January 15, 2008. Shanghai campus - CEIBS hosted an official Launching Ceremony for the Europe-China Business Management Project today, attracting a host of VIP visitors including EU Commissioner Vladimir Spidla, EU Ambassador Serge Abou, Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng, Shanghai Vice Mayor Feng Guoqin, Pudong New District Governor Zhang Xuebing, as well as dignitaries from the Shanghai Development and Reform Committee, Shanghai Foreign Economic Relations and Trade Committee, CPC Shanghai Working Committee for Science, Technology and Education, Shanghai Education Commission, and other officials from the Pudong New District government.
CEIBS Vice President and Co-dean Zhang Weijiong opened the ceremony by thanking the European and Chinese officials attending for their support. CEIBS President Zhu Xiaoming then delivered the welcome address, in which he called the Launching Ceremony "another memorable landmark for CEIBS." The event marks the official donation of funding from the European Union and thus, the official launch of the project. President Zhu added that, the fact that CEIBS won the bid for this high profile project, which attracted bidding from business schools worldwide, reflects not only the hard work of CEIBS personnel but also the faith and trust that the EU government and Chinese government place in CEIBS. He concluded by stating that the official Launching Ceremony marks the beginning of a new phase in the development and maturity of CEIBS.
The BMT Project will bring a number of new developments to CEIBS during the project's five- year duration, focusing on the central goal of transferring high level, practically-oriented business knowledge from the EU to China. Specific project activities will include: providing educational opportunities for disadvantaged individuals, groups and regions in China (especially Western provinces), as well as for women; launching a pilot PhD program; and delivering business management training with an emphasis on responsibility and leadership.
In funding the project, the European Union will contribute 7.6 million Euro while CEIB and its partner schools will also donate funding. Total funding contributed by the EU, CEIBS, and partner schools will be 10.1 million Euro. Academic partners in the BMT Project are: European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD), the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, and IESE School of Business.
Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng next congratulated CEIBS on the launch of the BMT Project, calling it "a very important project for the Chinese government in its cooperation with the EU." He added that implementing the project will "enhance relations between China and Europe." The Vice Minister concluded by stating: "We are quite confident that CEIBS will succeed in this project, particularly in helping to develop business education in underdeveloped areas of China."
CEIBS Vice President and Dean Rolf D. Cremer next introduced specific programmes covered by the project. "Through this project, China and the EU address the most critical issue for sustainable domestic and international success of Chinese economy and its integration into the world economy, which is: the lack of leaders and managers who are highly qualified and capable of operating in an international environment." Dean Cremer added that the project addresses three important strategic issues affecting management education in China: first, expanding research and training in the field of leadership (through funding six professors teaching in this field); second, providing access to world-class business education for Chinese students from disadvantaged regions or disadvantaged circumstances (the BMT project will provide 160 disadvantaged students with scholarships and another 360 students with certificate training programmes); and third, supporting the development of management faculty in China (CEIBS will develop a new PhD programme).
Dean Cremer called the EU's decision to award CEIBS with such a large-scale project "an important endorsement of the school." He said that the choice of CEIBS to manage the project confirms that the school is considered by the EU and the Shanghai governments as the "premier platform for extending the boundaries in management education and research in China."
In his address, Shanghai Vice Mayor Feng Guochin officially pledged that the Shanghai Municipal government will match the funding provided by the EU for the Europe-China BMT Project, expanding the total funding to more than 17.7 million Euro.
Vice Mayor Feng attributed the success of CEIBS, in part, to the diligent and talented work of the Chinese and Europe governments, and to the fact that both governments consider the school as a high priority. Since the school's inception in 1984, originally as the China Europe Management Institute, through to the founding of CEIBS in 1994, to the present, the EU has continuously supported the development of business education in China. Last October, he accompanied Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng in attending the unveiling ceremony for the CEIBS-Lujiaziu International Financial Research Centre, at which CEIBS was encouraged to provide high quality education, training and research to facilitate Shanghai's transformation into an international finance center. The vice mayor pledged that the Shanghai government will "continue to support the development of CEIBS, as it has done since the school' s beginning." He added that the launch of the BMT Project will propel CEIBS ahead on its journey to becoming one of the world's leading business schools, allowing CEIBS to climb higher towards its ambitions, and to offer more fruits that contribute to China's development.
CEIBS President Zhu Xiaoming told audience members that, while CEIBS is extremely pleased to have won the BMT Project, the school also feels a great responsibility to implement it successfully. "We guarantee that we will fulfill the project while following the guidelines of the EU and China governments," he stated, adding that "CEIBS will continuously strive to serve as an incubator for China's business leaders and as a resource providing the Chinese government with consulting and strategic assistance." In conclusion, he stated that "CEIBS will serve as a communication platform linking China to the world."
In his address, European Commissioner Spidla stressed the EU government's commitment in promoting business education in China's less developed regions and voiced his support for the exchange programs funded by the project, including those that bring Chinese students for study terms in both Western and Eastern Europe. He also stressed that the support of the Chinese government has been critical to the success of CEIBS and quoted Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's recent comment that "CIEBS has become an incubator for excellent business managers." The commissioner also thanked the Shanghai government for generously matching the contribution of the EU in funding the project.
After introducing himself as a "former math teacher," EC Ambassador Serge Abou charmed the audience by offering a mathematical theorem for his address. He stressed that the EU government awards the Europe-China Business Management Project every five years after a highly competitive bidding process. Thus, the government cannot reserve the funding for any one school. However, the ambassador said that if CEIBS continues to prove itself as the best among the competing schools, then it will continue to receive project funding from the EU. And if CEIBS continues to receive the EU funding, then the Shanghai government will continue to offer matching funding. Lastly, if CEIBS continues to receive such generous funding from both the EU and Shanghai governments, the school will certainly continue to be the best school in the competition. The conclusion to his thereom, he said with a smile, is that the outlook for CEIBS is guaranteed success.
The event concluded with European Commissioner Spidla joined by Ambassador Abou, Commerce Vice Minister Gao, and Shanghai Vice Mayor Feng in unveiling the engraved Europe-China Business Management Project Office sign, thus officially launching the project.
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