With the development of economic globalization and social informatization, interdependence between countries has put public diplomacy and people-to-people exchange on an increasingly important stage in promoting the mutual understanding between different peoples, cultures, religions and nations, and in improving the international image of our country. The Era of public diplomacy has come.

Public diplomacy calls for a great amount of new-type of experts of global vision, excellent in communication and dialogue, and have good command of world economy, politics as well as the basics of different cultures. To meet this demand and steadily promote public diplomacy and people-to-people exchange, based on the English-taught course for international students “Contemporary International Relations”, the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) of Jilin University was established by the end of 2012. It is the first of its kind in China dedicated to the education of public diplomacy. The founding dean is Professor Liu Debin, vice president of China National Association for International Studies (CNAIS). The incumbent dean of SIPA is Professor Xiao Xi, Top Young Talent of National High Level Talents Special Support Plan. Significant progress has been made in the initial development of SIPA, which was recognized and endorsed by the academia and the society.

SIPA has a strong faculty team constituted with one Top Young Talent of National High Level Talents Special Support Plan, one chief expert of Central Marxism Theory Research and Construction Project, one chief expert of Marxism Theory Research and Construction Project of Ministry of Education, one chief expert of National Social Science Foundation of China, one New Century Excellent Researcher of Ministry of Education, one Distinguished Professor of “Changbaishan Scholar” program of Jilin Province, one Academic Leading Professor of Jilin Province, one Top Innovative Talent of Jilin Province, one laureate of Ten Outstanding Young Persons of Changchun, and two Kuang Yaming Distinguished Professors. With the backgrounds including international politics, international relations, diplomacy, world history, international laws and cross-cultural communication, the members of SIPA faculty are the PhDs of renowned universities at home or aboard, including London School of Economics and Political Science, University of Aberdeen, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, RUDN University, Peking University, Fudan University, and Jilin University. Therefore, faculty members of SIPA are qualified to deliver lectures with their proficiency in English, German, Russian, Japanese, and Korean and are able to develop the courses in an international way. SIPA also hired a number of internationally renowned scholars and senior diplomats as honorary professors, including Zhou Wenzhong, China's former ambassador to the United States and the secretary general of the Boao Forum for Asia; Leonid Eduardovich Slutsky, Chairman of International Affairs of Russia State Duma; Barry Buzan, professor of LSE, member of the British Academy; Brantly Womack, professor of the University of Virginia, China national “Friendship” award laureate, etc.

SIPA attaches great importance to training the best minds. SIPA has been conducting its first bachelor degree program since 2014. Among the graduates of class 2018, 2019 and 2020, many chose to pursue further study and were admitted to QS Top 100 universities or departments such as the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Chicago, Georgetown University, Rutgers University, George Mason University, Kings College London, the London School of Economics and Political Science, the University of Melbourne, Seoul National University, the University of Hong Kong. Many of them also began their master study in renowned universities in China, such as Renmin University of China, Fudan University, China Foreign Affairs University and Jilin University. Furthermore, our graduates also chose to start their careers in enterprises or public institutions such as Xinhua News Agency, SAMSUNG, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and Toutiao of ByteDance. Year 2019 marked the graduation of the first class of SIPA master students with a degree in diplomacy. Some graduates are now working in well-known state-owned enterprises, such as China Resources Group, etc. Some entered well-known joint ventures, such as Shanghai Hewlett-Packard Company, and opened a new chapter in their lives. Some of them became excellent selected students in various provinces and dedicated themselves to grassroots work. There are also some graduates admitted by Tongji University, Jilin University and other first-class universities to continue to engage in management, scientific research and other professions. Additionally, SIPA recruits 50 international students for master's and doctor's degree in English teaching program of international relations and diplomacy every year, and SIPA also undertakes the one-year "public diplomacy" master's program for developing countries funded by the Ministry of Commerce. SIPA integrates the training of domestic and international students, strives to build a multi-national and multi-cultural exchange and dialogue platform, promotes academic research in the fields of public diplomacy, China studies and international relations, and trains a group of civilization ambassadors and communication experts in the new era.

SIPA is strong in research. The faculty has undertaken Central Government Marxism Theory Research and Construction Project, Ministry of Education Marxism Theory Research and Construction Project, Specific Project of National Social Science Foundation Project, as well as a number of National Social Science Foundation and the Social Science Project of the Ministry of Education. The faculty has produced a number of landmark high-level research achievements, which have been well received by the domestic academia and won many major awards. Our teachers have published a series of academic papers in Social Sciences in China, CASS Journal of Political Science, World Economics and Politics, and other SSCI high-level journals, many of which have been reprinted in full-text by Xinhua Digest, Chinese Social Science Digest, and have won many important scientific research awards such as the first prize of social science achievements of Jilin Province. Based on SIPA, Institute of National Development and Security Studies and Institute of International Studies are important platforms for the School to carry out teaching and researching.

SIPA has conducted active academic exchanges. Faculty members have conducted academic exchanges in Cornell University, Oxford University, Cambridge University, Waseda University, Sungkyunkwan University and other world-renowned universities. Up to now, SIPA has built academic exchange ties around the world with more than 20 world-top universities such as Oxford University, Cambridge University, Cornell University, Rutgers University, the University of Queensland, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow State Institute of International Relations, Sungkyunkwan University, Hanyang University and the University of Tokyo, etc. In accordance with the changes of the international situation, SIPA regularly holds international academic seminars on the theories and issues of international relations, China-ROK Public Diplomacy Studies Forum, etc. SIPA has also set up a wide range of international exchange platforms for students, encourage and facilitate students’ overseas study and exchange, and signed a "4+1" joint training agreement with Rutgers University, which provides an important opportunity for students to further their studies.

SIPA will continue to uphold the spirit of “Patriotism with Global Vision”. Based on serving the needs of overall national diplomatic strategy and the needs of social development, SIPA will adhere to the idea of cultivating talents in an internationalization, wide scope, innovative and practical way, unswervingly stick to a high level, intensive development path, and devote to making positive contribution to promote China's public diplomacy practice and disciplinary development.