Wang Lifei, Professor at the School of English and Advanced Translation Studies, Beijing Language and Culture University, doctoral supervisor, Director of the International Institute of Language Services, Chief Expert of the National Base for Language Service Export, and Editor-in-Chief of the international English-language journal Journal of Language Service Studies, is a recipient of the Special Government Allowance from the State Council of China. He has long been engaged in applied linguistics, corpus linguistics, business discourse, language services, and translation studies, focusing on cutting-edge directions such as intelligent language services, talent cultivation in digital business English, and the empowerment of cultural export through language services. He is an important pioneer and leading figure in China's language services discipline and recently has lauched Master’s and Doctoral Programs in Macau Millennium College, China.
Profound Scholarship: From International Vision to Disciplinary Deepening
Professor Wang Lifei possesses solid academic foundations and a broad international perspective. He was publicly funded to work at the United Nations and conducted visiting scholarly research at the University of California, Berkeley; the Department of Linguistics at Georgetown University; the Department of Communication at the University of Wisconsin–Madison; and the Faculty of Education at the University of Hong Kong, accumulating profound theoretical literacy in diverse academic environments. He concurrently serves as President of the International Business and Language Services Working Committee of the China Shippers’ Association; Vice Chairman of the Language Services Research Professional Committee of the China Association for Comparing Chinese and English; and Member of the Expert Group of the National Emergency Language Services Team. He has also been appointed as the “Bayu Distinguished Professor” at Sichuan International Studies University, and as a Distinguished Professor at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics and the Macao Millennium College. Through these roles, he has built a cooperative network spanning academia, industry, and commerce.
Rich Achievements: Coordinated Advancement of Theory, Think Tank, and Teaching
In academic research, Professor Wang has published over 200 papers, including 120 in SSCI and CSSCI journals such as Discourse Studies, Foreign Language Teaching and Research, and Applied Linguistics. He has served as editor-in-chief of China Language Services Development Report (2024, 2025), On Language Services Industry, Research on New Developments in Economic Discourse, Essentials of Business English, and Research on Nominalization in Business Discourse; translated the Global Language Services Market Report (2017–2020); led the compilation of the Blue Book on Language Services for Chinese Enterprises “Going Global,” the Emergency Language Services Report on the “War Against the Pandemic,” and language services competitiveness reports for the Jing-Jin-Ji (Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei) region, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Greater Bay Area; and contributed to the China International Trade in Services Development Report (2022–2025). Multiple research findings and policy recommendations have been adopted by central government and relevant ministries.
In teaching and mentoring, he has taught core undergraduate and graduate courses including Introduction to Corpus Linguistics, Introduction to Language Services, Research Methods in Business English, and Language Economics, supervised more than 100 master’s and doctoral students (several of whom received university-level awards for outstanding graduation theses), and was recognized as an Outstanding Graduate Student Supervisor in 2022. His textbook Comprehensive Course in Business English was selected as a National Planned Textbook for the “Twelfth Five-Year Plan” period by the Ministry of Education and received the Beijing Municipal Award for Outstanding Teaching Materials; he also led the construction of a National First-Class Virtual Simulation Experiment Teaching Course for undergraduate programs. In terms of research, he has led multiple major projects including those funded by the National Social Science Fund of China, the Humanities and Social Sciences Fund of the Ministry of Education, major projects of the National Language Commission, and key projects of the Beijing Municipal Social Science Fund. He has twice received the Second Prize for Outstanding Teaching and Educational Achievements of Beijing Municipal and the Second Prize for Outstanding Scientific Research Achievements of the 15th Beijing Municipal, achieving a deep integration of teaching, research, and talent cultivation. He received the second prize of the Seventh Macao Social Science Fundation Award in October, 2026.
Editorial Philosophy: Rooted in Chinese Practice, Oriented Toward Global Dialogue
As Editor-in-Chief of the international English-language journal Journal of Language Service Studies, Professor Wang Lifei upholds the editorial philosophy of being “rooted in Chinese practice and oriented toward global dialogue.” He adheres to an interdisciplinary approach, bridging the boundaries of linguistics, translation studies, economics, data science, and public governance, and focuses on topics such as intelligent language services, language industries, language governance, and regional language services competitiveness. He maintains a commitment to linking theory with industry practice, publishing rigorous foundational research while also welcoming empirical outcomes that serve industrial practice and national strategies for opening up. He champions openness, inclusiveness, and mutual learning between China and the world, building a window for Chinese language services to enter the international academic stage and contributing to the construction of a language services academic discourse system with Chinese characteristics.
Academic Perspectives: Moving from “Instrumental Rationality” to “Resource Rationality”
In recent years, Professor Wang has visited numerous universities across the country to conduct academic exchanges and guide the transformation of foreign language disciplines. In July 2025, he visited Jimei University, where he proposed that foreign language disciplines should build an interdisciplinary integration system of “specialty + language + services” centered on three distinctive directions: maritime studies, aquatic food, and port logistics. He outlined three strategic directions: language services for international cooperation in marine science and technology, language services for international trade in aquatic food products, and port logistics and cultural services, promoting the co-construction of platforms, laboratories, and industry practice bases between departments to empower regional industrial development.
In December of the same year, he delivered a special lecture titled “Contributing Stronger Language Capacity to the Overall National Development” at Guangzhou University, systematically elaborating his core perspectives. He proposed that the development of the times has driven language to shift from “instrumental rationality” to “resource rationality” — language has transcended its role as a mere medium of communication and has been elevated to a national resource with strategic value. “National language capacity” is the concentrated manifestation of comprehensive national strength in the linguistic realm, encompassing language resource capacity, language industry capacity, language communication capacity, and language governance capacity. Based on survey data from the Belt and Road Initiative and the Greater Bay Area, he pointed out that demand for language technology positions is robust, and industrial cluster effects have already emerged in cities such as Guangzhou and Shenzhen. He called on foreign language disciplines to break down barriers and serve the construction of a Digital China through interdisciplinary models such as “foreign language + technology,” “foreign language + data,” and “foreign language + health,” contributing academic wisdom to enhancing national language capacity and building a culturally strong nation.
From theoretical construction and think tank outputs to journal building and disciplinary transformation, Professor Wang Lifei has always remained committed to serving national development through scholarship, continuously injecting vigorous momentum into the coordinated development of the language services discipline system, talent system, and industry research.
