Shandong Vocational University of Foreign Affairs is among the first batch of vocational undergraduate universities approved by the Ministry of Education in China. Founded in 1999, the university has been adhering to the school motto of “Integration of East and West, Combination of Knowing and Doing” since its establishment. It remains committed to the nature of vocational education, featuring internationalized education. With a clear orientation of serving the country’s opening-up strategy and local economic and social development, the university is dedicated to cultivating internationalized, interdisciplinary high-end skilled talents, thus continuously enhancing its educational strength and social reputation. The university has won a variety of honors such as “China’s Demonstration University for Cultivating International Talents”, “National Integrity Demonstration University”, “Most Popular Undergraduate University”, “Advanced Group for Teaching Management in Shandong Provincial Colleges and Universities”, and “Shandong Provincial Level-5A Social Organization”. Professor Sun Chengwu, the president of the university, was awarded the “Outstanding Principal Award of Huang Yanpei Vocational Education Award” at the national level.
Well-equipped Teaching Infrastructure
The university has two campuses, located in Weihai and Jinan respectively, with the main campus located in Rushan Silver Beach, a national 4A-level tourist resort. Facing the sea and backed by Fushan Mountain, it boasts a beautiful environment. The total campus area is 3,225 mu (about 215 hectares), and the total building area (including projects under construction) reaches 1.16 million square meters. It is a demonstration university for smart education in Shandong Province. The university has built 12 modern experimental and practical teaching centers and productive training bases, along with 266 professional laboratories and training rooms of various types. The total value of teaching and research instruments and equipment amounts to 340 million yuan. Its three libraries cover a total area of nearly 100,000 square meters, with a collection of 5.076 million books (including 3.056 million paper books and 2.02 million e-books). The smart teaching methods, as well as sports and living facilities, are well-developed, and its basic school-running conditions rank among the top in similar universities across the country.
Strong Faculty
The university currently has more than 1,600 full-time teachers, among whom professors and associate professors account for over 38%, and those with doctoral or master’s degrees make up more than 82%. There are 326 part-time tutors from industries and enterprises, and the proportion of “dual-qualified” teachers is relatively high. The university has been approved 5 provincial excellent teaching teams, 5 provincial teaching innovation teams, and 2 provincial Huang Danian style teacher teams. It has appointed 12 former ambassadors of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 1 academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, 5 national-level talents including “New Century Excellent Talents” and “National Ten-Thousand Talents Program” teaching masters of the Ministry of Education, 46 high-level experts such as experts enjoying special government allowances from the State Council, provincial middle-aged and young experts with outstanding contributions, and provincial teaching masters, 11 members of the National Industry Vocational Education Teaching Guidance Committee and Teaching (Education) Guidance Committee for Vocational Colleges of the Ministry of Education, 18 high-level technical and skilled talents such as “National Technical Champions”, “Shandong Provincial Chief Technicians” and “Qilu Craftsmen”, as well as a number of foreign experts teaching on campus.
Solid and Effective Development of Disciplines and Professional Clusters
The university comprises 16 teaching colleges and departments, offering 67 undergraduate and junior college majors. It has formed a development pattern featuring the coordinated advancement of multiple disciplines including liberal arts, economics, engineering, and management, with 11 professional clusters seamlessly aligned with industrial chains. Currently, there are over 30,000 full-time undergraduate and junior college students. In the 2025 China University Major Rankings released by the Alumni Association, five undergraduate programs of the university—English, Japanese, Korean, French, and Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages—rank first among vocational universities nationwide, and 13 programs are among the top five. The university continuously strengthens basic teaching development and teaching reform to strive for improved educational quality. It has developed a talent cultivation model characterized by “foreign affairs knowledge + foreign language proficiency + professional skills + comprehensive quality”. In recent years, it has been approved 13 provincial-level characteristic, brand, and high-level programs (clusters), more than 30 provincial-level excellent courses and excellent resource-sharing courses, and 27 provincial-level and above planned textbooks. It has undertaken 104 projects of the Ministry of Education’s Industry-University Cooperation and Collaborative Education, as well as Employment-Education Projects through Supply-Demand Docking, 75 provincial and ministerial-level teaching reform projects. It has also won 1 first prize and 1 second prize of national teaching achievements, and 9 provincial teaching achievement awards. In the past two years, students have won over 1,100 national and provincial awards in various professional skill competitions.
