Beijing International Studies University (BISU, the former Beijing Second Foreign Languages Institute) was founded in 1964 thanks to China's late Premier Zhou En Lai's great care.

Following the policy of providing higher education for its students on a multi-level-and-purpose basis, the university offers 23 special areas of study for undergraduate students majoring in English, Japanese, Russian, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Korean, Translation and Interpreting, Tourism Management (including second Bachelor's degree), Marketing, Accounting Management, Expo Economy and Management, International Economics and Trade (including second Bachelor's degree), Finance, Chinese Language and Literature, Journalism, Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language, International Politics, Science of Law,  and the Chinese Language (for international students).

The school enjoys a rational and well-structured composition of teaching faculty and technical support staff in terms of age, academic degrees, areas of specialization, and academic titles. Of the total of 800-plus teachers and support staff members, over 200 teachers are professors and associate professors. Most of the teachers have studied abroad, either for a degree or for further pursuance in the chosen subjects. The university also keeps each year over 60 foreign teachers on its faculty. More than 120 part-time guest professors are regularly invited every year as well.

To promote students' all-round development in terms of morality, intelligence, health and virtues, the university, adhering to its spirit of Virtue, Perseverance, Enlightenment and Competition, attaches importance to the cultivation of students' overall qualities and professional ethics by practicing the principle of combining theory with practice, and combining book knowledge with practical skills.

The university enjoys an environmentally good campus, and it is conveniently located in Chaoyang District of Beijing, adjoining the famous Beijing CBD (Central Business District).