Wang Lifei is a professor and doctoral supervisor at the School of English and Translation Studies, Beijing Language and Culture University, and a distinguished guest professor and vice rector of Macau Millennium College. He serves as the Director of the International Institute of Language Services, Chief Expert of the National Language Service Export Base, and Editor-in-Chief of the English-language international journal Journal of Language Service Studies. He is a recipient of the Special Government Allowance awarded by the State Council of China. With a long-standing commitment to applied linguistics, corpus linguistics, business discourse, language services, and translation studies, he has focused on cutting-edge areas such as intelligent language services, talent cultivation in digital business English, and language services empowering cultural outreach. He is recognized as a pioneer and leading figure in China's language services discipline.
Academic Activities: Focusing on the Frontier of Intelligent Language Services
On October 19, 2026, the School of Business English at Sichuan International Studies University held a special symposium, inviting Professor Wang Lifei, Vice President of the Macao Institute for Transdisciplinary Studies and professor at Beijing Language and Culture University, to deliver an academic lecture titled "The Spillover Effects Hypothesis of Intelligent Language Services and Its Implications for the Cultivation of Digital-Age Business Language Talents." The session featured in-depth discussions with faculty and students on the spillover effects of intelligent language services.
At the symposium, drawing on theoretical foundations in language economics, data factors, and trade costs, Professor Wang proposed three core hypotheses regarding intelligent language services. First, the "Language Friction Tax Hypothesis" elucidates the various hidden transaction costs incurred by language barriers in cross-border digital transactions. Second, the "Language Data Flywheel Hypothesis" interprets the self-reinforcing mechanism by which cross-lingual interactions in the era of large language models continuously generate corpora that feed back into model training. Third, the "Language Empowerment Multiplier Hypothesis" highlights how investment in language services can leverage disproportionately larger digital economic output, underscoring the spillover value of language services. Together, these three hypotheses interlock to form a theoretical framework for understanding the economic value and operational mechanisms of intelligent language services, opening entirely new perspectives for language services research.
Academic Perspectives: The Triple Transformation of Foreign Language Talents
Grounded in industrial realities, Professor Wang extrapolated from the three hypotheses to identify transformation directions for cultivating digital-age business language talents. He clearly articulated that foreign language professionals should not be confined solely to translation capabilities but must undergo a triple identity transformation — becoming managers of friction costs in cross-border digital trade, participants in the production of language data factors, and language empowerers within the digital economy ecosystem.
To this end, curriculum development must incorporate practical content such as language cost measurement, corpus quality control, and cross-border compliance, proactively aligning with emerging job demands for NLP engineers, language data resource professionals, and related roles. He emphasized that in the era of artificial intelligence, foreign language disciplines must break free from the "instrumental rationality" mindset and elevate language from a mere vehicle of communication to a strategic national resource. Through interdisciplinary models such as "foreign language + technology" and "foreign language + data," the discipline should serve the construction of a digital China and cultivate versatile digital-age language talents capable of addressing the needs of the digital economy. At the symposium, participating faculty and students engaged in vigorous discussions on discipline construction and workforce demands, with the consensus that the session bridged industrial theory and talent cultivation, providing a clear pathway for reforming foreign language teaching methodologies.
Visiting Exchanges: Promoting the Implementation of Foreign Language Discipline Transformation
In recent years, Professor Wang has continued to visit universities across the country to guide discipline development. In July 2025, he visited Jimei University, where he proposed that foreign language disciplines should build an interdisciplinary integration system centered on three characteristic directions — marine studies, aquatic food, and port logistics — structured around the model of "major + language + services." He advocated for joint platform, laboratory, and industry practice base construction between departments to empower regional industrial development. In December 2025, at Guangzhou University, he systematically elaborated on the concept of "language national power," identifying four dimensions: language resource capacity, language industry capacity, language communication capacity, and language governance capacity, calling on foreign language disciplines to proactively align with national strategies. During this visit to Sichuan International Studies University, he further grounded his theoretical insights in talent cultivation and curriculum reform, continuously promoting the deep integration of language services research and foreign language education transformation.
Editorial Philosophy: Rooted in Chinese Practice, Oriented Toward Global Dialogue
As Editor-in-Chief of the English-language international journal Journal of Language Service Studies, Professor Wang has consistently upheld the editorial philosophy of "being rooted in Chinese practice and oriented toward global dialogue." He adheres to an interdisciplinary approach, breaking down boundaries among linguistics, translation studies, economics, data science, and public governance, focusing on frontier topics such as intelligent language services, the language industry, language governance, and regional language service competitiveness. He maintains a commitment to linking theory with industry, publishing rigorous foundational research while also embracing empirical findings and policy-oriented studies that serve the national strategy of opening up. He champions openness, inclusiveness, and mutual learning between China and the international community, building a window through which Chinese language services can enter the international academic stage and contributing to the construction of a language services academic discourse system with Chinese characteristics.
Regarding the establishment of a high-quality journal, he believes that greater emphasis should be placed on leading issues in intelligent language services and the digital economy, with timely publication of cutting-edge research in language economics, language data factors, and language industry spillover effects. He encourages original research that bridges theory and practice, convening the wisdom of scholars worldwide through special issue planning. He also advocates strengthening the journal's industry service function, providing scholarly support for the language services industry, digital-age talent cultivation, and policy-making.Using the journal as a bridge and scholarship as a means to serve the nation, Professor Wang Lifei continues to synergize academic innovation, discipline construction, and journal development, contributing wisdom and strength to enhancing national language capacity and building a culturally strong and digitally powerful nation.
