College of Business
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Orientation for first cohort of CityU-Tsinghua EMBA+MPA programme in Tsinghua


33 students in the first cohort of CityU-Tsinghua EMBA+MPA programme have begun their Master of Public Administration (MPA) learning journey at Tsinghua University. They gathered in Beijing on 20 to 24 August for an array of orientation activities. Back to April this year, the class started their Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) module at CityU in Hong Kong.

An inaugural opening ceremony was held on 24 August in Beijing. Guests attending the ceremony included Professor Way Kuo, CityU President; Professor Houmin Yan, Acting Dean of the College of Business; Professor Yang Bin, Vice-President of Tsinghua University; Professor Jiang Xiaojuan, Dean of the School of Public Policy and Administration at Tsinghua University, as well as Professor Wayne Yu and Dr Hao Gang, Co-directors of programme at CityU.

First batch of the programme’s advisory committee was announced in the opening ceremony. The awarded advisors including Dr Zhao Baige, Chairman of the Expert Committee of International Think Tank under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; Mr Wang Tianyi, Chief Executive Officer of China Everbright
International Limited; and Mr Han Zhifeng, Vice-Director of the Department of Fixed Asset Investment at the National Development and Reform Commission under the State Council. 

In his speech at the ceremony, Professor Kuo encouraged students to address social responsibilities when doing business. He discussed the joint programme’s integrated principles of righteousness and profit by citing Mencius’ maxim. “Why must we only speak of profit? We should also have moral standards and righteousness,” he said. Meanwhile, Professor Yang encouraged students to better utilise the resources from the two universities to enjoy and work hard for their studies.

During the orientation period, students also attended inauguration ceremonies of Tsinghua University and its School of Public Policy and Administration. They also enjoyed lectures from distinguished speakers including Mr Xu Xianping, Former Deputy Director of National Development and Reform Commission, and consultant of the State Council of China; Mr Xu Xianchun, Former Deputy Director of National Bureau of Statistics; Mr Chen Deming, Former Minister of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce; Mr Wu Hongbo, Former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Chairman of China International Public Relations Association; and Professor Chu Shulong, Director of the Institute of International Development and Global Governance Studies at Tsinghua University in Beijing. The lectures covered a range of significant topics including interpretation of the current macroeconomic situation, global economic and political changes, China's foreign policies and foreign relations, innovative technologies and so on.

The double master’s MPA +EMBA programme was jointly developed by the CityU’s College of Business and Tsinghua University’s School of Public Policy and Administration. The first cohort comprises students from Hong Kong, mainland China, Taiwan and other Asian countries. They are senior government officials, as well as senior executives of government-owned enterprises and publicly listed companies in a range of industries, including finance, investment, construction and logistics.

As a pioneer in promoting public-private partnership (PPP), CityU has signed a collaborative agreement with Tsinghua University and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) in Geneva. The MPA+EMBA programme is a project under this agreement. With UNECE support, part of the programme will be conducted in the UN Switzerland Headquarters. Students will also visit other countries and areas to experience the best PPP practices.

To learn more about the EMBA+MPA programme, please click website.