CITY Polytechnic's faculty of business is not only contributing to advances in local markets, staff have taken the first steps to reform China's financial sector. The World Bank has given the People's Bank of China a loan to overhaul its graduate programme and the Chinese bank is considering using lecturers from the polytechnic. Professor Richard Ho Yan-ki said although it had not been decided which institute would send lecturers to China to advise on course restructuring, the polytechnic had been tipped as consultants. The business faculty's reputation for providing practical courses and giving students up-to-date specialised knowledge encouraged the bank to consider using polytechnic lecturers, he said. Lecturers will have to design a three-year programme for the bank's students and academics will have to go to China to teach the course. 'We will have to start from scratch and advise the bank on the type of computer hardware and software it should use and what library resources to buy,' Professor Ho said. 'Part of financial reform in China will see banks being specialised so they can make commercial loans. 'Changing the way executives - who have been operating under a command economy for 40 years - think, will take time and education. 'Once banks start giving commercial loans there will have to be people to supervise the transactions. 'We will have to train people to understand what commercial loans are and educate those who will be supervising people making the loans.' Professor Ho said China's stock market, which was expanding rapidly, also would need supervision and regulation and people would have to be trained in both areas. Currently, the People's Bank of China is the main institute training controllers and regulators. 'If we are offered the chance to overhaul the bank's graduate programme, we will be training people who will be participating and leading financial reform in the country,' he said. 'It is a great honour for Hong Kong people to be able to participate and we will be inviting experts from overseas and other local institutes to help with the restructuring.' Lecturers from the business faculty already have made inroads in China, giving seminars to top executives in the Central Party School of the Communist Party. Senior government officials at the vice-governor level and high-ranked civil servants have to take a three-month training course to keep up-to-date with changes in the country's economy.
