Before the pandemic, South Korea, the US, France, Italy and Russia were the top five sources of international students for ECNU, according to the school, which has distinguished alumni that includes Cui Tiankai, the former Chinese ambassador to the US from 2013 to 2021.
The school's advantage in international communication originated from its strength in teaching Chinese as a foreign language to foreigners. It was one of the four earliest universities in the country to establish such a discipline in the 1980s.
The course "China stories" is one of the highlights in the curriculum for international students at the school. Professors from departments such as environmental science, geography, sociology and history are invited to give classes to help foreign students understand China from different perspectives.
Students also get to go on field trips to learn more about Chinese society. Some have gone to mountainous, rural regions to work as volunteer teachers in primary schools. Some have even boarded the Chinese icebreaker Xuelong to learn about the country's results in polar expedition research.
The gradual progress of the school across all disciplines has boosted its collaborations with overseas universities. The school has signed more than 300 partnerships related to scientific and technological development, service and research with institutions around the world.
Since 2002, the Program of Sino-French Education for Research (PRoSFER) program has recruited 578 master students and 172 PhD students. More than 300 papers by PhD students have been published in world-class journals.
Graduates from these programs have enjoyed good career prospects. They have been employed by either ECNU or other domestic universities and scientific research institutions, obtained job offers from multinational companies, or have gone on to further their studies abroad.
