August 21, 2008. Shanghai campus - One hundred and eighty nine students from 24 different countries began their 18-month CEIBS MBA journey today with the official opening ceremony for the Class of 2008.

CEIBS President Prof. Zhu Xiaoming, the school's Honorary President Prof. Liu Ji, Dean and Vice President Prof. Rolf D. Cremer, Co-Dean and Vice President Prof. Zhang Weijiong, Associate Dean and MBA Academic Director Prof. Lydia J. Price, as well as other faculty members and representatives from the business world attended the ceremony.

CEIBS President Zhu Xiaoming (sixth from left) and EU First Secretary Marcel Roijen (seventh from left) with this year's EU-China Scholarship winners.

In his opening speech, Prof Zhu Xiaoming offered his best wishes to the incoming students, as well as his expectations of them. "Today's MBA students are tomorrow's business leaders. It is CEIBS' aim to cultivate socially responsible leaders who have a global perspective as well as leadership skills." He added that the members of the incoming class have "great potential to become great business leaders in the most dynamic business environment in the world," and invited the students to "make history for yourself and for the school."

CEIBS Dean and Vice President Rolf D. Cremer next addressed CEIBS' commitment to covering ethics, leadership and social responsibility alongside the more traditional business management subjects. He commented that the study of leadership and responsibility are especially important in China's emerging and fast-growing environment. He compared the rapid development of CEIBS to the moves of a skilled surfer. "We are surfing on the big wave," he added, commenting that CEIBS graduates must learn to ride this wave but also protect and ensure its sustainability. He concluded by promising students that their studies at CEIBS would launch them on a path toward a brilliant career as business and social leaders:  "I look forward to reading and hearing about the great contributions you have made to China and the world, in the world's newspapers and TV programmes."

EU First Secretary Mr. Marcel Roijen congratulated the winners of CEIBS' 2008 BMT Project scholarships, saying "I hope that the knowledge and experiences you will gain studying at CEIBS will eventually prepare you to become future key players in China's economic reform process." Singapore OCBC HR Director Mr. Chan Earn Meng told students that, besides an MBA, they also need two other qualifications in their careers: a GTD (get things done) and a DWH (do it with heart).

MBA 2007 student Daniel Wang, who was among those who made the mid-programme Dean's List this year, joined MBA 2008 student Karen Jiang in sharing their thoughts and experience with all the students. Daniel promised the new class "You will get a good academic workout at CEIBS," but added that students would "not only be racing against each other but also racing with each other."

Some of the CEIBS MBA 2008 Scholarship winners

During the opening ceremony, incoming scholarship awardees officially received their awards from EU representatives, school management, as well as representatives from sponsor companies. Scholarships for incoming students include CEIBS MBA Scholarship, Shanghai Municipal Government Scholarship, OCBC Bank Scholarship, EU-China Scholarship, Wu Jinglian Education Fund and Liu Ji Education Fund Grant. Prof. Liu Ji encouraged the students to seize the opportunity to learn more.

After the ceremony, Prof. Lydia Price gave an outline of the CEIBS MBA programme's structure, curriculum, academic rules and evaluation system. Then, MBA Operations Director Ms. Yvonne Li gave details about CEIBS MBA management structure.

The MBA office has arranged a comprehensive orientation session and team building programmes during the week to come, to help students adjust to campus life. The first was today's musical feast offered by Oscar-winning Chinese musician Tan Dun.

CEIBS has been offering an MBA programme since 1995, growing from 60 in the first class to almost 190 today. Over the years the CEIBS MBA programme has earned a name for itself with accomplishments such as being the first business school in mainland China to be ranked within the top 100 by the Financial Times. CEIBS MBA has been ranking No. 11 globally for the last 2 years and No. 1 in Asia for the last 5 consecutive years.