February 21, 2020. Shanghai – Town hall meetings in which CEIBS leadership and faculty meet with current students to share updates on admissions, the curriculum and career placement progress are regular events on campus during the MBA calendar. Today, however, the very first virtual town hall was held to provide updates on the school’s efforts to mitigate the impact of the recent COVID-19 virus outbreak on students’ learning journeys and job prospects. With many students living off campus and eager to return to Shanghai, the session also provided a platform for students to raise questions and share their own experiences in places such as Wuhan and Shanghai to India and beyond.

Hosted by CEIBS Vice President and Dean Yuan Ding; Associate Dean and MBA Director Juan Antonio Fernandez; MBA Administration Director Ma Ning; Assistant Director of the MBA Career Development Centre Jennifer Zhao; and Assistant Director of MBA Marketing, Admissions and Financial Aid Steven Ji, the session was joined by over 230 students from the MBA 2020 and MBA 2021 cohorts, as well as those currently on exchange at CEIBS.

Prof. Ding opened the town hall by sharing the good news that MBA courses will resume from next week with the school rolling out e-learning solutions until permission is granted to resume campus-based lectures. “Although we have seen encouraging signs of improvement recently, we must balance this optimism with caution when it comes to the safety of the CEIBS community,” Prof. Ding stated. “As such, we have introduced a series of measures to adjust our schedules for term dates, overseas lectures, INNOVATEChina and MBA graduation, so as to avoid large scale gatherings until the coronavirus is brought completely under control.”

Noting that it has been more than a month since the MBA community was last on campus together, Prof. Fernandez further reminded students that although everyone at CEIBS is eager to resume campus life as soon as possible, the important thing now is that everyone is safe. “Despite the geographic distances involved, the MBA Office will strive to remain close to you all, now more so than ever as we temporarily more lectures from the classroom to the cloud for term three,” he said.

Additional updates from Ma Ning, Jennifer Zhao and Steven Ji were followed by student stories and videos, sharing insights and messages of support. Joining the session from Wuhan, where she is still under quarantine in her apartment, MBA 2020 alumna Deng Xiya said she has been touched by the swell of support from China and the global community.

As an example of the students’ strong commitment to maintaining their MBA momentum, Vice President of MBA 2021 Student Committee Willa Xu then highlighted the team of students who were unable to fly to Barcelona to participate in the recent Roland Berger case competition in person, but instead joined the event remotely. 

The town hall concluded with a Q&A session to address students’ specific questions about academics and the job market, with the closing words coming from Ma Ning, encouraging the community to embrace this temporary period of e-learning. “We all look forward to the day when we meet again and the masks come off,” she said. “But in the meantime, stay connected, stay safe and rest assure in the confidence the school has in its capacity to overcome this crisis.”

February 11, 2020. Abidjan, Ivory Coast – CEIBS Vice President and Dean Yuan Ding paid a courtesy call today to Mr. Wan Li, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to the Ivory Coast, at the Chinese Embassy in Abidjan.

Prof. Ding, who is also in Abidjan to speak at a CEIBS alumni event, took the opportunity to visit the ambassador and formally introduce the school and its operations in Africa, and to brief the ambassador on the school’s efforts to assist in the country’s development. Prof. Ding sought the support of Mr. Wan in reaching out to Chinese enterprises in Ivory Coast to participate in activities initiated by CEIBS in the country.

Mr. Wan expressed appreciation for the school’s efforts in developing talent in Africa. He added that the government of China is very passionate about building a reciprocal and beneficial relationship with African countries and lauded CEIBS for its efforts in deepening this collaboration.

Prof. Ding also introduced the CEIBS Alumni Francophone Africa Chapter (CAFAC) and their activities in French-speaking Africa to Mr. Wan and requested they be granted an audience at the embassy when necessary.

Other members of the CEIBS delegation were Professor Mathew Tsamenyi, CEIBS Africa Executive Director; Mr. Samuel Ocloo-Dzaba, Alumni, Corporate Relations and Marketing Manager; Ms. Cassie Xu, China Africa Relations Executive; and Mr. Hamma Ahmadou Salif N’diaye, Secretary General of CAFAC.

January 27, 2020. Shanghai – The Financial Times today released its annual global MBA ranking for 2020 and the China Europe International Business School’s MBA programme has once again ranked fifth in the world and first in Asia. In November, CEIBS’ Global EMBA programme was also ranked fifth in the world for the second consecutive year in the Financial Times’ ranking. 

