The selection was commissioned by the Department of International Cooperation and Exchanges of the Ministry of Education and organized by the China Education Association for International Exchange (CEAIE). It aims to implement the arrangements for building a leading country in education, raise the quality of China studies education for international students nationwide, and tell China's story well.

The selection went through multiple rounds of rigorous screening — institutional self-application, local selection and recommendation, and strict expert review — amid intense competition. Nationwide, only 121 courses and 124 social practice bases were selected this year.

I. Dedicated Expertise: Crafting a Premium Course

An Overview of China, now recognized as a nationally outstanding course in China studies education, is led by Professor Duan Xiaofang of USTB's School of Marxism. Professor Duan is affiliated with the Institute of Situation and Policy Education and has devoted years to ideological and political education in higher education, education for international students, and practice-based education, accumulating rich teaching experience and substantial research achievements.

Professional Background — Joined the University of Science and Technology Beijing in 2005 and has since served in the Office of International Cooperation and Exchanges and the School of Marxism, holding positions including Vice Dean (Administration), Deputy Party Secretary in charge of student affairs, and Secretary of the Party General Branch. She has long worked on the front lines of internationalized education and the reform of ideological and political teaching.

Teaching Focus — Teaches several core ideological and political courses for undergraduates and postgraduates and has long delivered the English-taught An Overview of China to international students. She is a core faculty member in the university's China studies education for international students.

Research and Publications — Her research focuses on the reform of ideological and political course teaching, student affairs management, and the international communication of Chinese culture. She has led more than ten key research and teaching-reform projects funded by the Ministry of Education, the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs, the Education Working Committee of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee, and the university. She has served as chief editor, associate editor, or contributing editor for eight academic books and textbooks, and has published numerous high-quality teaching and research papers in core journals and authoritative media.

Key Honors — Named a National Young and Middle-aged Backbone Talent in Ideological and Political Work in Higher Education Institutions (Ministry of Education, 2025); a nominee for National College Counselor of the Year; and an Advanced Worker in Moral Education in Beijing Higher Education Institutions. She has repeatedly been recognized as a university-level Advanced Worker, Outstanding Communist Party Member, and Outstanding Party Affairs Worker, and has guided teams and projects to numerous national and municipal awards.

II. The Course as a Medium: Telling China's Story Vividly and in Depth

An Overview of China is a flagship core course carefully developed by USTB for international students. The course has innovatively built a two-dimensional teaching framework that is both diachronic and synchronic, breaking away from the traditional model of one-way knowledge transmission. It traces China's long history and profound traditions while also focusing on today's rapidly changing, open, and inclusive modern China. Drawing on solid data, vivid case studies, and rich practical activities, the course systematically explains the profound ideas of Chinese civilization and reviews the endeavors of the Communist Party of China in promoting the inheritance, innovation, and development of Chinese culture. It enables international students from around the world, while advancing their academic knowledge, to genuinely understand China's history, appreciate Chinese civilization, and experience its contemporary development — steadily deepening their affinity with and sense of identity toward China and Chinese culture.

III. Deepening Teaching Reform: Building Premium English-Taught Resources

Behind a high-quality course lie years of dedicated work. Led by Professor Duan Xiaofang, the teaching team has drawn on decades of experience in teaching reform for international students to comprehensively refine the curriculum and build a standardized, systematic English-taught resource library:

• Nine thematic modules and 36 core knowledge points

• 540 minutes of recorded high-quality English-language teaching videos

• A new 120,000-word English lecture handbook and a complete set of supporting courseware

• A dedicated SPOC teaching platform, with all online resources fully launched

These complete, high-quality, and shareable online resources enable international students to study independently anytime and anywhere, improving both teaching quality and efficiency.

IV. Integrating Knowledge and Action: A Four-in-One Education Model

An Overview of China upholds the unity of knowledge and action and the principle of educating through practice. Moving beyond classroom-only teaching, it has built a new four-in-one model for China studies education: classroom lectures, online self-study, on-site experience, and cultural exchange. In teaching, the team regularly takes students out of the classroom and into real-world settings, conducting immersive practice-based teaching at landmark venues such as the Museum of the Communist Party of China, the China National Arts and Crafts Museum, the Summer Palace, and the National Museum of China, and pairing them with Chinese students on campus for joint study and mutual cultural learning. The course also draws on the university's flagship "Experience China: Qin'an Trip" program to run a mobile "China Studies Classroom on the Move," allowing international students to touch China's history, feel its culture, and witness its development as they travel.