Structure
     Xiwai International School is a joint venture between Xiwai Investment and Management Co. Ltd. and Shanghai International Studies University . The former is a company specializing in education investment; it consists of shareholders and senior managers, including individuals from the international banking sector, such as Goldman Sachs, and from Chinese and overseas educational institutions. (The school's Advisory Board members, too, have a cross-cultural, international background: some are from the private sector, whilst a number possess doctoral degrees from well-known Western institutions, and have taught in Chinese and Western universities, including Fudan, Harvard, Yale, and Oxford Universities ). Shanghai International Studies University is one of China 's key universities, directly under the jurisdiction of the Chinese Ministry of Education. It excels in the area of foreign language and culture studies. The combined resources of both partners make Xiwai International School one of the best in the Chinese pre-tertiary education arena.

Location
     The school is located within a new university town, next to a recently established Shanghai International Studies University campus. Flanked by two rivers, it is a part of the new Songjiang City , a suburban district of Shanghai municipality.The school is only half an hour's motorway drive to Shanghai City and Hongqiao Airport. Over the next few years, within only a ten to fifteen minutes' walk from the school, there will be monorail and central bus stations, forming a transport hub for Songjiang City . A satellite city of Shanghai, Songjiang is located at the crossroads of Shanghai, and Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces, right in the heart of the Yangtze River Delta, one of the most economically dynamic and vibrant regions of China, with a population of around 1.5 million, the highest per capita income, and the highest educational and cultural levels in China.

     Boarding students are accommodated in seven student halls, with four students to each air-conditioned room,sharing a bathroom. Staff based in each hall are on call 24 hours a day. A spacious dining hall provides meals for up to two thousand students at any one sitting. An on-site medical centre, a general store, a book shop, hairdressers, etc. are provided for the convenience of staff and students.

Teaching philosophy
      Xiwai International School strives to provide an excellent, learner-centred education, with a global focus, by combining educational resources from both East and West. It emphasizes the development of multiple abilities, in order to bring out the full potential of every student, to build students' self-confidence, and nurture their ability to live and work independently. The aim is to produce well-rounded individuals who are not only academically competent, but who also have a high level of social awareness, the capacity for self-learning and innovation, and the creativity, flexibility and adaptability to meet the challenges of life in the twenty-first century. Students are, therefore, encouraged not only to develop a comprehensive range of academic skills, such as critical reasoning, language, mathematics, science, information technology, and social and cultural studies, in accordance with the standard curriculum, but, in addition, to use their imagination and creativity by engaging in various project-based activities. Extra-curricula activities, such as drama, film, debating, sports events, community activities, etc., are also organized. The aim is to avoid the system of force-fed, rote-learning, exam-oriented knowledge acquisition. At the same time, appropriate attention needs to be paid to meeting standard curriculum requirements. The school thus seeks to achieve a balance between ensuring students graduate with the best possible academic qualifications, whilst also fully developing other aspects of their potential.

      One of the major characteristics of the school is its international focus, and its emphasis on foreign language teaching. All students, from their first enrolment, are required to study a foreign language. In addition, a number of subject courses, such as mathematics, physics and information technology, are taught in English, as well as Chinese, and subject text books in both English and Chinese are utilized. Wherever possible, a bilingual/multilingual teaching and learning approach is adopted to ensure students develop a bilingual/multilingual and bicultural/multicultural perspective, which will stand them in good stead in terms of entering tertiary institutions or workplaces in an increasingly globalized community. The school will in addition introduce various international qualifications, including Cambridge for AS and A level or the International Baccalaureate. Students graduating with dual qualifications have access to tertiary education both in China and overseas.

      In order to create a stimulating, multicultural, international-oriented environment at the school, the senior management and teaching team consists of both local and overseas staff. Students come from both China and overseas. A number of international exchange programmes are being developed in order to enable students and staff to have an authentically international teaching and learning experience. The study of a foreign language is not simply a peripheral activity, but an integral component of the core curriculum. The combination of foreign language learning with the school's classes on comparative culture is designed to create a genuinely international learning environment.