The President's Photo Gallery
Message by the President
  In the new century we shall, on the one hand, carry on our tradition of propagating truths and serving society and, on the other hand, change with the times¡ª deepening the reform, exploring new ways of operation, and striving to meet the needs of our country¡¯s socio-economic development. We shall consciously follow the law of tertiary education and make greater efforts in conducting scientific research. We shall make the establishment of new disciplines our first priority and further improve the performance of our teachers and students. And by bringing the teachers¡¯ leading role and the students¡¯ creative spirit into full play, we aim at turning out young talents who live up to our mission ¡°Moral integrity, exemplary behaviour, and conversance with both Eastern and Western learning¡±, and are capable of competing and cooperating in the international arena. We shall do our utmost to become a trail-blazer in the internationalization of tertiary education and make our contributions to the development of the country¡¯s tertiary education and to the rejuvenation of our great nation.
Biography of President Xu Zhenhua
Xu Zhenhua, born in 1950 in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, China, received his college education at Guangzhou Institute of Foreign Languages (GIFL, now Guangdong University of Foreign Studies), and has served the University since his graduation in 1975. He studied French, literature and higher education management in the University of Mohammad 5th , Morocco, the University of La Nouvelle Sorbonne Paris III, France, and Montreal University, Canada. Upon return to GDUFS, Xu conducted research on Chinese-French neologisms under the guidance of Professor Huang Jianhua, a renowned lexicographer, translator and scholar, and received his Ph.D. degree in linguistics.

Xu is President, Professor, and a supervisor of Ph.D. candidates of Guangdong University of Foreign Studies. He is also Vice Chairman of China French Literature Society, a member of the Foreign Languages Teaching Steering Committee of the Ministry of Education and Vice Chairman of Guangzhou Translation Association.

President Xu has published more than 50 academic theses, including Theory, Modelling and Methodology: Research on Foreign Languages in Higher Education (1997 Hainan Publishing Company), Analysis on the Common Mistakes by Chinese Students of French (1998 Zhiyi Publishing Company, Taiwan), Rationality and Irrationality: Mainstream of French Literature in the 20th Century (2000 Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, Beijing, co-author with Prof Huang Jianhua), Research on the Interaction of Neologisms and Society (2001 L¡¯Harmattan Press, Paris, France), Enterprises and Communications (2001 Maison d' edition Quaille, Hong Kong. Co-editor with Zheng Lihua).

During 1986 and 1990, President Xu translated and published more than 600,000 words of the works of contemporary French writers, such as Marcel Ayme, Jorges Semprun, Denis Langlois. Since 1990, President Xu has published more than 50 academic theses, including Malraux and Art Form, Melancholy Ballads: Nelligan and His Poems, Language and Culture: French Slang and Folk Adages Viewed from Poems and Songs, Knowledge Economy and Cultivation of Cross-cultural Capabilities.

In addition, as a project director, President Xu was engaged in two educational reform programs: Theory and Practice for Teaching French Speciality, which was awarded second prize for Excellent Teaching Achievements by Guangdong Provincial Government in 1997; Integrate Teaching, Scientific Research and Social Service and Promote Turning out Talents Proficient in Foreign Languages won first prize for Excellent Teaching Achievements awarded by Guangdong Provincial Government in 2000 and second prize for Excellent Teaching Achievements awarded by the Ministry of Education in June 2001. Rationality and Irrationality: Mainstream of French Literature in the 20th Century, co-authored with Prof Huang Jianhua, was recommended by the Academic Degree Office of the State Council in 2001 as a textbook for postgraduates. Research on Malraux, a series of essays written by President Xu, was awarded third prize for Scientific Research Achievements by Guangdong Social Science Federation in 1999.

President Xu is married to Lin Xiuya. They have a 23-year-old son.