Fruitful Achievements in Scientific Research
The university attaches great importance to scientific research, with 2 national-level scientific and technological innovation platforms, 5 provincial-level technology research and development centers, 2 provincial-level think tanks, and 17 university-level research platforms established. In recent years, it has presided over and participated in completing 302 national, provincial, and departmental-level scientific research projects. Teachers have published 1,664 academic papers, published 118 academic monographs, obtained 70 patent authorizations, and won 68 provincial and municipal excellent scientific research achievement awards. Several policy consultation and research reports submitted by the Institute of Foreign Affairs have been adopted by the Central Government, CPC Shandong Provincial Committee and the People’s Government of Shandong Province. The Metaverse Research Institute of the university has taken the lead in many technologies in China. In more than two years, it has incubated 4 technology-innovative enterprises with a market value exceeding 300 million yuan.
Continuous Deepening of Industry-Education Integration
The university actively promotes industry-education integration and social services. In recent years, it has carried out in-depth strategic cooperation with multiple local governments and 225 well-known enterprises. Renowned enterprises such as China Electronics Technology Group Corporation, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., and JD.com Group have established training centers in the university, and 3 industry colleges have been co-founded with enterprises. With the support of local governments, the university is preparing to build the “Shandong Vocational University of Foreign Affairs Zero-Carbon Innovation and Entrepreneurship Valley” covering an area of over 1,600 mu, which will provide a platform for college students’ innovation and entrepreneurship. It has actively cooperated with local governments to explore project cooperation and talent cultivation around the “dual carbon” goals and low-altitude economy. Relying on the advantages of professional talents, the effect of carrying out social services is remarkable. In the past three years, the annual amount of funds received from horizontal technical services and social training has exceeded 35 million yuan.
Distinctive Internationalized Education
The university vigorously conducts international exchanges and cooperation and is designated as the “Shandong Provincial Foreign Affairs Talent Training Base” approved by the CPC Shandong Provincial Committee and the People’s Government of Shandong Province. It has in-depth collaborations with over 60 universities in more than 20 overseas countries and regions. Actively promoting vocational education “going global”, the university has established the Banmo Academy in Germany and the Silk Road Academy in South Korea, making attempts to cultivate applied talents overseas. It jointly trains postgraduates with Hoseo University in South Korea, accepts international students from Russia and other countries, and has sent over 2,000 students to study abroad or work overseas. Many foreign dignitaries, including Jenny Shipley, former Prime Minister of New Zealand, and Yves Leterme, former Prime Minister of Belgium, have participated in the university’s major events and highly praised its educational achievements. The university serves as the host institution for the Secretariat of the World Vocational Education Competitiveness Alliance, the chairman unit of the China International Zero-Carbon Industry-Education Integration Development Alliance, and the chairman unit of the China (Shandong) - Central and Eastern European Countries Industry-Education Integration Alliance. The breadth and depth of its internationalized education are continuously expanding.
Party Building on Moral Education and Talent Cultivation
The Party Committee of the university gives full play to its political core role, with continuous strengthening of grassroots organizations. Adhering to the principle of fostering virtue through education and centering on the “five educations” policy (morality, intelligence, physical education, aesthetics, and labor education), the university has established events such as the “Junzi Culture Festival”, “Reading Festival”, “Craftsman Festival”, “Sports Festival”, and “Art Festival”. The “Daguan Forum” holds more than 170 academic reports annually, building an “all-round, whole-process, and all-staff education” system through campus culture. The university has strengthened the construction of ideological and political courses, with several courses awarded as “Demonstration Courses for Ideological and Political Education in Shandong Provincial Colleges and Universities”. It has been named a “Demonstration Site for Party Building Work in Social Organizations of Shandong Province” by the CPC Shandong Provincial Committee, and a number of grassroots Party organizations have been rated as “Advanced Grassroots Party Organizations in Shandong Provincial Education System” and “Advanced Collectives in Ideological and Political Education in Colleges and Universities of Shandong Province”.
Continuously Enhanced Social Reputation
Since its founding, the university has trained more than 80,000 graduates of various types. In recent years, the employment rate of graduates has remained above 94%. Among them, there are outstanding civil servants serving in state party and government agencies, as well as business leaders with a net worth of hundreds of millions; there are heroic guards like Mou Zhenhua, the 27th monitor of the “Leifeng Class” who was received by General Secretary Xi Jinping, and young entrepreneurial leaders like Chang Yanlei, the “National Young Pioneer in Rural Revitalization”. Among the undergraduates of the past three years, 484 have been admitted to pursue master’s degrees, among whom 103 have been enrolled by “985”, “211” and “Double First-Class” universities as well as top 100 overseas universities. The quality of the university’s education has been widely praised by all sectors of society. CCTV, People’s Daily, Guangming Daily, China Education Daily, Xinhua News Agency, People’s Network and other media have fully reported on the university’s educational achievements and related activities.
(figures as of the end of June 2025)
