Shanghai International Studies University (SISU; ) is China's leading university in linguistics, cultural studies, and global and area studies. Established in December 1949, SISU is known for being one of the earliest institutions where China's higher education in foreign languages took shape. It was listed in the Double First Class University identified by the Ministry of Education and former Project 211. As of 2021, Shanghai International Studies University ranked no.3 nationwide among universities specialized on languages teaching and research in the widely recognized

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 ...

History

After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the East China office of the

Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, officially the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is a political body that comprises the top leaders of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It is currently composed of 205 fu ...

() and the government of the Shanghai Municipality decided to establish an institute for higher education in Russian studies to cultivate qualified diplomats and translators for international affairs. With the support of Mayor

Chen Yi Chen Yi may refer to: * Xuanzang (602–664), born as Chen Yi, Chinese Buddhist monk in Tang Dynasty * Chen Yi (Kuomintang) Chen Yi (; courtesy names Gongxia (公俠) and later Gongqia (公洽), sobriquet Tuisu (退素); May 3, 1883 – June ...

, the Shanghai Russian School () was officially established in December 1949. Jiang Chunfang, one of the most famous Russian translators in China and the first chief editor of the ''

Encyclopedia of China The ''Encyclopedia of China'' () is the first large-entry modern encyclopedia in the Chinese language. The compilation began in 1978. Published by the Encyclopedia of China Publishing House, the encyclopedia was issued one volume at a time, begin ...

'', was appointed the school's first president. In 1950, the department of English was established and the college was incorporated as the foreign language school affiliated to the East China People's Revolution University (). The department of oriental language and literature was founded in April, 1951 and languages as Burmese,

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

had respectively been introduced to teaching. Later in 1952, a nationwide restructuring of institutes of higher education began in China, and the department of oriental language and literature was incorporated into

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 charter ...

. The college was renamed as Shanghai Russian College that specialise in teaching

Russian language Russian (russian: русский язык, russkij jazyk, link=no, ) is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language mainly spoken in Russia. It is the First language, native language of the Russians, and belongs to the Indo-European langua ...

. The university was used to be widely known as Shanghai Foreign Language Institute () since its expansion in 1956 and became a national key university approved by the State Council in 1963 with the department of

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

, English (re-established), French,

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 ...

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 ...

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

and

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

. Approved by the Ministry of Education in 1994, it was officially renamed as Shanghai International Studies University (). In the same year, it was listed as one of the first colleges and universities jointly supervised by the national Ministry of Education and the Municipality of Shanghai. In 1996, SISU passed the evaluation process of former

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 ...

directed by the Ministry of Education, and then, SISU was included in the

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 ...

Academics

Schools and Departments

Ranking

Shanghai International studies university is ranked the 76th in the QS BRICS 2016, the 142nd in the QS Asian University Rankings, and its linguistics is ranked 151–200 in the QS ranking by subject. As of 2021, Shanghai International Studies University ranked no.3 nationwide among universities specialized on languages teaching and research in the widely recognized

Graduate Education

There are 33

Master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

's Programs:(30 research programs) Adult Education, Ancient Chinese Literature, Arabic Language and Literature, Asian-African Languages and Literatures, Chinese and Foreign Political Institution, Chinese Linguistics and Philology, Communication, Comparative Literature and World Literature, Corporate Management, Curriculum and Teaching Methodology, Diplomacy, Education in Ideology and Politics, Educational Technology, English Language and Literature, European Languages and Literatures, Finance, French Language and Literature, Foreign Linguistics and Applied Linguistics, German Language and Literature, International Politics, International Relations, International Trade, Japanese Language and Literature, Journalism, Linguistics and Applied Linguistics, Modern and Contemporary Chinese Literature, Russian Language and Literature, Spanish Language and Literature, Technology Economy and Management, Translation Studies; (3 taught programs) Translation and Interpreting (MTI), Business Administration (MBA), Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages (MTCSOL). There are 12 Doctoral Programs: English Language and Literature, Russian Language and Literature, French Language and Literature, German Language and Literature, Japanese Language and Literature, Arabic Language and Literature, Asian and African Languages and Literatures, Translation Studies, International Relations, Foreign Linguistics and Applied Linguistics, International Politics, Diplomacy. The Graduate Institute of Interpretation and Translation (GIIT) of SISU is awarded the highest ranking by AIIC, the

International Association of Conference Interpreters The International Association of Conference Interpreters - AIIC (AIIC – Association Internationale des Interprètes de Conférence) was founded in 1953. It represents over 3,000 members present in over 100 countries. Overview AIIC is the only ...

