Editor’s note: The year 2022 marks 70 years since the inception of International Education at Peking University in New China. The history can be traced back to 1952 when 14 international students came to PKU through the “Special Chinese Language Course for Exchange Students in Eastern Europe”.  Up till today, PKU has been continuously enhancing its professional impact and expanding its global reach, promoting internationalization in China’s tertiary education. More than 1.1 million international students have hailed from 195 countries to study on the Yanyuan campus, enrolling in a wide range of programs. By promoting cultural diplomacy, exchanges between students of different nationalities facilitate cross-cultural interactions with hopes of building a Community of Shared Future for Mankind .

To mark this special occasion, the Office of International Relations and PKU News jointly publish the special column “70 years of PKU International Students” to put the spotlight on the history and achievements of International Education at PKU, and to craft a shared future for China and the world.

With the founding of the People’s Republic of China, foreign exchange in education began. In the early 1950s, 35 Chinese students were selected and sent to Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary to learn the languages as well as historical, geographical and engineering in the host countries. In the same year, 35 students from these five countries came to China to study. This was the official start of international exchanges in education for new China.

1949-1966: The number of international students was small, and they were mainly from Eastern Europe, who came to study the Chinese language and history

On Sep.6, 1950, ‘Chinese language Course for Eastern Europe Exchange Students’ was set up at Tsinghua University. Renowned physicist and Provost at that time Zhou Peiyuan was appointed as the head teacher.

In 1952, adjustments were made to the university structures nationwide. “Chinese Language Course for Eastern Europe Exchange Student” was moved to Peking University. On 27 October, the course was renamed “Chinese Language Course for International Students”, which also marked the official beginning of Peking University’s education for international students studying in China.





From 1952 to 1966, Peking University accepted a total of 1,875 international students, accounting for about 26% of the total number of international students in universities in China. At that time, foreign exchange in education was considered to be ‘an internationalist obligation that ought to be fulfilled’. It aimed to promote cultural exchanges between China and other countries and enhance the friendship between Chinese people and people from other countries. During that period, students from socialist countries accounted for 86.1% of the total number of international students at Peking University. There were students from all 13 socialist countries coming to Peking University, of which more than 100 students were from Vietnam, North Korea, the Soviet Union and Mongolia.



Peking University played an essential role in both Chinese language education and tertiary education for international students during that time.

In 1956, the Pinyin Learning Curriculum for International Students designed by two teachers of the Chinese Language course Zhang Weihe and Jin Dehou was published by People’s Daily. In 1958, Premier Zhou Enlai commended PKU for the use of Pinyin in teaching the Chinese Language in the report on “The Current Task of Chinese Character Reform”. He pointed out in the report that “Using Pinyin to teach Chinese in Peking University’s Chinese Language Course for International Students has reaped results, proving that the use of Pinyin has great advantages, which the Chinese characters and phonetic alphabets lack.


As for tertiary education, many departments in PKU including Economics, History, Biology, Chemistry, Archaeology, Mathematics and Language Studies admitted international students.

From 1953 onwards, other than international students from Eastern Europe countries, PKU also welcomed students from North Korea, Mongolia and other Asian countries. These students adapted quickly to life in China and integrated well with the other PKU students. PKU also organized special courses and exciting events for international students.



1966-1972: temporary suspension

In the 1960s, the international and domestic political climate changed dramatically, bringing unprecedented challenges to international students pursuing an education in China. In 1966, China’s Ministry of Higher Education informed embassies abroad to postpone the admittance of international students. On September 19, the Ministry of Education issued a memorandum to foreign embassies in China, informing them that all international students who are currently in China are required to return to their countries and suspend their studies for one year. The specific time of their return to China to resume their studies will be informed separately in the future. In the following years, Peking University also suspended the recruitment of international students.

1972-1998: The scale of international students gradually expanded, with countries and categories of students diversified

After 1972, education for international students in China gradually returned to normal. In 1971, the North Korean ambassador at that time proposed that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea would like to send 5 to 6 university students to study English in China. These students were sent to PKU as per Premier Zhou’s instruction.

In 1972, U.S. President Nixon’s visit to China marked a thaw in U.S.-China relations and the two countries finally established formal diplomatic relations on 1 January 1979. Subsequently, West Germany, Japan and other countries also started to establish diplomatic relations with China, revitalizing foreign exchanges in education.

In the same year, PKU established a new department to be in charge of international students’ affairs. PKU also recruited more Chinese Language teachers and compiled relevant teaching materials. 53 international students from Vietnam, North Korea, Palestine, Laos, Canada and the United States registered at Peking University in 1972, officially resuming PKU’s education for international students studying in China.


 
Accounts of the experiences of international alumni about their life at PKU were recorded in Peking University International Alumni Oral Histories  published by PKU Office of International Relations. A significant proportion of the interviewees came to Peking University in the early 1970s, which sowed the seeds of their burgeoning interest in China then.



In 1978, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs jointly issued a Notice on Doing Well for Accepting International Students This Year, marking the standardization and expansion of the enrollment of international students in Chinese universities. That year, China entered the phase of reform and opening-up, which added momentum to promoting education for international students studying in China.


In September 1984, PKU School of Chinese as a Second Language was established to meet the needs of the increasing number of international students who came to study at Peking University. The center offered Chinese-learning courses of varying durations for international students. At the same time, PKU no longer provided separate classes for international students, and instead arranged for them to attend the same classes as Chinese students. They were encouraged to have free discussions and exchange opinions.


During the same period, a large number of self-funded students came to study at Peking University. Since the summer of 1980, PKU held various short-term Chinese-learning courses for international students as well as specialized training courses for different faculties. From 1972 to 1997, Peking University accepted a total number of 15,083 international students. The enrolment of international students remained consistent in the 1970s while expanding rapidly in the 1980s. In 1997, the number of international students admitted to Peking University reached 1,630, more than 30 times the number in 1972. Interantional students hailed from 122 countries and the number of students who came from Europe and America increased.

 

In 1981, Peking University planned to build Shaoyuan Building No. 1-5, which was specially designated to accommodate international students and experts. In 1990, Shaoyuan Building No.6 was completed construction and put into use. With this, Shaoyuan became a vibrant and diverse community, akin to a “mini-United Nations”. Every international student had a place to call home at PKU, strengthening their sense of belonging during their time in PKU. From 1995 to 1998, under the joint efforts of PKU and Thailand Charoen Pokphand Group , Building No. 7-9 was successively constructed and put into use.



In 1998, Jiang Zemin, the then president of the People's Republic of China, mentioned at the celebration of the centennial anniversary of the founding of PKU, “In order to realize modernization, China would need to have several first-class universities which matches up to the most advanced levels in the world.” With the enhancement of PKU towards the goal of becoming a world-class university, PKU’s education for international students studying in China has entered a new stage. PKU begins a new chapter in the 21st century as a more internationalized and modernized world-class institution.



Written by: Zou Xueyang
Edited by: Shi Xinyao
Source: PKU News (Chinese)