Our University took advantage of incentives from the Chinese universities and engaged in a unique Czech-Chinese-American educational project. On Thursday 17 September 2015, the first 25 Chinese students were admitted to the Business Management and Corporate Finance & BSBA programme. In the next years, we expect 30 to 40 new students every year.
The international educational project is held under the auspices of the President of the Czech Republic, Miloš Zeman, and the CzechTourism Agency. “With the present stepwise increase of interest by Asian countries to visit the Czech Republic, the Agency appreciates the possibility of participation in the international educational programme for Chinese students”, said Monika Palatková, CEO, CzechTourism. “We see the project as more potential to improve both the image and reputation of the Czech Republic in those markets”, she added. The matriculation ceremonies were held at our premises in the Congress Centre, Prague 10. Beside important guests from the Chinese University, the matriculation ceremonies where Karel Havlíček, Dean of the Faculty of Economic Studies, delivered a welcome speech for students in Chinese, were visited e.g. by Jaroslav Tvrdík, President of the Joint Czech-Chines Chamber of Mutual Co-operation, and Wang Mingtai, CEO, CEFC Investment Company (Europe), and Karina Kubelková from the Office of the President of the Czech Republic, or Markéta Vogelová from the CzechTourismus Agency.
Beside the University of Finance and Administration, the Changchun University of Finance and Economics (Jilin Province, China) and the City University of Seattle (Seattle, USA) are engaged in the educational project. The study programme will have three phases: students will complete a one-year preparation study in China and then spend three years in the Czech Republic where they take concurrently Bc. and BSBA degrees in the Joint Degree Programme. For the last two years, they will study in the U.S. to obtain an MBA degree. The tuition fees for Chinese students (similar to other foreign students) are about 100,000 CZK/year. “Our long-term goal is to be an international university. As of today, every fourth student in our school comes from abroad. In the future, we expect more Chinese students to arrive, that’s why we are building ˈSmall Chinatownˈ for them in the Zizkov District,” said Bohuslava Šenkýřová, Rector of the University of Finance and Administration. In the course of their studies, Chinese students will be involved in entrepreneurial projects aimed to support innovation, export and investments in specific companies, in co-operation with the Association of small and medium-size enterprises and crafts of the Czech Republic.
Currently, there are not even two hundred Chinese students in the Czech Republic. It is the consequence of low willingness of the Czech universities to accept new initiatives, political obstacles in the form of limited possibility to obtain a Czech study visa as well as the fact that none of the Czech universities are ranked amongst the world’s best universities. For illustration, there are about 460 thousand students from China worldwide and in Netherlands which is comparable to the Czech Republic, there are about six thousand students. On top of that, Chinese students are amongst the most successful students at foreign universities because of their diligence and motivation. In the context of problems over the last weeks, their effort to absorb the culture of the country in which they have decided to study is just admirable, as heard in the speech of Zhonga Liu, President of the Changchun University of Finance and Economics: “My dear students, keep in mind that do in Rome as Roman do, for example, abide the laws and regulations of the Czech Republic, and respect ethic cultures of other countries.“
