teaching and research capabilities have been improved.

Besides its multi-lingual environment, BFSU’s outstanding teaching and research strength in foreign language studies in the region and in the world as a whole makes it an ideal venue to host a variety of international academic conferences. The university hosts 8 to 10 international conferences each year. Conferences held in the past few years include the International Germanic Symposium, the Asia-Pacific French Language Teaching Symposium, the International Editorial Conference of Russian Journals, the First Sino-U.S. Symposium, the International Spanish Studies Symposium, the International Symposium on Japanese Studies and Japanese Studies in China, the Italian Studies Symposium and the Arabic Culture Studies Symposium.