Founded in 1952, Xi'an International Studies University (referred as theUniversity thereafter) is one of the earliest 4 foreign language institutions established in new China. The University changed its original name of Northwest College of Russian to Xi'an Foreign Language Institute in 1958 and Xi'an International Studies University in 2006. In 2010, the University becamedoctoral degreeconferringinstitution. In 2013, the University began to confer doctoral degree in foreign languages and literatures (Category I). In 2014, the University established a post-doctoral research station. In 2011, the University was listed as one of the high-level key universities by Shaanxi Provincial Government that needs to be developed with priority. After three decades, the University has transformed into a comprehensive university that features foreign language education, andresearch in international humanities andsocial sciences, and offers programs primarily in humanities, with a balanced offering in liberal arts and science, economics and management, law, education and fine arts.

Multilayered System in Higher Education

The University has 23 departments/schools and offers 52 undergraduate programs, and master degrees for 4 disciplines in Category I, 53 disciplines in Category II, and 6 professional disciplines, as well as doctoral degrees in one Category I discipline and 13 disciplines in Category II, and one post-doctoral research station. The University recruit`s students from 37 countries and undertakes adult and non-academic education, preparation government-funded overseas study, and enterprises-commissioned training programs. The total enrollment is about 20,000, and among them 18,675 are full-time students.

Key Disciplines

The University now owns one featured program in foreign language and literature (Category I) and 3 key disciplines in Shaanxi Province, such as English language and literature, etc. The University offers 5nationallyfeatured programs including Russian and translation studies. English is a pilot program of national comprehensive reform for academic disciplines. The University now has 5 "brand-name" programs (including German and French, etc.) and 9 featured programs (including Japanese andaccounting, etc.) in Shaanxi Province, and 11 innovative experimental facilities for trainingtalents at both national and provincial level. Foreign language and literature programs ranked seventh nationwide in the third round of disciplinary assessment. The University declared 17 leading programs of Shaanxi Province in 2016.

Strengthened Quality in Faculty

The University has 846 full-time faculty members，among whom 356 hold senior professional and technical positions (42.08%); 329 have earned or are pursuing doctoral degrees (38.89%); 419 studied and worked aboard (49.53%). Eight enjoy special allowances from the State Council and funding from "New Century Talent Support Project" administered by the Ministry of Education. Twenty-six are entitled "experts with outstanding contribution to Shaanxi Province", "top talents in key field in Shaanxi Province" and "'three 5-year' talents in Shaanxi Province". There are 20 Fulbright senior visiting scholars and 55 foreign experts working on campus.

Excellence in Academics and Research

The University consists of 15 national and provincial teaching teams; 36 national and provincial excellent courses (or excellent open courses); and 3 national and provincial bilingual demonstrative courses. The University operates an array of research institutes and centers that are the key base for research in philosophy and social science in Shaanxi Provincial, such as Center for European and American Literatures, Center for Foreign Linguistics and Applied Linguistics, Center for Bilingual Dictionaries, and R&D Center for Teaching Resources. Sincetheadvent of 12th "Five-Year Plan", the University has undertaken 17 research projects for reform instruction, at provincial level or above, and won 13 awards, published 40 textbooks, and published 1030 research articles in the core journals. The Foreign Language Teaching andHuman Geography, both are issued by the University, have been recognized as "China's outstanding academic journals for international influence" and "China's most internationally influential academic journals" for consecutive years.

Frequent and In-depth International Exchanges

The University has signed agreements with 199 higher institutions and research institutions, both domestically and internationally, to jointly train bachelor, master, and doctoral students. It has established overseas practice bases in the United States, Japan, India and Thailand. The University has a Multilingual Base for International Promotion of Chinese Language (Xi'an) authorized by Hanban (Confucius Institutes Headquarters) and 4 Confucius institutes and Confucius classrooms overseas. The School of Central Asia offers programs specially for students from Central Asia students. "Sejong School" of South Korea, "Goethe-Institut" of Germany, and "Russian language and culture center" are housed on campus to promote their respective languages and cultures. The University has several training facilitates for candidates who are going to study oversea, including Training Center for Study Overseas authorized by the Ministry of Education, Center for China Scholarship Council Preparatory Education, and China (the Ministry of Education) Overseas Training Service Center. In the past three years, the University has sent out 220 visiting scholars and 2578 students aboard, and recruited 2,471 international students.

Complete Campus Facilities

The University covers an area of 1593 mu (1,062,000㎡), with a construction area of 801,000㎡. There are 49 language labs and 383 multimedia classrooms (30 are "smart classrooms"), and 28 specialized laboratories such as media lab, and simulation center for international finance, investment, and trade. The campus library has a collection of 1,570,000 hardcopies, 5,100,000 e-Books, and 42 electronic databases (23 databases cover 11 foreign languages). The entire campus is covered with Wi-Fi network with 6G export bandwidth.

 Unique Language Services

The University now offers 22 programs in foreign language education, which covers 20 languages. The University has established several research centers for language research and services, such as Collaborative Innovation Center for the Silk Road Language Service, Xi'an Center for Contemporary International Issues, Center for Poland Research, Center for Australia Research, Institute for United States Research, Institute for Japanese Research, and Institute of Latin American Studies. The University contracted with Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Shaanxi Provincial Government, and huaqiu.com for translating their websites in English, and compliedStandards for the English Translation of Public Signs in Shaanxi Province andLocal Standards for the English Translation of Public Signs Issued by Shaanxi Provincial Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision. TheNew Century Chines-English Dictionary complied by the University has been served as a national gift to other countries. In the past three years, the University has trained 8,694 personnel to study abroad commissioned by the governments, enterprises and social organizations. Faculty and students volunteered for Beijing Olympic Games, Shanghai World Expo, and Rio Olympic Games, as well as Eurasian Economic Forum, China East West Cooperation and Investment Trade Fair, and World Horticultural Expo (Xi'an), etc. The XISU Volunteer Corps has been awarded "China's 100 outstanding volunteer service groups" with many other honors.