From self-strengthening to global engagement: a policy review of China's EFL development, 1862–2025

This paper aims to examine the historical evolution of China's English as a Foreign Language (EFL) policy from 1862 to 2025 and to explain how these policies have been shaped by shifting state priorities, ideological orientations, and China's changing position in the world. Methodologically, the study employs a qualitative historical policy analysis that synthesizes primary documentary sources, including policy documents, regulations, curricular guidelines, examination-related materials, and official public statements, together with relevant secondary scholarship. The analysis is organized chronologically across three periods—the Semi-colonial Period (1862–1949), the Communist Revolution Period (1949–1978), and the Reform and Opening-up Period (1978–2025)—and interpreted through Bernard Spolsky's tripartite model of language policy, focusing on the interaction among language management, language beliefs/ideology, and language practices. Findings show that the development of China's EFL policy has not followed a linear process of educational expansion, but has instead been shaped by the historically contingent interaction among management, ideological beliefs, and educational practice. They further reveal that the role of English shifted from a tool of self-strengthening and foreign knowledge acquisition, to a politically constrained language under socialist and revolutionary priorities, and later to a strategic resource for modernization, global communication, and the international expression of Chinese culture. The study concludes that the effectiveness and durability of EFL policy depend largely on the degree of alignment among language management, beliefs/ideology, and practices. These findings suggest that future EFL policy in China should promote more coherent coordination across assessment, pedagogy, technology, teacher development, and resource distribution, while future research should further examine EFL policy within the broader language-in-education ecology.