Wealth of interest in China boom

The booming China market has led to a rise in demand for knowledge about the mainland - from its history and geography to, of course, its economy. Part of the trend is the growing number of postgraduate programmes, such as MBAs, whose curricula are shaped by happenings in the mainland.

Hong Kong was in a leading position to provide MBA programmes with relevance to the Asian market, including China, says Chan Ka-keung, dean of the School of Business and Management at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). 'Hong Kong is an international business centre where English is widely used. There is a strong demand in the mainland for MBA graduates from Hong Kong,'' he said.

Their China links have enhanced local MBA programmes' appeal to foreign students, who make up 80 per cent of full-time MBA students at HKUST, compared with 65 per cent at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). Half the non-local students at HKUST are from the mainland.

All part-time MBA students at CUHK have a one-week China study tour visiting companies and attending talks by senior executives in major cities, including Beijing and Shanghai.

For those studying full-time, there is the new option of an internship with a Guangdong company, as opposed to multinationals here. This will increase the students' exposure in the mainland.

'This will help students see how companies are operated in a different culture. People's thinking on the mainland is different from ours. In terms of career development, it is important to know the differences in mainland culture,' said CUHK's MBA programme director Vincent Lai Siu-king.