Language is a window into the world, and translation is a bridge connecting civilizations.

At the School of Foreign Studies of CUEB, there is a graduate mentor-student team that takes language as its vessel and translation as its oars, consolidating its professional foundation in the classroom, responding to the call of the times in practice, and moving toward a broader world. With the core philosophy of “translating together on the same path and becoming foreign language professionals with a global vision,” the team has always upheld the academic pursuit that “translation knows no bounds”, integrating personal growth into national strategy, capital development, and international communication practice. This is Professor Liu Chongxiao’s team.

From Country and Region studies(CRS) to language service research, from translation practice in business and trade to language services in Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, from the Blue Book on Language Services in the China (Beijing) Pilot Free Trade Zone to the development of a Chinese-English terminology database for trade in services, the teachers and students of the team have continuously reflected on what kind of foreign language professionals the new era calls for along the growth path of “learning deeply, researching practically, practicing through action, and innovating with new ideas”.

Mentor Profile

Liu Chongxiao,Professor and Master’s Supervisor, currently Dean of the School of Foreign Studies at CUEB, head of the national first-class undergraduate major construction site for Business English, a Beijing Young and Middle-Aged Key Teacher, Secretary-General of the Beijing University International Language Service Research Alliance (the Alliance), and a visiting scholar at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom and Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey in the United States. Liu has long been engaged in foreign language education, business and trade translation, language services, and cross-cultural communication. He has published more than 60 papers and more than 20 works of various types, including monographs, translations, textbooks, and collections of papers. In recent years, he has continued to explore curriculum-based ideological and political education, the cultivation of foreign language personnel in finance and economics, the construction of the language service system, and the cultivation of international communication capacity. He has presided over and participated in a number of research and teaching reform projects, and has been honored as an Outstanding Lecturer of Excellent Specialized Courses (PublicCourses) in Beijing Higher Education Institutions, a University-Level “Moral Model”, and an “Advanced Individual for the Winter Olympics”.

Mentor as a Lamp

“Foreign language learning should emphasize humanistic awareness.” In 2008, Liu Chongxiao published an article in Guangming Daily, proposing that foreign language learning should attach importance to the humanistic dimension. More than a decade later, this educational reflection, which first appeared in writing, has gradually been translated from theoretical ideas into his day-to-day educational practice. Whether in course study, thesis topic selection, project practice, or career planning and psychological growth, Liu Chongxiao gives students meticulous guidance with great patience.

In the years of adhering to the original aspiration of educating people, Professor Liu has always integrated professional teaching with virtues and values. He has always believed that foreign language learning is not merely training in vocabulary, syntax, and translation techniques, but also a process of seeing the world and understanding China through language, and learning to understand and communicate in dialogue among different civilizations. Based on this understanding, he often guides students to deepen their understanding of contemporary China while learning foreign languages, and to tell China’s story well in foreign languages.

In the eyes of students, Professor Liu is both a guide on the academic path and a companion in the process of their growth. From building the “Understanding Contemporary China” series of courses to exploring the curriculum-based ideological and political education of Business English; from compiling business and trade translation textbooks to building an international communication practice platform, he has always been paving the way and building bridges for students’ growth.

Liu often says: “Language is vivid and full of vitality. To learn a language, one must study it steadily and earnestly.” He integrates ideological and political education into professional training. He leads students to the China International Fair for Trade in Services(CIFTIS), the language service “Translation Station” project of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games. Students also participate in language service research in the free trade zone and activities on Country and Region studies (CRS) platforms, so that they can understand the power of language in the real world. Through repeated engagement in various practical projects, the team has developed a shared commitment: to be foreign language professionals with a sense of home and country, professional competence, and a global vision.

The Path of Growth

Learning deeply. Liu Chongxiao actively guides students to broaden their academic horizons and cultivate critical thinking through academic exchanges. Over the years, he has led the planning and holding of many high-level academic forums, continuously building high-quality learning and exchange platforms for young students. In 2023, he assisted the university in successively hosting the Beijing Higher Education Foreign Language Teaching and Language Data Application Forum and the Roundtable Forum on Translation Discipline Construction and MTI Education. In 2025, the First Beijing Higher Education Language Service Research Forum was successfully held, and he promoted the joint establishment of the Beijing Higher Education Language Service Research Alliance (BHESRA) with another 35 universities.

Researching practically. Liu attaches particular importance to cultivating students’ research literacy. He believes that research training not only improves academic ability, but also exercises students’ comprehensive ability to discover, analyze, and solve problems. The team has long carried out research and practice around language services, business and trade translation, free trade zone construction, and international communication. Team members have deeply participated in the compilation of the Blue Book on Language Services in the China (Beijing) Pilot Free Trade Zone, solidly completing corpus analysis, research on personnel cultivation plans, and surveys of enterprise language service needs. At the same time, they also participated in the translation, writing, and release of the Africa Trade and Investment Guide 2025–2026, providing professional language and information support for Chinese enterprises investing in Africa. In these real projects, students have grown step by step into practitioners who proactively undertake tasks, solve problems, and deliver results. Through repeated collaborative refinement, the team has also formed the team character defined by “academic accumulation and unity of knowledge and action.”

