China’s Shifting Economy Attracts International Students

Studying at CEIBS provides opportunity to not only witness the global economy in microcosm but to also to see one of the world’s great cities. When international students first watch the lights and activity next to the city's historic Bund and across the river in the Lujiazui Financial Centre, says media officer, James Kent, “the word that first crosses the minds of many is simply ‘wow’. Life here offers a plethora of culinary, cultural, and shopping options which even cities such as London and New York will envy. Shanghai resonates with youth and innovation, and provides its residents with an outstanding standard of living, high levels of personal safety, and an extensive and modern metro and public transportation system.”

When Bridgeforth first arrived, he’d never been away from the US's east coast. He quickly realized, that “It is just like any other cosmopolitan city, but better because of opportunity and safety. There is always something going on no matter the day or time and if the city is missing something you enjoy, then create it.”  Regular treks to Puxi, the city’s historic center, punctuate his time in Shanghai.

Economic obstacles are not the only ones countries encounter as they try to attract international students. Most Japanese universities teach their classes in Japanese – which helps explain why 90% of their international students come from other Asian countries. South Korean and Chinese students may speak a different language, but they generally struggle less than native English speakers. Japanese professors tend to follow a traditional teaching model where lecturers speak before crowded halls with little opportunity for student contributions. At many of China's business schools, however, professors follow a more Western model, in which students and educators interact. At CEIBS, that is due in part to the faculty's diversity with two thirds of the school's professors coming from outside the country.

CEIBS, like most top business schools like INSEAD and HKUST, offers classes in English. Still, they encourage students to learn Mandarin. The school offers free courses from elementary to advanced. They also provide information about local language schools for students who wish to go beyond the lessons which are offered two-to-three times per week.

An ability to speak the language is seen as necessary for those who wish to remain in the country after graduation. Still, it can be a challenge. Despite spending over five years in China, Bridgeforth reflects, “I also spend time trying to learn Mandarin, which seems like an uphill battle.”

For Greenberg, before even trying to learn Mandarin, the main challenge was adapting to the city’s “intense urbanity” after growing up in “bucolic Colorado”. As she traveled around Shanghai she faced another, surprising challenge. “When I first arrived, I went searching for Chinese food and found Mexican, French, Italian, Spanish, and Japanese before happening upon a Chinese noodle shop. The CEIBS campus is actually full of surprises and interesting spaces if you explore thoroughly enough.”

Another CEIBS graduate, Luis S Galan Lozano, admitted in an October interview with Business Because that three years after earning an MBA, life in China continues to surprise and occasionally frustrate. “For me, living in China is not really living but surviving; struggling. I love it. I hate it. It is a place where you can somehow love and enjoy the struggle. This is how crazy China is. In Europe, people accept the status quo. Here in China, there is a feeling of speed, pressure, and an urgency to improve and catch up, to make up for lost time.”

Today earning an MBA in China means immersing yourself into a rapidly changing environment. The nation has worked hard to shift from a manufacturing, export-focused economy to one that is orientated toward native consumers. Even if GDP growth slows, China anticipates its consumer market will be worth $6.5 trillion within the next five years. “In the US, supply-side reform is largely equivalent to tax cuts,” explains deputy director of the enterprise research institute Zhang Wenkui in China Daily. “In China, the most discussed issue is the destocking and elimination of zombie companies (companies that cannot sustain themselves). But I think the reform of state-owned enterprises is genuine supply-side reform.”

The transition has been painful, with stock market undulations and currency devaluations that have impacted the global economy. For Bridgeforth, his time in China provided a front-row seat for the shift. “I think the fact that my four-month trip to Shanghai has turned into five years and counting says the pros out weight the cons. CEIBS as expected, thus far, has made sense of and opened up my views on business in China and China’s role in the world. China's shift to a consumer-driven economy simply means opportunity and CEIBS is making sure we will be able to capitalize on it." Bridgeforth  and Greenberg anticipate earning their degrees in 2017. 

This article is sponsored by CEIBS