Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU), a national key university under the direct administration of the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, is a unique international institution established by the People's Republic of China. As the only university named after “语言”(language) in China, BLCU is dedicated to promoting Chinese language and culture across the world. Known as “the Mini-United Nations”.
The University, focusing on the coordinated development of 11 academic discipline, has gained global recognition since the inception for its expertise in Chinese Language and Literature, Country and Regional Studies, Sinology and China Studies, Language Science, Foreign Language and Literature, with a focus on International Chinese Language Education. During his visits to visited BLCU and its Kazakhstan campus in June and July of 2024, Educational Minister Huai Jinpeng emphasized the importance of enhancing the University’s role as a hub for internationalizing Chinese higher education through the coordinated development of various disciplines.
Beijing Language and Culture University was established during the challenging early years of China's diplomatic endeavors, with personal involvement from Premier Zhou Enlai and an inscription of the University's name by Chairman Mao Zedong. The University's origins can be traced back to two predecessor institutions. The first was to provide preparatory foreign language training for students planning to study abroad. Its predecessor was the Russian Language Workshop in Yan’an in 1938 and the “Preparatory Department for Studying in the Soviet Union” established by the Beijing Russian Language School in 1952. The second was to provide preparatory Chinese language training for international students in China. Its predecessor was Tsinghua University's “Chinese Language and Literature Program for Exchange Students from Eastern Europe” in 1950. In 1962, “Higher Preparatory School for Foreign Students” was founded under the Ministry of Higher Education. In June 1962, directly instructed by Premier Zhou Enlai, the “Foreign Students Office" and the “Department for Training Personnel for Overseas Study” merged into “Higher Preparatory School for International Students”, which was directly under the administration of the Ministry of Higher Education.
Subsequently, in 1964, the institution was renamed “北京语言学院（Beijing Language Institute）” and eventually became the sole training institution for Chinese language learning for international students, foreign language education for domestic students, and training Chinese language teachers for overseas postings. The institution was further renamed as “北京语言文化大学”（Beijing Language and Culture University）in 1996 and ultimately designated as “北京语言大学 (with its previous English name retained）” in 2002.The University has assembled a group of distinguished professors and scholars with profound knowledge and high moral standards, including Zhang Qingchang, Wang Huan, Sheng Cheng, Zhong Qin, Fu Weici, Yuan Shuren, Lv Bisong, and Fang Li, among others. Currently, many scholars with deep expertise and strong integrity are actively engaged in teaching and research, serving as leaders and key figures in various academic disciplines. Han Jingtai, Feng Shengli, Wang Yichuan, Yan Chunde, Liang Xiaosheng, Hua Xuecheng, Zhang Xiping, Lu Bingfu, Wu Fuxiang, Li Yuming, Cui Xiliang, Duan Peng, Luo Lin, Cao Zhiyun, Ning Yizhong, Fang Ming, Zhang Bo, Guo Peng, Chen Rongnu, Zhao Rixin, Wang Jianqin, Liu Guilong, Shi Chunhong, Xu Baofeng and other renowned experts and scholars have achieved remarkable success in their respective fields, gaining wide recognition both domestically and internationally. The University boasts the largest, most specialized, and strongest pool of international Chinese language teachers in the country.
As the pioneer university in training Chinese language teachers for teaching Chinese to the speakers of other languages (TCSOL), a significant number of teachers are dispatched abroad annually to propagate Chinese language and culture. Over 50 of the current faculty have been selected for national, provincial, and ministerial “talent projects”. Additionally, the University houses two national-level excellent teacher teams and three municipal-level excellent teacher teams. The TSCOL teacher team and the collaborative innovation teacher team specializing in Country and Regional Studies have been recognized as the “Huang Danian-style teacher teams” of Chinese universities.
