Tianjin Normal University

Tianjin is one of China’s four municipalities directly under the central government, alongside Beijing, Shanghai and Chongqing. Its city center is 28 minutes from Beijing by high-speed rail. It is a national central city, a national historical and cultural city and a modern maritime city. It is also a national advanced manufacturing R&D base, the core area for international shipping in northern China, a demonstration zone for financial innovation operations and a core area of the major national strategy for coordinated Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei development.

Tianjin Normal University carries forward Tianjin’s century-long tradition of teacher education. Its beautiful ecological campus covers 3500 mu, including 771 mu of lakes and wetlands. It has 3 faculties, 19 schools, 74 undergraduate programs, 15 first-level disciplinary and professional doctoral degree authorizations, 31 first-level master’s degree authorizations and 19 professional master’s categories. These cover 10 disciplinary categories: economics, law, education, literature, history, science, engineering, management, arts and interdisciplinary studies. Its teaching facilities are comprehensive, and its humanistic tradition is rich.

The university pursues open education and has achieved notable international cooperation and exchange results. It was among the first national Demonstration Bases for Studying in China. With the Ministry of Education and Tianjin Municipal People’s Government, it jointly develops the Tianjin Normal University School of International Chinese Language Teacher Education. With the Ministry of Education’s Center for Language Education and Cooperation, it jointly develops a practical research base of the Institute for International Chinese Language Education Development. It has been approved as the ASEAN-China Centre’s China-ASEAN Education Exchange and Cooperation Base and has established the Tianjin International Chinese Language Education Development Center. It has long-term friendly partnerships with 220 universities, educational institutions and local governments in 39 countries and regions.

The university hosts recipients of the Chinese Government Scholarship, International Chinese Language Teachers Scholarship and Tianjin Government Scholarship. It began educating international students in China in 1964 and has 60 years of experience, having trained over 60000 students from 86 countries and regions. Many have become exemplary international alumni who understand and are friendly toward China. It operates 5 Confucius Institutes and 1 independent Confucius Classroom. The Confucius Institute at the University of Nairobi, Africa’s first, has become a Global Model Confucius Institute. The university has received the Global Confucius Institute Founding Award once, Global Model Confucius Institute recognition once, Advanced Chinese Partner Institution recognition 3 times and Global Advanced Confucius Institute recognition 11 times. It has jointly developed 4 Chinese language learning and testing centers: China’s first such center, Vietnam’s first at Thanh Dong University, one at Hanoi Pedagogical University 2 in Vietnam, and one at Navamindradhiraj University in Thailand.

The university places great importance on international Chinese language education. Its first principle is meeting international students’ fundamental needs. It emphasizes practical teaching and uses professional standards in international exchange work. It has developed an expression-driven theory of autonomous teaching for international Chinese language education, a complete professional management approach and an integrated undergraduate, master’s and doctoral talent training system in the field. Its disciplinary leader Zhong Yinghua serves as president of the International Society for Chinese Language Teaching, described as the world’s most authoritative and influential international academic organization in the field. The university has opened a 45600-square-meter International Chinese Language Education Center and international student complex, becoming China’s largest and best-equipped base for international Chinese language education. In 2024, it successfully led the hosting of the 17th “Chinese Bridge” Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign Secondary School Students and the 4th Chinese Show and Summer Camp for Primary School Students. Four hundred primary and secondary school contestants and accompanying participants from 102 countries gathered in Tianjin to celebrate Chinese language learning and exchanges.

Students from all countries are welcome to study at Tianjin Normal University. We hope every day you spend here will be a wonderful one!