The University of International Relations (UIR; ) is a

national National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

public university A public university or public college is a university or college that is in owned by the state or receives significant public funds through a national or subnational government, as opposed to a private university. Whether a national universit ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. Its former English name is translated as "Institute of International Relations." It is also colloquially known as "Guoguan" (国关 Guó Gūan). The Institute for International Relations was established in 1949 by the first Premier of the People's Republic of China,

Zhou Enlai Zhou Enlai (; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman and military officer who served as the first Premier of the People's Republic of China, premier of the People's Republic of China from 1 October 1949 until his death on 8 J ...

, to train diplomats. It became one of the

National Key Universities National Key Universities () previously referred to universities recognized as prestigious and which received a high level of support from the central government of the People's Republic of China. The term is no longer in official use by 1990s. Th ...

in 1960, and was one of first in China to offer master's degrees. In 1983, the school was the first foreign studies institute in China to become a comprehensive university. In 2021, the school began to offer its first Ph.D. program. The university is linked to the Ministry of State Security, the country's principal civilian intelligence agency, according to researchers and think tanks such as the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

History

The University of International Relations was founded in 1949 to train foreign affairs cadres for the newly created People's Republic of China. In 1961, the school merged with the Foreign Affairs College. In 1964, then-Premier

ordered the creation of colleges and university departments to focus on international affairs. Several government agencies, including the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

and the International Liaison Department of the Chinese Communist Party, established their own institutes for the study of international affairs. The University of International Relations in Beijing was formally brought under the control of the Ministry of Public Security in 1965, and was charged with training intelligence agents for the Investigation Department (a precursor to the Ministry of State Security) and for

Xinhua News Agency Xinhua News Agency (English pronunciation: )J. C. Wells: Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, 3rd ed., for both British and American English, or New China News Agency, is the official state news agency of the People's Republic of China. Xinhua ...

. Like many schools in China, the University of International Relations was shuttered during China's

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...

and reopened in 1978. It was among the first institutions of higher education authorized by the Chinese government to offer academic degrees in China. The university began to offer a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

program in

Politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

in 2021.

Affiliations

Chinese government sources and the university's website maintain that UIR operates under the direction of the

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

; however, the university does not appear on the Ministry of Education's list of subordinate universities. Many researchers contend that the university, along with Jiangnan Social University, is part of the Ministry of State Security (MSS), China's civilian national intelligence agency. UIR Gymnasium

Partnerships

The university maintains partnerships and exchanges with

Marietta College Marietta College (MC) is a private liberal arts college in Marietta, Ohio. It offers more than 50 undergraduate majors across the arts, sciences, and engineering, as well as Physician Assistant, Psychology, Clinical Mental Health Counseling, a ...

University of Massachusetts Boston The University of Massachusetts Boston (stylized as UMass Boston) is a Public university, public research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the only public research university in Boston and the third-largest campus in the five-campus Un ...

Aalborg University Aalborg University (AAU) is a Danish public university with campuses in Aalborg, Esbjerg, and Copenhagen founded in 1974. The university awards bachelor's degrees, master's degrees, and PhD degrees in a wide variety of subjects within humanitie ...

Toulouse 1 University Capitole Founded in 1229, the Toulouse 1 Capitole University (Université Toulouse I Capitole) is one of the three universities of the city of Toulouse, in southwestern France. This university, presided by Hugues Kenfack, focuses on the social sciences ( ...

Hiroshima University is a Japanese national university located in Higashihiroshima and Hiroshima, Japan. Established in 1929, it was chartered as a university in 1949 following the merge of a number of national educational institutions. History Under the Nationa ...

Hiroshima City University is a public university at Hiroshima, Hiroshima, Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of ...

Ibaraki University , Japan, is a national university located in Ibaraki Prefecture, with campuses in the cities of Mito, Ami and Hitachi. It was established on May 31, 1949, integrating these prewar institutions: Mito High School (Mito Kōtō-Gakkō), Ibaraki No ...

, among others.

Notable alumni

An Min An Min (; ca. 1050 – 1125) was an official stone carver during the Song Dynasty. The story of An Min is included in the book '' History of Song'', where his honorable character and outstanding moral principles are praised. Work An Min was wo ...

, former Vice President of the

Ministry of Commerce A Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry or variations is a ministry that is concerned with a nation's trade, industry and commerce. Notable examples are: List *Algeria: Ministry of Industry and ...

* Du Wei, diplomat, former Chinese ambassador to Israel *

Liu Huan Liu Huan (born August 26, 1963, in Tianjin) is a Chinese singer and songwriter. He is one of China's modern era pioneers in pop music. He combines his music career with teaching the history of Western music at the Beijing University of Interna ...

, artist, singer of the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

theme song * Ma Jun, environmentalist, non-fiction writer, and journalist * Mei Feng, screenwriter, Prix du scénario (Best Screenplay Award) winner of 2009 Cannes Film Festival *

Qin Gang Qin Gang (; born 19 March 1966) is a Chinese diplomat and politician who has been serving as Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2022, making him China's second highest ranked diplomat after CCP Politburo member Wang Yi. He previously served as V ...

, the 11th Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to the United States * Wan Fan (scholar), President of

China Foreign Affairs University China Foreign Affairs University (CFAU; ) is a public university for diplomats located in Beijing, China. It is jointly administrated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Education. It is a Chinese state Double First Class Un ...

Yan Xuetong Yan Xuetong (born 7 December 1952) is a Chinese political scientist and serves as a distinguished professor and dean of the Institute of International Relations at Tsinghua University. Yan is one of the major Chinese figures in the study of intern ...

, Director of the Institute of International Studies,

Tsinghua University Tsinghua University (; abbreviation, abbr. THU) is a National university, national Public university, public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, Minis ...

Zou Jiayi Zou Jiayi ( zh, s=邹加怡, p=Zōu Jiāyí; born June 1963) is a Chinese politician, a current vice minister of the Ministry of Finance of the People's Republic of China. Zou is a director of China Investment Corporation. Early life Zou was born ...

, Vice Minister of the

Ministry of Finance of the People's Republic of China The Ministry of Finance of the People's Republic of China () is the cabinet-level executive department of the State Council which administers macroeconomic policies and the annual budget. It also handles fiscal policy, economic regulations ...

, non-executive director of the board of directors of

China Investment Corporation China Investment Corporation (CIC) ( Chinese: 中国投资有限责任公司; pinyin: ''zhōngguó tóuzī yǒuxiàn zérèn gōngsī'') is a sovereign wealth fund that manages part of the People's Republic of China's foreign exchange reserves. ...

References

External links