Agenda set for fresh challenges

And a cross-cultural approach should be adopted when cultivating international talent, Wang adds.

Earlier this month, the university launched its new book, Global Indexes 2021, and released for the first time a series of indexes, both of which are the research findings of the Global Indexes project led by Yang. The project was established to introduce a quantitative, comprehensive and comprehensible way of learning about the world.

The indexes cover a diverse range of fields, including the level of intelligent innovation of countries, impact of international organizations, global impact of Chinese universities, as well as accounting information assessment of listed companies in China.

Among them, the indexes of country-specific translation capacity and the translation capacity of Chinese universities have been released this May.

"During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, BFSU will continue to deepen the research of these indexes from diverse perspectives, dimensions and disciplines," Yang says.

"We hope to create a multidisciplinary path that combines the research methods of foreign languages and literature with those of social sciences, and features the applied measurement of humanities and social sciences research."

Many universities from home and abroad have extended their congratulations on the university's 80th anniversary, including the University of Chicago in the United States, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in the Republic of Korea, and University of Malaya in Malaysia.

"Beijing Foreign Studies University serves as an important education base for aspiring diplomats and professionals alike, setting it apart from its peers and building on its international reputation," Juan de Pablo, vice-president of the University of Chicago, writes in a letter of congratulations, expressing a wish to continue the partnership between the two universities.

For the university's future goals, Yang says he hopes that BFSU will become a world-class language service provider, a world-class narrator of China's stories and a world-class force in empowering global governance.

He also expresses his expectations of the university's students. "Now our undergraduates are around 20 years old," he says. "By 2050, when China fully achieves modernization, they will be about 50, serving as the pillars of China and the world. Their values, perceptions and abilities will determine China's future, as well as the future landscape of the world."