Practicing through action. “Those who learn foreign languages cannot only look up at the stars; they must also do something practical for the land beneath their feet.” This is Professor Liu’s educational creed and also the team’s consistent code of action. The team cooperated with the Foreign Affairs Office of the Fengtai District Government to carry out the “Translating Fengtai” project, completing more than 40,000 words of bilingual translation for Fengtai’s culture and tourism, and producing dozens of bilingual promotional videos for city landmarks. For team members, this was not only a translation practice, but also a vivid lesson in urban international communication. During the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, Liu Chongxiao led the establishment of the “Language Service Translation Station”. The team spent more than six months completing the translation and proofreading of more than 300,000 words of event news and subtitle manuscripts. With a rigorous and meticulous attitude, the team ensured the accuracy of event information dissemination and demonstrated CUEBers’ sense of responsibility in a major international event.

Innovating with new ideas. Against the background of the deep integration of digitalization, intelligentization, and international communication, the team has also continuously explored new forms of language services. Among them, the Chinese-English terminology database project for theCIFTIS, developed in cooperation with the Beijing Municipal International Service Trade Affairs Center and the Translation Institute of China International Communications Group, is an important achievement of the team’s “innovating with new ideas”. The project has gathered more than 770,000 Chinese characters of text and more than 200,000 words of English corpus, extracting nearly 300 bilingual terms, providing standardized and systematic language support for international exchanges in the field of trade in services. This has enabled students to move beyond the superficial view that language services are merely “translating a passage of text”, and to understand that modern language services are also integral to terminology governance, knowledge organization, standards development, and international communication capacity building.

In the future, the team will continue to stay true to its original aspiration and walk the path of growth for foreign language professionals in the new era.

Inheritance with Continuity

Professor Liu’s team is a collective that passes on the flame and strives forward in unity. Since 2012, the team has trained 69 graduate students.

During their time at the university, many students have won China National Scholarships and university-level academic scholarships, and have achieved outstanding results in disciplinary competitions, voluntary service, social practice, and other fields. Their solid professional competence has given them strong workplace competitiveness. Graduates have found employment in a wide range of fields, joining large state-owned enterprises, well-known foreign companies, higher education institutions, and enterprises and public institutions, such as Sinotrans, ByteDance, and ENGIE Group of France.

69 students, 69 brand-new futures, all setting out from here together.

Spring Breeze and Rain, Fragrant Peaches and Plums

Liu Chongxiao is a “lamp lighter” on the path of students’ growth. He lights the lamp and also passes on the power of carrying the lamp forward to his students. Successive Cohorts of students carry this light with them as they embark on their own life journeys.

Liu Chongxiao (third from right) with some of his supervised students

Wang Pengfei, a 2017 master’s graduate in English Interpreting from the School of Foreign Studies, now works at the Jinnan Branch of the Tianjin Public Security Bureau. He said: “Professor Liu is erudite, conscientious, and low-key. After starting work, I have come to appreciate even more the weight of the word ‘responsibility’ that he spoke of. What he taught me was not only knowledge, but also an attitude toward doing things.”

Ding Yanping, a 2020 master’s graduate in English Translation from the School of Foreign Studies, now works at Yuncheng No. 1 Middle School in Juancheng County, Heze City, Shandong Province. She said: “Now I have also become a teacher. I hope to treat every student with sincerity and responsibility, just like Professor Liu, and to pass on the mission and responsibility of an educator.”

Zhang Yanyan, a 2023 master’s graduate in English Translation from the School of Foreign Studies, works at Beijing No. 3 Experimental School: “Professor Liu made me understand that no matter how big the goal is, one must start with small things. Now that I am a teacher myself, I often think of his reminders and treat everything conscientiously.”

Qi Qi, a 2024 master’s graduate in English Translation from the School of Foreign Studies, works at the Third Academy of China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation: “Professor Liu is approachable and rigorous in scholarship, and always gives me direction when I am confused. Being his student is the luckiest thing about my graduate studies.”

Wang Xinmei, a 2024 master’s student in English Interpreting from the School of Foreign Studies: “Professor Liu never confines us with knowledge. He always says: ‘You have to try it yourself.’ The principles he taught me are very practical and have helped me learn to treat others with sincerity.”

The personal reflections of students offer the best confirmation of Liu’s educational philosophy over many years. In this regard, Professor Liu sends this message to every student: “Please protect the dignity and warmth of language, let language become a bridge connecting the world, and be a foreign language professional with a global vision!”