The National Base for Language Service Export at Beijing Language and University (BLCU) was established in March 2022 as a national specialized service export base jointly approved by the Ministry of Commerce, the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, the Ministry of Education, the China International Publishing Group, and other government bodies. Guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, the base serves the national strategy of high-quality development and opening-up, promotes the deep integration of language services and information technology, explores collaborative innovation among government, industry, academia, research, and end-users, comprehensively enhances language service capabilities, and provides solid support for trade in services, cultural exchanges, and cultural dissemination.
The base focuses on four core areas: first, talent cultivation, offering long-term and short-term training programs to nurture interdisciplinary Chinese and foreign professionals in fields such as localized technology, international communication, and business language services; second, university-enterprise collaboration, establishing a model internship and practice base for the integration of industry and education in language services; third, discipline development, building high-level master's, doctoral, and postdoctoral programs in language services; fourth, think tank research, providing decision-making consultation and policy recommendations for governments and enterprises.
Since its approval, the National Language Service Export Base has achieved a series of accomplishments:
1. Produced 14 monographs and research reports, published over 40 core papers, and undertook 6 national and provincial-level research projects. Received multiple approvals from central and national ministries and commissions, one outstanding achievement in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei industrial collaboration, and a second prize in the Service Trade Research Award; published over 50 articles in authoritative media; participated in the formulation of 3 language service industry standards; and obtained 1 patent.
2. The program offers master's and doctoral degrees in the secondary discipline of "International Language Services" (0502Z5). The faculty team includes 5 professors and 3 doctoral supervisors. The discipline's achievements contributed to the MTI program's A+ rating in the discipline evaluation. A 20-member expert committee was established, and 5 online language service courses were developed. One national-level and one Beijing municipal-level virtual simulation experimental teaching project were approved. Over 30 lectures were held, with more than 2,000 participants. Three visiting scholars were trained, and industry-academia collaborations were established with more than 10 renowned enterprises.
3. Enrolled 18 master's, doctoral, and postdoctoral students in the International Language Services program, achieving a 100% employment rate; hosted an outstanding undergraduate summer camp for three consecutive years, attracting hundreds of undergraduates; and was approved as an examination center for the International Chinese Language Communication Teacher Certificate.
Looking ahead, the base will be developed into a model language service export demonstration base with distinctive features in talent cultivation, leading domestic discipline development and academic achievements, and strong think tank service capabilities, providing talent and intellectual support for serving national strategies and industry development.
Website Link:https://ls.blcu.edu.cn
