THEY may not look like much. But two certificates - signed, chopped with official seals, and mounted in simple glass-covered frames - make the China-USA Business University (CUBU) a unique new entry into China's burgeoning field of international graduate-level business and management education.
One of the certificates is from Beijing's local commercial regulators and the other is from the Beijing Municipal Education Commission. They allow CUBU to operate as its own independent entity.
Dozens of jointly managed Sino-foreign graduate programmes are running in China but all operate under the umbrella, and constraints, of existing institutions.
'It took us 1.5 years to get those certificates, but it was worth it, because now we have the same legal status as Beijing University,' said CUBU's founder, businessman Huang Jianping.
'We are a little less famous but a lot more flexible. We can be more aggressive and entrepreneurial,' said Mr Huang, chairman of JP International Inc, which has 95 per cent of CUBU's equity, and full management control.
The school will begin operating this autumn and expects to receive 200 students during its first year. Like other international partnership programmes throughout China, CUBU will offer an internationally accredited MBA.
