Abstract
Introduction. In the context of globalization, foreign language education has become a critical component of national competitiveness and cultural diplomacy. Russian language teaching plays a unique role in China’ s higher education system. However, research in this field has long relied on qualitative analysis, failing to produce systematic, quantitative evidence of the overall landscape. Using CiteSpace software, this study aims to reveal the developmental trajectory, core themes, and evolutionary trends of Russian language teaching in China, thereby providing empirical support for teaching reform.Materials and Methods. Data were sourced from scientific publications on Russian language teaching in the CNKI database from 1978 to 2025. A total of 2,429 papers were obtained through manual screening. CiteSpace was employed to generate three types of knowledge maps: keyword co-occurrence, clustering, and burst detection.Results. The publication volume data showed a policy-driven pulsed growth with three distinct peaks in 2010, 2015, and 2019. Research hotspots formed five thematic areas: macro policy and talent cultivation, coursespecific teaching practices, innovation in teaching strategies, frontier topics, and theoretical foundations. The research trend underwent a three-stage evolution process, each stage driven in turn by social demand, disciplinary endogenous needs, and national policy. “Ideological and political education through courses” became the most prominent research frontier in recent years with a burst strength of 20.50.Conclusion. This study provides a panoramic CiteSpace analysis revealing structural features such as policy-driven growth, five thematic areas, and a three-stage evolutionary model. The presented critical reflection on the policy-driven model distinguishes between “policy as context” and “policy as framework”, suggesting data-driven theoretical references and practical pathways for Russian language teaching reform, curriculum development, and talent cultivation. These results can be used by Russian language educators, curriculum developers and bibliometric researchers focusing on foreign language education.