CEIBS’ MBA programme now stands alongside those at renowned institutes such as Harvard, Wharton, Stanford, and INSEAD, further cementing CEIBS’ position as one of the world’s top business schools. Since 2018, the CEIBS MBA programme has been ranked amongst the top ten in the world and it has now been ranked first in Asia for three consecutive years. The programme has also been ranked first in Asia in two consecutive rankings published by both Forbes and Bloomberg Businessweek.

“With the rise of the Asian economy and the continued development of the Chinese economy, the focus of global management education is now shifting east to China,” CEIBS President Li Mingjun pointed out. “The CEIBS MBA programme has been ranked fifth in the world by the Financial Times, where it now sits in the company of some of the world’s most established business schools. In step with China’s economic transformation and development, we will continue to make a positive contribution by creating and sharing knowledge about Chinese business practices with the world.”

The Financial Times ranking is one of the world’s most authoritative business school rankings, and is widely recognised for its rigorous evaluation criteria and comprehensive evaluation indicators. The ranking takes into consideration a variety of factors, including career progress, curriculum diversity, and research capabilities. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has also been included in the evaluation criteria since 2019.

CEIBS MBA graduates have now achieved an average salary increase of 187% within three years after graduation, placing the school first in that category amongst those in the Financial Times ranking’s overall top ten. According to the most recent data, the job offer acceptance rate of the 2019 graduation class of CEIBS MBA students within three months of graduation has reached a ten-year record of 94.3%. At the same time, 80.1% of graduates successfully achieved a career switch – changing their function, industry, or both.

“That the CEIBS MBA and Global EMBA programmes have now ranked fifth in the world for two consecutive years reflects the school’s achievements in terms of its globalisation strategy and consistent level of excellence,” CEIBS Vice President and Dean Ding Yuan said. “The quality of these programmes further strengthens CEIBS’ position as a leader in global management education. As a business school with roots in China, we will strive not only to be China’s leading business school, but also to be the world’s top expert in Chinese management education and one of the world’s most respected international business schools.”

In 2019, CEIBS improved in terms of indicators such as international students, international course experience, and international mobility, rising nine, two, and two places in each category, respectively.

In order to attract a diversity of international students, CEIBS has organised an annual pre-MBA summer boot camp for eight consecutive years. CEIBS also co-operates with 40 other top business schools from around the world to facilitate international exchange programmes and offer overseas electives in places such as the US, Japan, Germany, Switzerland, Israel, Malaysia and Ghana, thereby further enriching students’ learning experience.

In terms of the recently-added CSR indicator, CEIBS performed well in the current Financial Times MBA ranking, moving up 18 spots from last year’s position to 27. CEIBS is the first business school on the Chinese mainland to make CSR a compulsory part of its curriculum. In addition, the school hosts a series of CSR-related activities every year aimed at inspiring its students and alumni to elevate social responsibility to the level of corporate development strategy.

The Financial Times’ ranking also attests to the strength of CEIBS in the area of teaching and research. Since 2014, CEIBS has ranked first in the category of Business, Management & Accounting in Elsevier’s annual list of Most Cited Chinese Researchers and its professors now actively integrate CSR into core courses and academic research. In 2017, CEIBS integrated theory and practice to create the Real Situation Learning Method™ (RSLM™), offering students the chance to visit firms featured in classroom case studies, and to communicate face-to-face with company executives.

In order to enrich students’ learning experience, the school has continuously re-invented and optimised its MBA curriculum. International exchange programmes and overseas elective modules provide students with different perspectives on the global economy, while China-focused modules incorporate real-world teaching, blending classroom discussions with field observations to give students a deeper understanding of topics such as the globalisation of Chinese companies, Chinese-style innovation, and family business heritage. The school’s MBA programme incorporates more than 20 elective courses around digitalisation, innovation and other related topics, and the CEIBS eLab offers various programmes and activities to help students launch their own entrepreneurial projects.

“CEIBS’ MBA is the youngest MBA programme to make the top ten list,” CEIBS Associate Dean and MBA Programme Director Juan Antonio Fernandez said. “In the future, two forces will continue to propel the school forwards. Firstly, those in the CEIBS community will continue to demand ‘conscientiousness, innovation and excellence’, not only from each other, but also in the pursuit of everything they do. Secondly, China provides us with the world’s most dynamic location and one that will continue to challenge our students and graduates to reach their greatest potential."