Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press

Founded in 1979, Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press (SFLEP hereafter) is a national top-tier publishing house based at Shanghai International Studies University under the auspices of the Ministry of Education. It is one of China's Top 100 Publishers and one of the nation's largest, most authoritative and world-renowned powerhouses. Among the accolades it has garnered are the National Outstanding Group Award of Textbook Management, the National Outstanding University Press Award, the Shanghai Model Collective Award, the Government of China Outstanding Publishing House Award, and the National Outstanding Collective Award of Textbook Compilation.

SFLEP has made remarkable achievements not only in print, but also in digital publishing and cultural services, dedicated to the publication of foreign language textbooks, monographs, dictionaries, references, readers, books on Chinese as a foreign language, Chinese culture and applied foreign languages, as well as scholarly journals in both print and digital media. By now, more than 10,000 titles in over 40 languages have been published, with a total print run of 1 billion copies. All in all, over 70% of its well-received publications have been reprinted.

SFLEP has been the recipient of a host of awards, including the Government of China Publishing Award, the China Book Award, the National Excellent Textbook Award, the National Dictionary Award, the National Teaching Achievement Award, the National Publishing Fund, etc. Foreign Language World, a scholarly journal of international renown published by SFLEP, has been listed among the most influential journals in the academic arena of China for many years running. 

In 2021, SFLEP was awarded “Outstanding Collective” in the First National Award for Textbook Compilation. Scores of foreign language textbooks in elementary, higher, vocational and continuing education won first and second prizes of the National Excellent Textbook Award. In the same year, a great number of publications and projects received provincial and state-level awards and grants. Two publishing projects are designated as the Fourteenth Five Year (2020-2025) Plan for National Priority Publications in Print, Audio, Video, and Digital Media.

In recent years, great efforts have been made by SFLEP to promote integrated publishing, including an audio mobile learning application and an online platform for foreign language teaching and learning, which are respectively listed in the 2019 and 2020 Selection and Recommendation Scheme of Excellent Digital Publication by the State Press and Publication Administration. SFLEP has been designated as a “Model of Digital Publishing Transformation” by the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television.

Dedicated to academic research, discipline development and talent cultivation, SFLEP allocates millions of yuan on a yearly basis to finance academic research through provincial and state-level projects. In addition, it has been holding regional and national high-level academic forums, teaching training and contests, students’ intercultural competence contests and vocabulary contests for many consecutive years.

SFLEP keeps pace closely with the trend of the global development. It has established partnerships with more than 100 publishers around the world, and maintained regular contacts with over 40 of them. It brings in high-quality publications in various forms from abroad and meanwhile actively introduces its publications to readers abroad to “have China’s voice heard”. In 2021, SFLEP was awarded “National Copyright Model” by the National Copyright Administration.

As a banner of China’s foreign language education publishing, SFLEP has always been committed to public welfare, donating hundreds of thousands of yuan’s worth of funds and books to state-level poverty-stricken counties, including those in Gansu, Guizhou, Sichuan, Yunnan provinces.

SFLEP is well poised to embrace both challenges and opportunities in the years to come. With its momentum of development continuously gaining steam, it is embarking on a path of innovation and reform in a bid to expand as a more professional and influential enterprise in foreign language education publication.