As a pioneer, founder, and leader in the field of international Chinese Language Education, the University has achieved significant milestones, including establishing China's inaugural undergraduate major in Chinese language for international students, launching the first cohort of TSCOL undergraduate and graduate programs, introducing the first doctoral program in linguistics and applied linguistics focusing on TSCOL, and establishing the first College for Teacher Education specialized in training instructors for international Chinese language education. In recent years, the University emphasis on enhancing the depth of disciplinary content and has constructed a “three leadings and three news” discipline system, namely, three leading disciplines centered around Chinese language and literature, foreign language and literature, Country and Regional Studies, and three new disciplines of language science, sinology and China studies, and international Chinese language education. This commitment has solidified the University’s position as a leader in the innovation and advancement of international Chinese language education, leading to a swift growth in its overall academic prowess. Currently, the University offers programs across 11 areas spanning literature, science, engineering, economics, management, law, education, history, art, interdisciplinary studies, and medicine. It includes 4 first-level doctoral degree programs, namely, Chinese language and literature, foreign language and literature, Country and Regional Studies, and art, as well as a professional doctoral program in international Chinese language education, 2 post-doctoral research stations, 12 master’s programs in first-level disciplines, and 12 professional master’s programs. Notably, linguistics and applied linguistics are recognized as key national disciplines. Furthermore, the University boasts one key first-level discipline and 10 key second-level disciplines in Beijing, with two disciplines, Chinese Language and Literature, and Country and Regional Studies being designated as “First-class disciplines in Beijing”.
Beijing Language and Culture University is a key institution for nurturing international talents understanding and befriending China and cultivating excellence across various fields. The University is committed to its core mission of developing individuals with integrity, as reflected in its motto “Virtue and Words for a Harmonious World” and its spirit of “Patriotism and Responsibility, Sincerity, Simplicity and Virtue, Truth-seeking and Innovation, Openness and Inclusiveness”. It focuses on producing envoys of friendship and exceptional individuals for cultural exchanges between China and other countries, emphasizing professional expertise, humanistic qualities, global vision, innovative spirit, and practical skills. The University offers 54 Bachelor programs, including 18 national first-class discipline programs, 4 municipal first-class discipline programs, 1 municipal key discipline, 7 national featured disciplines and 4 municipal featured disciplines. The University is dedicated to cultivating top-notch innovative talents by establishing the first undergraduate major in “linguistics” among domestic universities. In addition, the University's training base for top-notch students in Chinese language and literature, known as “Chinese International Communication”, has been designated as a base for the National Program for Cultivating Top Students in Basic Disciplines 2.0. The University has collaborated on eight “language + engineering” bachelor's degree programs with five other universities, including China University of Petroleum (Beijing), University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing Forestry University and China University of Mining and Technology-Beijing. Furthermore, the University has launched specialized programs such as World Sinology and Chinese Studies Internationalization Elite Experimental Class (Concurrent undergraduate, master's and doctoral programs), the Communication (Wutong Plan Talent Experimental Class), the United Nations and International Organization Talent Training Experimental Class, the Language Intelligence and Technology Experimental Class, and the Finance Experimental Class. To date, the University has trained over 300,000 international students from 189 countries and regions who are knowledgeable about Chinese language and culture. They have become the link and bridge of mutual learning among civilizations. Moreover, the University has produced hundreds of thousands of outstanding talents for China, many of whom have become celebrities in academic, political, and cultural exchange circles.
