Agenda set for fresh challenges

Established in 1941, Beijing Foreign Studies University is China's first institution of higher education that specializes in foreign languages. This year marks its 80th anniversary. Best wishes and happy birthday to BFSU! 

In celebration of its 80th anniversary, Beijing Foreign Studies University is hosting a number of diverse events between Sept 17 and 26 that emphasize its goals to help the world understand a changing China and to enable China to understand the diversified world.

This year, the celebrations include international conferences and forums to boost cultural exchanges, academic lectures, stage performances, a collective wedding-style, commemorative event for married couples who are alumni, as well as the opening of its two museums, one about world languages and the other focusing on the university's history.

"The 80th anniversary celebrations are a comprehensive display of the university's history under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, a vivid record of the university's advancement, and a snapshot of China's higher education in foreign languages," Yang Dan, president of the university, tells China Daily.

Beijing Foreign Studies University is China's first higher education institution of foreign languages founded by the CPC. Established in 1941 in Yan'an, Shaanxi province, it was originally known as the Russian Language Team in the Third Branch of Chinese People's Anti-Japanese Military and Political College.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, in 1954 the school was renamed as the Beijing Foreign Languages Institute. In 1994, it took on its current name, Beijing Foreign Studies University, and is now listed under Project 985's Innovation Platform, Project 211 and the national Double First-Class initiative.

The hallmark of the university is its courses providing training in 101 languages－the most offered by any Chinese university－covering those used by countries China has diplomatic relationships with, 47 of which are only available at BFSU.

Yang says that the university has the tradition and strength for engaging in international communication and telling the stories of China, particularly focusing on the three aspects of traditional China, contemporary China and the current affairs and politics of China.

When telling China's stories to an international audience, it is important to tell them using the mother tongue of the audience, according to Yang. He says, quoting Nelson Mandela: "If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart."

The university has been engaging in the training of Sinologists for over 10 years, and has set up a training base for Sinologists, as well as 23 Confucius Institutes and Confucius classes in 18 countries.

It has also published a multilingual book series on introducing China, and another on the key concepts in Chinese thought and culture, containing more than 900 concepts in Chinese philosophy, history and art in 17 languages.

"Internationalism is the distinctive feature of our education," Yang says. "It is also a sense of mission for our university, to be rooted in the fertile soil of Chinese culture, to make good use of our advantage in languages, and to tell the stories of China well and make the voice of China heard, in order to present a true, multidimensional and panoramic view of China."

According to Yang, internationalization continues to be among BFSU's key strategies during China's 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25), but instead of simply following the example of Western universities, the institution intends to create its own path, applicable in a local context.

"The essence of internationalization is to find the power of transcendence from differences," Yang says.

Wang Dinghua, the university's Party secretary, says: "It is an important issue faced by foreign studies universities to accelerate the training of global governance talent, especially high-caliber talent adapted to the needs of international organizations. We want our students to become confident, composed and dynamic figures in the international arena."

And a cross-cultural approach should be adopted when cultivating international talent, Wang adds.

Earlier this month, the university launched its new book, Global Indexes 2021, and released for the first time a series of indexes, both of which are the research findings of the Global Indexes project led by Yang. The project was established to introduce a quantitative, comprehensive and comprehensible way of learning about the world.

The indexes cover a diverse range of fields, including the level of intelligent innovation of countries, impact of international organizations, global impact of Chinese universities, as well as accounting information assessment of listed companies in China.

Among them, the indexes of country-specific translation capacity and the translation capacity of Chinese universities have been released this May.

"During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, BFSU will continue to deepen the research of these indexes from diverse perspectives, dimensions and disciplines," Yang says.

"We hope to create a multidisciplinary path that combines the research methods of foreign languages and literature with those of social sciences, and features the applied measurement of humanities and social sciences research."

Many universities from home and abroad have extended their congratulations on the university's 80th anniversary, including the University of Chicago in the United States, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in the Republic of Korea, and University of Malaya in Malaysia.

"Beijing Foreign Studies University serves as an important education base for aspiring diplomats and professionals alike, setting it apart from its peers and building on its international reputation," Juan de Pablo, vice-president of the University of Chicago, writes in a letter of congratulations, expressing a wish to continue the partnership between the two universities.

For the university's future goals, Yang says he hopes that BFSU will become a world-class language service provider, a world-class narrator of China's stories and a world-class force in empowering global governance.

He also expresses his expectations of the university's students. "Now our undergraduates are around 20 years old," he says. "By 2050, when China fully achieves modernization, they will be about 50, serving as the pillars of China and the world. Their values, perceptions and abilities will determine China's future, as well as the future landscape of the world."