It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education of China.The university has the main aim of teaching the Chinese language and culture to foreign students.

[2] Beijing Language and Culture University is often called "Little United Nations" in China because of its very large number of international students from various countries.

[5] Early in the 1950s when the teaching of Chinese as a foreign language (TCFL) was still at the initial stage, the first generation of BLCU teachers took an active part in the pioneering work.

In 1964, the school was officially named "Beijing Language Institute" (Chinese: 北京语言学院; pinyin: Běijīng yǔyán xuéyuàn).

In June 1996, it was renamed "Beijing Language and Culture University" (Chinese: 北京语言文化大学; pinyin: Běijīng yǔyán wénhuà dàxué).