2026 Scholarship Application Notice for Current International Students at BFSU-Overseas Students Affairs Office

About the university

Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU), located in Haidian District, Beijing, is a full-time regular institution of higher education established by the state and directly under the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the first batch of universities under the "211 Project," a member of the "985" Advantage Discipline Innovation Platform, one of the first batch of "Double First-Class" construction universities, and one of the six "small-scale pilot universities" designated by the Ministry of Finance. BFSU is also a member of the International Association of Translation and Interpreting Schools, the Beijing-Hong Kong University Alliance, the China-UK Humanities Alliance for Higher Education, the China-Japan Humanities Exchange University Alliance, the Yanhe University Talent Cultivation Alliance, and the China-Russia Comprehensive University Alliance. It has been selected for the "2011 Plan," the National High-Level University Public-Sponsored Graduate Program, and the National College Student Cultural Quality Education Base. The university traces its origins to the Russian Language Team of the Third Branch of the Chinese People's Anti-Japanese Military and Political University, established in Yan'an in 1941. It subsequently evolved through stages including the Military Commission Russian Language School, Yan'an Foreign Languages School, the Foreign Languages Department of North China United University, and the Central Foreign Affairs School. In 1949, it became Beijing Foreign Languages School; in 1954, with the approval of the State Council, it was established as Beijing Foreign Languages Institute; in 1959, Beijing Foreign Languages Institute merged with Beijing Russian Language Institute to form a new Beijing Foreign Languages Institute; in November 1981, it was authorized to confer master's and doctoral degrees, becoming one of the first institutions in China with such authority; and in 1994, it was renamed Beijing Foreign Studies University. As of November 2024, according to the university's official website, BFSU has two campuses, East and West, with 30 teaching units, offering 121 undergraduate programs. It has 2 first-level doctoral degree authorization points, 11 first-level master's degree authorization points, and 8 professional master's degree authorization categories. The university has over 1,300 faculty and staff, more than 5,700 undergraduate students, over 3,900 graduate students, and over 1,300 international students. The library holds nearly 1.57 million print books in Chinese and foreign languages, over 2.16 million electronic books in Chinese and foreign languages, 1,081 types of Chinese and foreign newspapers and periodicals, and 107 databases in Chinese and foreign languages.