China Foreign Affairs University: Founding and Diplomatic Training, 1955–1957

The university held its inaugural meeting at the central agencies’ auditorium in Xiyuan, Beijing, on 10 September 1955. Zhou Enlai supplied its name in calligraphy. Established from Renmin University’s diplomacy department, it gave diplomatic education its own organization and premises. Its immediate task was to prepare personnel for the People’s Republic of China’s diplomatic and foreign-affairs work and train international-affairs researchers.

Several years of discussion preceded this arrangement. On 2 June 1953, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs proposed measures for training diplomatic personnel, including an institution initially intended to select students from tested county- or regimental-level officials. In September 1954, the ministry’s Party leadership submitted the proposal to Zhou and then for central approval. A preparatory committee was established on 8 December, chaired by Vice Minister Wu Xiuquan, with general-office director Yan Baohang as deputy.

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In September 1955, most faculty, all students and some administrative staff from Renmin’s diplomacy department transferred to the new institution, which also recruited its own students. This allowed teaching to continue without waiting to assemble an entirely new faculty. Executive vice president and Party secretary Li Enqiu led the early work. Zhou had considered concurrently serving as president but did not do so.

With new buildings unfinished, faculty and students used former Beijing Foreign Languages Institute premises and the Foreign Ministry’s cultural remedial school in Xiyuan. The new campus on Zhanlanguan Road outside Fuchengmen was completed in March 1956, and the institution moved there. Existing staff and facilities came first, then a purpose-built campus. The inaugural meeting, initial classes and permanent location belonged to different stages.

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Students came from several backgrounds. In addition to those transferred from Renmin, the 1955 intake included section-level officials selected by the Central Organization Department from major regional organizations. The undergraduate program admitted secondary-school graduates, initially for four years and later five. A specialist course for officials was extended from one to two years. Academic degree education and in-service training thus operated together.

Specialist and refresher courses served officials transferred to foreign-affairs work and personnel already employed by the Foreign Ministry and other internationally engaged organizations. Graduate students were admitted from the beginning in international relations, international law, world economics and world history, preparing researchers and teachers. The institution combined professional training for diplomatic practice with longer-term specialist education.

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As executive vice minister of foreign affairs, Zhang Wentian directly supported curriculum development in international law and international relations theory. Teaching sought to explain relations between states and international politics as well as practical administration, developing a theoretical system under Marxist guidance. Subsequent work included an international relations theory research group and compilation of Basic Theory of International Struggle. Before 1963, courses already included basic theories of international struggle and international relations.

This theoretical teaching reflected its period. Anti-imperialism and an international united front were closely connected with China’s diplomatic strategy. Curriculum development broadened diplomats’ knowledge while remaining strongly influenced by political positions and current policy concerns.

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Zhang also promoted an international-affairs research institute and World Affairs Press, seeking cooperation between training, research and the provision of materials. Xiao Yang’s recollections describe the university’s role in preparing researchers as well as diplomatic officials, while the press translated foreign books and published research.

The institutions retained separate responsibilities. The Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of International Relations, established in 1956, was initially considered for a location within the university but instead occupied premises outside Jianguomen. World Affairs Press was also directly led by the Foreign Ministry. Education, specialist research and publication therefore contributed distinct work to knowledge development.

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Zhou Enlai attended graduation on 21 July 1957. Shen Yun’ao, then a first-year student, later recalled seeing Zhou at close range for the first time as students and faculty listened to his address. By taking over existing students, admitting new ones and training officials, an institution less than two years old could already organize a graduating class.

Establishment, relocation and renaming happened successively. After formal establishment in 1955, the university moved to Zhanlanguan Road in 1956, adopted the name Institute of International Relations in 1958 and restored its foreign-affairs name in 1961. Its specialist organization, different levels of training and links to diplomatic research provide the starting point for understanding those later changes.

References: [1] [2] [5]