, as the only Asian university among the 15 top professional conference interpreting schools in the world.

Global Presence

The University has entered into partnerships with 286 universities and institutions in 55 countries and regions.(en)

Campus

SISU has two campuses, one in

Hongkou District , formerly spelled Hongkew, is a District of the People's Republic of China, district of Shanghai, forming part of the northern urban core. It has a land area of and a population of 852,476 as of 2010. It is the location of the Astor House, Sh ...

and one in

Songjiang District Songjiang is a suburban district (formerly a county) of Shanghai. It has a land area of and a population of 1,582,398 (2010). Owing to a long history, Songjiang is known as the cultural root of Shanghai. Songjiang Town, the urban center of the ...

Hongkou Campus

The Hongkou campus is located in the center of Shanghai, covering 16.9 hectares.

Songjiang Campus

The Songjiang campus is in Shanghai's Songjiang New District, covering an area of 53.3 hectares.

Notable people

Notable alumni

Wang Yeping Wang Yeping (, born 12 February 1928) is a Chinese politician who is the widow of Jiang Zemin, former General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (''de facto'' paramount leader) and President of the People's Republic of China (''de jure'' ...

- Former First Lady of China (wife of

Jiang Zemin Jiang Zemin (17 August 1926 – 30 November 2022) was a Chinese politician who served as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1989 to 2002, as chairman of the Central Military Commission from 1989 to 2004, and as pres ...

) *

Li Linsi Li Linsi (; 1896 – 1970); birth name Li Jiaxiang (), was a modern Chinese educator, diplomat and scholar, who has been recognized as one of the key figures in modern Chinese cultural and diplomatic history. Hailed as China's Mahatma Gandhi, ...

- Former diplomatic consultant to

Chiang Kai-shek Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 ...

* Yang Chao - Former Chairman of

China Life Insurance Company China Life Insurance Company Limited (short China Life, ) is a Beijing-headquartered China-incorporated company that provides life insurance and annuity In investment, an annuity is a series of payments made at equal intervals.Kellison, Stephe ...

, Fortune Global 500 and China's biggest insurance corporation * Zhou Zhongshu - President of China Minmetals Corporation, ranked 192 among Fortune Global 500 *

Li Jinjun Li Jinjun (; born May 1956) is a Chinese diplomat who has served as Chinese Ambassador to Myanmar, the Philippines, and North Korea. Life and career Li was born and raised in Jiangyin, Jiangsu. He entered Shanghai International Studies Universit ...

- Chinese Ambassador to the

Democratic People's Republic of Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and ...

, former Vice Minister of International Liaison Department of the Chinese Communist Party *

Joan Chen Joan Chen (born April 26, 1961) is a Chinese-American actress and film director. In China, she performed in the 1979 film and came to the attention of American audiences for her performance in the 1987 film ''The Last Emperor''. She is also ...

Chinese American Chinese Americans are Americans of Han Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans along with their ancestors trace lineage from ...

actress, film director,

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

, and

film producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...

Zhang Hanhui Zhang Hanhui (; born October 1963) is a Chinese politician and diplomat currently serving as the List of ambassadors of China to Russia, Chinese Ambassador to Russia. Previously he served as deputy minister of Foreign Affairs and List of ambassad ...

- Ambassador of China to Russia and formerly Kazakhstan *

Chen Chen Chen Chen (born March 9, 1989) is a Chinese-American poet. His book, ''When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities'', has been longlisted for the 2017 National Book Awards. Chen has served as the Jacob Ziskind Poet-in-Residence at ...

- television presenter and host

References

External links

Shanghai International Studies University

Shanghai International Studies University (English Homepage)

Shanghai International Studies University School of Chinese Studies and Exchange
* {{Coord, 31.277157, N, 121.482911, E, display=title Project 211 Universities and colleges in Shanghai Language education in China Hongkou District 1949 establishments in China Educational institutions established in 1949