The School of Publishing at Beijing Institute of Graphic Communication (BIGC) was established in 2022. It is one of the first five publishing schools in China guided by the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee. Jointly established by BIGC and the China Publishing Association, the School is dedicated to advancing the development of China’s publishing industry and supporting Beijing’s role as the national cultural center. It is committed to cultivating high-caliber publishing professionals with a strong sense of national responsibility, innovative spirit, and practical competence.
The School offers a doctoral degree program in Publishing, along with two master’s degree programs: one in Publishing Studies (academic track) and one in Professional Publishing (professional track). At the undergraduate level, it offers three programs: Editing and Publishing, Digital Publishing, and Communication (International Publishing). Among these, Editing and Publishing and Digital Publishing are designated as National First-Class Undergraduate Program Development Sites, while Communication (International Publishing) is recognized as a Beijing Municipal First-Class Undergraduate Program Development Site. The School also runs specialized experimental classes, including the Taofen Experimental Class, the Digital Publishing Experimental Class, and the International Publishing Experimental Class. Currently, the School has 1,045 enrolled students, including 267 master’s students and 778 undergraduates.
The School boasts the largest full-time and part-time faculty team in the field of publishing in China. It currently has 46 full-time faculty members, including 11 professors, 20 associate professors, and 15 lecturers. The faculty team is composed of leading experts and scholars in the field, including nationally recognized figures such as Leading Talents in the News and Publishing Industry and recipients of the China Publishing Government Award. The teaching team has received numerous honors, including the National Teaching Achievement Award, National First-Class Undergraduate Courses, and recognition as a “High-Level Teaching Innovation Team for Municipal Universities during the 14th Five-Year Plan Period” in Beijing.
The School places great emphasis on the development of teaching and research platforms. It hosts a National Off-campus Practice Base for University Students, an Industry-Academia-Research Collaborative Education Platform for Beijing Undergraduate Universities, and a Beijing Municipal Virtual Teaching and Research Office for the Digital Publishing program. It is also home to several high-level research platforms, including the National Publishing Think Tank under the National Press and Publication Administration, the National Engineering Laboratory for Digital and Compound Publishing Systems, and the Beijing Key Laboratory for Cross-Media Publishing. In addition, the School has established research institutes and labs such as the Institute of Digital Publishing and Media, the Research Center for Ancient Book Publishing and Communication, the Institute of Periodical and Media Studies, and the Publishing Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.
The School collaborates with renowned publishing enterprises such as Science Press, Higher Education Press, People’s Literature Publishing House, Posts & Telecom Press, and Southern Publishing and Media Co., Ltd. It has established over 50 on- and off-campus bases for talent cultivation, innovation and entrepreneurship incubation bases, and dual-teacher model workstations. The School actively explores various training models, including “dual-certification,” “order-based,” and “industry-academia-research interactive” models. It also maintains close ties with institutions and associations such as the Chinese Academy of Press and Publication and the Taofen Foundation Council. The School has organized major academic events and disciplinary competitions such as the International Summit Forum on Publishing Education and the Taofen Cup National Book Editing and Proofreading Skills Competition (Student Division). Furthermore, the School has taken the lead in establishing the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Publishing Education Consortium and the Beijing-Shanghai Publishing Education Alliance, promoting the sharing of high-quality educational resources and driving the coordinated development of publishing education nationwide.
The School actively expands international cooperation and has established extensive partnerships with overseas universities such as Edinburgh Napier University, the University of Stirling, Oxford Brookes University, Pace University, and Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. It has launched several joint programs with international partners, including “3+1” integrated bachelor’s-master’s programs and “1+1” joint doctoral training programs in publishing. The School also incorporates pre-doctoral courses from foreign universities into its master’s curriculum and is actively developing an integrated master’s-doctoral training model.
Looking ahead, the School will strengthen its distinctive and innovative approach to publishing education, characterized by “integrated training, interdisciplinary integration, expanded communication, and coordinated development.” It aims to become a leading hub for cultivating publishing leaders, as well as innovative, application-oriented, and interdisciplinary professionals. In doing so, the School will contribute to the development of a culturally strong nation and a publishing powerhouse, striving to establish itself as a high-level publishing school that is nationally leading and internationally renowned.
