Professor Chen Jianping was born inGuangdongin 1955. He majored in English Language & Literature at the Guangzhou Institute of Foreign Languages (now Guangdong University of Foreign Studies) and graduated from the English Department in 1975. He later studied at theGraduateSchoolof theChineseUniversityofHong Kongand received a Masters of Philosophy in Applied Linguistics. He also obtained an MA in Modern Social History from the Department of History at the University of Lancaster, UK. He did his PhD atBeijingForeignStudiesUniversityand was awarded a PhD in English Language and Literature.

Professor Chen has held various teaching, research and administrative positions at GDUFS since he graduated from the Guangzhou Institute of Foreign Languages. He has been serving as Vice-President since 1995. He is also a Member of the National Foreign Languages Teaching Advisory Board under the Ministry of Education; Vice President of the China English Language Education Association; Vice Director of the National Research Association of International Business English and Vice President of the Guangdong Foreign Language Association.

His academic interests include research in applied linguistics, sociolinguistics and ESL/EFL teaching & learning, as well as intercultural communication. In 1991, he was awarded the title of Returned Scholar with Outstanding Achievements by the State Educational Commission and the Ministry of Personnel. He also received first prize at the Guangdong Teaching Achievements Award in 1996 and second at the National Teaching Achievements Award in 1997. He has also conducted a research project in EFL learning in the Chinese Socio-cultural Context funded by the National Research Fund for Social Sciences.