Beijing Language and Culture University

Beijing Language and Culture University is a key university directly administered by the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China. It is the only international university founded in the People’s Republic with “language” in its name and the dissemination of Chinese language and culture as its principal mission, and is known as the “Little United Nations.” Since its founding, it has developed into a world-renowned university distinguished by international Chinese language education, with strengths in Chinese language and literature, area and country studies, Sinology and China studies, language sciences, and foreign languages and literature, and coordinated development across 11 disciplines.

As a pioneer, founder and leader of international Chinese language education as a discipline, the university established China’s first Chinese language undergraduate program for international students, its first undergraduate and postgraduate programs in teaching Chinese as a foreign language, its first doctoral authorization in linguistics and applied linguistics specializing in teaching Chinese as a foreign language, and its first teacher education school dedicated to training international Chinese language teachers.

BLCU is a leading institution for cultivating internationally minded people who understand and are friendly toward China and an important base for outstanding talent in many fields. It upholds its fundamental task of fostering virtue and educating people, its motto “Virtue in Conduct and Speech, Harmony throughout the World,” and its spirit of “Patriotism and Responsibility, Sincerity and Virtue, Truth-Seeking and Innovation, Openness and Inclusiveness.” It cultivates friendly cultural exchange ambassadors and other outstanding people with professional knowledge, humanistic literacy, international perspectives, innovative minds and practical abilities. It has trained over 300000 international students from 189 countries and regions who understand Chinese and are familiar with Chinese culture, forming links and bridges for mutual learning among civilizations. It has also trained hundreds of thousands of outstanding people for China, many of whom have become prominent in academia, politics and cultural exchanges.

BLCU is an important gateway for Chinese and foreign language education and people-to-people exchanges. Since August 2023, visitors have included the Georgian prime minister, the speaker of Tajikistan’s parliament, the presidents of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Ecuador and Uzbekistan, the French foreign minister, a Thai privy councilor, and ambassadors from more than 20 countries including Russia, Japan and France. These visits have increased its international influence and supported China’s “track-two diplomacy.” In July 2024, President Xi Jinping and Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev jointly witnessed the inauguration of its Kazakhstan branch. BLCU was the earliest Chinese university to establish an overseas branch. It now has Bangkok College in Thailand, a Tokyo branch in Japan, a Kazakhstan branch and a teaching center at Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University in Saudi Arabia. It has partnerships with 527 universities and educational institutions in 81 countries and regions, forming a comprehensive, multifield, in-depth and productive model of open education. Each year, it receives over 9000 international students from more than 140 countries and regions, employs nearly one hundred foreign teachers and welcomes over 1500 foreign visitor instances. Students from five continents learn together, and diverse cultures interact and integrate. Signature campus events such as the World Culture Festival have broad influence and contribute to its distinctive international campus environment.

For the Beijing Language and Culture University Chinese Government Scholarship Admissions Guide, see:

Important notice:

Under BLCU’s “one university, two locations” initiative and its coordinated arrangements, some new Chinese Government Scholarship students will study at BLCU’s Hainan Campus. After completing the first half of their program, they will return to the Beijing Campus to complete the second half. This arrangement enables students to learn about the history and development of Hainan as a free trade island, experience its distinctive blend of ethnic cultures, and explore the historic capital to understand the Chinese nation’s historical changes and vigorous development. It offers a comprehensive, multidimensional experience of a real and modern China.

To help students quickly understand the teaching locations and accommodation arrangements for different programs and student categories, we have prepared a detailed explanatory table. For details, see: