Dear students, colleagues and alumni:

Firstly, wishing you and family a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!

January 19, 2018 was an important day for Shanghai University of Finance and Economics (SUFE), when the former School of International Business Administration and College of Business were merged and restructured into College of Business, SUFE under the unified leadership and deployment of the university. The business education of SUFE originated from the business program at Nanjing Higher Normal School in 1917. In 1921, the business program was restructured and transferred to Shanghai, where it established Shanghai University of Commerce, the earliest commercial university in China. Mr. Guo Bingwen, Former Founding President, stated that: "The establishment of Shanghai University of Commerce has set a new precedent of business school in the formal sense." In 1932, the university split and became known as the National Shanghai College of Commerce, the only national undergraduate business school in China at the time. In the newly revised constitution, it was explicitly announced that the university "is the supreme organ for the studies of business science", and confirmed that the school philosophy and lofty mission was "to study the business science, cultivate business talents and lead the businessmen", taking the responsibility of "benefiting the country and serving the society", and advocating the formation of academic atmosphere based on the studies of China's practical problems. In 1950, the university was renamed as Shanghai College of Finance and Economics. In 1978, the university entered a fast lane of development after reopening. In 1985, it was renamed as Shanghai University of Finance and Economics. In 1996, it was included in the first batch of "Project 211" National Key Construction Universities. In 2005, it was selected as one of the national "Edge-disciplinary Platform for Innovation Projects", joining in the ranks of national high-level university construction. In 2017, the university was included in the national "Double First-class" construction, when SUFE opened a new chapter of development, forging ahead toward the great goal of a world-class university with Chinese characteristics.

The internationally recognized business studies cover the major disciplines of management and economics, which are closely associated with business administration, accounting and finance, marketing, human resources management, organizational behavior, operation management, information management, international business, industrial organization, international economy and trade and other disciplines in particular, same as the settings at the top business schools at home and abroad. Business disciplines are of strong applicability. Only by taking root in and serving for reality can business teaching and research cultivate high-level business talents adapted to social development, to inherit commercial civilization and truly fulfill the university mission of serving the society and promoting the national economic development. The reorganization of College of Business, SUFE complies with the trend of development of the times and accords with the law of discipline development, which is a beneficial exploration in the development and reform of business disciplines in finance and economics universities and an important initiative to promote the construction of first-class university and first-class discipline.

The business studies at SUFE cover first-class disciplines such as "Business Administration", "Applied Economics" and "Theoretical Economics", etc., with distinctive financial and economic characteristics and multi-disciplinary characteristics. After a long period of hard work, great progress and development have been made in the disciplines including "Business Administration", "Applied Economics", "Theoretical Economics", etc. In the fourth round of subject evaluation in China, "Business Administration" and "Applied Economics" were ranked in Class A, top 2-5% in the country. Meanwhile, in the UTD Top Business School Research Rankings during 2013-2017, SUFE ranked 120 in the world (No. 4 in the mainland). In particular, SUFE is one of the earliest universities that started MBA and EMBA education programs in our country. After long-term efforts, a governance system has been established in MBA program at SUFE that complies with the laws of business education and is widely recognized in mission implementation, inheritance and innovation, and social influence and other aspects. MBA program at SUFE has achieved accreditations from AMBA and AACSB, two of the three major three major accreditation agencies in the world and become one of the first five leading business schools that have achieved Chinese Advanced Management Education Accreditation (CAMEA).

2018 is the first year since SUFE enters the new century. The new College of Business will also set sail on a new journey. How to further establish and develop the College of Business of SUFE is a new task we will face together. It depends on the joint efforts of our colleagues, students and alumni of the new College of Business towards the same goal. Guided by the overall goal of "Building a high-level research university with distinctive financial and economic characteristics", the new College of Business will continue to explore, reform and innovate to promote the new development of business disciplines at SUFE, and continue to make greater contribution to "Cultivating commercial talents, carrying out business studies, leading the businessmen, building and disseminating commercial civilization" and other aspects.

Best wishes

Vice President and Dean of College of Business, SUFE: Chen Xinyuan

Feb 25, 2018