["European Journal of Education, Volume 61, Issue 3, September 2026. ", "\nABSTRACT\nIntercultural communication competence (ICC) is increasingly regarded as an important goal of intercultural education in university EFL classrooms, where students are expected to engage with diverse perspectives and communicate across cultural boundaries. However, previous research has often examined ICC through variable‐centred approaches, paying limited attention to how different ICC dimensions combine within individual learners and how classroom conditions differentiate students' intercultural development. To address this gap, the present study adopted a person‐centred approach to identify latent ICC profiles among Chinese university students in EFL settings and to examine whether teacher‐student rapport (TSR) and classroom engagement (CE) predicted profile membership. A total of 812 students from a comprehensive university in China participated in the study. Latent profile analysis identified five distinct ICC profiles: Overall‐Low, Relatively Balanced, Awareness‐Prominent, Reflective‐Imbalanced, and Comprehensively High. Multinomial logistic regression showed that both TSR and CE significantly contributed to the prediction of profile membership, although CE displayed a more consistent pattern across all profile comparisons. The findings show that students' intercultural development differed not only in overall level but also in internal configuration, with some students showing relatively strong awareness and attitudes but weaker other‐oriented knowledge and communication skills. These results suggest that intercultural education in university EFL classrooms should move beyond general cultural exposure and provide differentiated pedagogical support that strengthens interaction, reflection, and sustained classroom engagement.\n"]