he school was officially renamed Shanghai International Studies University (SISU) on March 10, 1994, represented it had developed into a multi-disciplinary foreign language university. This year is the 30th anniversary of the renaming of SISU.

Over the past 70 years SISU has grown from a mono-disciplinary Russian school into a multi-disciplinary foreign language institute and now is becoming a international university.

1949-1950 Shanghai Russian School

Upon the founding of the People’s Republic of China, a Russian school was established in Shanghai as an affiliate of the fourth division of East China People's Revolution University to meet the huge demand for Russian-proficient professionals.

1950-1952 Shanghai Foreign Language College

In 1950, in response to China's need for professionals in diplomacy and international trade, the school began to run English programs and was renamed Shanghai Foreign Language College affiliated to East China People's Revolution University. On August 1952, Shanghai Foreign Language College became a college offering programs in 5 languages: Russian, English, Burmese, Vietnamese and Indonesian.

1952-1956 Shanghai Russian College

From the second half of 1952, the Department of Oriental Languages and Literatures of Shanghai Foreign Language College was transferred to Peking University and the school was renamed Shanghai Russian College in September, 1952.

1956 Shanghai Foreign Language Institute

In 1956, approved by the State Council in the same year, the school was officially renamed Shanghai Foreign Language Institute with English, German, French, Japanese, Arabic, and Spanish majors. Since then, the school has transformed from a mono-disciplinary Russian school to a multilingual institute.

1985 The Birth of "SISU"

Since the adoption of the reform and opening up, the school has conducted a series of reforms of its educational management system, actively adding non-language majors and strengthening the construction of language majors. In 1985, to adapt to the development to a university with a variety of applied programs and meet the needs of external exchanges, the school's English translation name was changed from Shanghai Foreign Language Institute (SFLI) to Shanghai International Studies University, abbreviated as "SISU".

1994-Present Shanghai International Studies University

Approved by the State Education Commission in 1994, on March 10, the Chinese name of SISU was officially renamed Shanghai International Studies University. This renaming was given the significance of completing SISU second transformation from a multilingual institute to a multi-disciplinary foreign language university.