上海对外贸易学院建立于1960年。原为国家对外贸易经济合作部直属高校，1994年划转由上海市人民政府领导。
上海对外贸易学院为华东地区唯一的一所涉外商科大学，具有从事国际商务高等教育的悠久历史、鲜明特色和传统优势。
上海对外贸易学院拥有一支国际商务专业理论功底深厚、与国内外商务界有密切联系、教学经验丰富的师资队伍。尤其是，近几年来，已形成一支具有创新开拓精神、善于及时跟踪国际经贸发展前沿成果、能用“双语”进行教学和科研、能应用现代教育手段的中青年骨干教师队伍。
近五十年来，上海对外贸易学院为国家培养了一批又一批优秀的国际商务专业人才，他们中许多人已成为我国对外经贸企业界的领袖人物、国际跨国公司或涉外企业的精英骨干，在世界经贸舞台发挥才干。
20世纪90年代中期以来，随着我国对外开放的不断扩大，为适应上海以及全国经济社会发展的需要，学校及时调整学科、专业领域，将培养目标从单一的为国有专业外贸公司培养外销员转变为瞄准“大经贸”、“大商务”格局，为国家培养能适应货物贸易、服务贸易、知识贸易不同领域需要的各类国际商务专业人才。
当前，针对经济全球化发展趋势以及我国加入世界贸易组织（WTO）以后的新形势，学校还将不断调整、开拓新的学科、专业领域。
Founded in 1960,the Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade (SIFT) is an institution of higher learning originally subordinate to the former Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation but under the administration of the Shanghai Municipal Government since 1994.
The sole institution of higher education for international business in the East China region, SIFT boasts a long history of business education with its distinctive traits and traditional superiority. 
SIFT commands a teaching faculty well grounded in the specialized theories of international business , closely associated with business circles at home and abroad, and richly experienced in teaching. Especially in recent years , SIFT has brought up an elite group of young and middle-aged teachers, who constantly bring forth new ideas in their work and blaze new trails. They keep close track of the advanced achievements in international economy and trade, employ modern educational means, and are competent for bilingual teaching.
In the past forty-six years and more, SIFT has turned out for the country large numbers of topnotch professionals in the field of international business, or the backbone of multinational or foreign –related enterprises, giving full play to their talents in the realm of international trade and business.
Since the mid 1990s, with China's further opening-up to the outside world , Sift has been making timely adjustments in its academic disciplines and specialized courses to meet the needs of the economic and social development both in Shanghai and in the whole of China. SIFT has now fulfilled its upgrade from a mono-disciplined college mainly engaged in the filed of foreign trade to a multi-disciplined higher education institution, offering comprehensive business courses and turning out various specialized talents capable of handing commodity trade, service trade, and TRIP (trade-related intellectual property). The construction of Songjiang canpus of SIFT was completed in 2003, which provides material conditions for the realization of the strategic transfer of major education activities from the old Gubei campus. By 2004, SIFT has achieved an enrollment of 10000 students, which is a great progress at the first stage of its leapfrogging development.
Nowadys, SIFT is engaged in carrying out its development goals in The Strategic Development Planning for 2004-2010 of SIFT. SIFT is endeavoring to intensify its interior management and administration in order to bulid itself into a world-renowned socialist university ranking among the fiest class domestic universities in the field of business teaching and research.
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