Beijing Language and Culture University is a key academic institution for research in humanities and social sciences that supports national strategies. The University actively conducts research on both Chinese and foreign languages and cultures, promotes interdisciplinary research, and produces cutting-edge scientific research results and high-quality policy advisory reports in various fields such as country and regional studies, language intelligence, language cognition, brain science, and international sinology. We have strengthened our international communication capabilities, undertook the national project “Talent Database of Chinese and Foreign Sinologists and Translators and Chinese Cultural Translation and Research Network,” and collaborated with the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee to implement the “Translation Plan of Asian Classics” proposed by General Secretary Xi Jinping at the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations to promote the translation and dissemination of Chinese culture. Leveraging our expertise in linguistics, we aim to build a language service system to support the promotion and popularization of the standard spoken and written Chinese language, the inheritance and preservation of the ethnic minorities language and Chinese dialect resources, national language services and the inheritance of the fine Chinese language and culture. The University has 33 research centers(bases) at or above the provincial and ministerial levels, including two national-level scientific platform for Country and Regional Studies Collaborative Innovation Center and International Communication Research Base and the Joint Research Institute of the Ministry of Education and the Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education. Additionally, the Research Institute of International Chinese Language Education is recognized as one of the Ministry of Education’s 100 key research bases, while the Innovation and Talent Introduction Bases for Language and Cognitive Science, World Sinology and Chinese Studies are support platforms under the “111 Program” sponsored by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security. Besides, the Language Resources Conservation Center is a professional institution of the National Language Commission to protect language resources, supported by the Beijing Municipal Education Commission; the Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Language Resources is one of the two advanced innovation centers for liberal arts in the universities of Beijing and Capital International Cultural Research Base and Beijing Documentary Linguistics and Cultural Inheritance Research Base are among the key bases in philosophy and social sciences in Beijing. Furthermore, the University has published 7 core academic journals in Chinese and English, such as the SSCI Journal of Chinese Linguistics, Yuyan Jiaoxue Yu Yanjiu (Language Teaching and Linguistic Studies), Shijie Hanyu Jiaoxue (Chinese Teaching in The World), Chinese Culture Research, and Sinology Studies, Documentary Linguistics and Country and Regional Studies. Among them, Yuyan Jiaoxue Yu Yanjiu (Language Teaching and Linguistic Studies) and Shijie Hanyu Jiaoxue（Chinese Teaching in The World）have been elected as “China’s Most Internationally Influential Academic Journals (Humanities and Social Sciences)” for consecutive years, showcasing the University's strong academic influence and contribution to the field.
Beijing Language and Culture University is an important window for promoting Chinese and foreign language education and facilitating exchanges between people from China and other countries. Since August 2023, dignitaries such as the Prime Minister of Georgia, the Speaker of the Parliament of the Republic of Tajikistan, the President of Kazakhstan, the President of Kyrgyz Republic, the President of the Republic of Ecuador, the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Foreign Minister of France, the Minister of the Privy Council of the Kingdom of Thailand and ambassadors of more than 20 counties in China, such as Russia, Japan and France, have visited, which enhanced the university’s influence in the international community and facilitated China’s Track Two diplomacy. In July 2024, President Xi Jinping and Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev attended the unveiling ceremony of the Kazakh campus of the University. It was the first Chinese university to establish a branch campus abroad, with existing campuses in Thailand and Japan, along with the Kazakhstan Branch and Princess Nora University Teaching Center. The University has developed partnerships with 527 universities and educational institutions in 81 countries and regions worldwide, fostering a comprehensive, diverse, and successful approach to international collaboration. Each year, the University welcomes over 9,000 international students from 140 countries, employs nearly 100 foreign teachers, and hosts more than 1,500 foreign guests. With students from all over the world studying together and multiple cultures mingling, the University has created a distinctive international campus, with the “World Culture Festival” as the flagship campus cultural event. Additionally, around 100 teachers are sent abroad annually for teaching assignments, and over 500 students participate in exchange programs. As one of China’s pioneering institutions in establishing Confucius Institutes, the University boasts the largest number of Confucius Institutes (29) and has been recognized multiple times as an “Outstanding Confucius Institute Chinese Partners of the Year.” Furthermore, the University actively supports people-to-people exchanges between China and other countries, hosting the World Conference of Sinologists twice, having established 37 World Sinologists Councils and 21 overseas branches of Sinology Centers, leading initiatives in youth development as part of the “10+10 Cooperation Plan for Sino-Arab Universities” and establishing 19 World Council of Sinologists and 12 overseas branches of the Center for Sinology.
