The predecessor of Beijing Foreign Studies University was the Russian language team of the Third Branch of China Anti Japanese Military and Political University founded in Yan'an in 1941, and later developed into Yan'an Foreign Studies School; In 1954, it was renamed Beijing Foreign Languages Institute; In 1959, it merged with Beijing Russian Language Institute to establish a new Beijing Foreign Language Institute; In 1994, it was officially named Beijing Foreign Studies University. Beijing Foreign Studies University is the first foreign language university founded by the CPC and a national key university directly under the Ministry of Education.