Distinguished guests, professors, students, alumni,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good evening!

Tonight, we once again gather together for the PHBS New Year Party to celebrate the forthcoming year of 2018. Like the previous years, we dress up, review the past achievements and look forward to the next year.

First of all, on behalf of PHBS, I express my best wishes and most sincere appreciation to the over 100 dedicated faculty and staff members, more than 1400 diligent degree students, thousands trainees and alumni throughout the world, and the communities who are always supportive.

Looking back on 2017, we have jointly and ceaselessly worked to build PHBS into a world-class business school. We have persisted in our efforts to be more global and international, and have seen many accomplishments this year.

Firstly, PHBS is launching a campus in the UK. In February this year, we signed an agreement with Open University to acquire its Oxford campus. After months of attentive preparations, we have begun recruitment for the first PHBS UK Campus full-time programs beginning in 2018. Renovations on the campus buildings are also well under way. Our UK Campus is a remarkable milestone in China’s higher education history. It is the first time that a Chinese university will self-finance, self-operate and self-manage an overseas educational institution. For PHBS, it is an innovative move of historical significance during our internationalization process. After thorough inspection, PKU Party Secretary, Hao Ping, and the President, Lin Jianhua highly praised the PHBS UK campus. Hao Ping said that as the first overseas campus of PKU, the PHBS UK campus can serve as a platform for academic communication between PKU and British universities.

Secondly, we have invited 2011 Nobel Laureate, Professor Thomas Sargent to join PHBS and set up the Sargent Institute of Quantitative Economics and Finance. A number of well-known scholars from home and abroad will endeavor to promote innovation and development in the areas of quantitative economics and finance theory and to cultivate talented graduates for domestic and foreign universities, research institutions, policy-making institutions and large corporations. In the coming year maybe you will have the pleasure to come across Professor Sargent in PHBS, or even have a chance to have coffee with him at Starbucks, or join him for dinner in the canteen. Currently, recruitment for the institute’s inaugural 2018 PhD class has begun.

Thirdly, PHBS established the Research Institute of Maritime Silk Road. This June, in accordance with the “One Belt One Road” initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping, an innovative, high-end think tank, the Research Institute of Maritime Silk Road was founded at PHBS. The director is Professor He Fan, and it will focus on economy, commerce and trade in the countries along the Maritime Silk Road. Many renowned scholars have delivered brilliant and informative lectures in the Macroeconomic Seminar Series held by the institute.

Additionally, the PHBS Finance Frontier Seminar Series led by Professor Ba Shusong, has invited many renowned academics and industry professionals to deliver lectures, giving students an introduction to cutting-edge achievements and providing students with a broader perspective. The seminars also greatly enhanced PHBS’s brand recognition.

This year, our students have united to achieve many victories in various competitions. Participants from MBA won third place in the Asian-Pacific Business School Desert Challenge. The candidates from EDP ranked first in the Gobi Challenge. The students from MA won first place in both the Fun Sports Event of PKU Shenzhen Graduate School and the December 9th Memorial Poetry Recital Competition.

The year of 2017 witnessed a historical turn for China. The 19th CPC National Congress declared that China has entered a new era of development for socialism with Chinese characteristics and set forth 3 interim goals and an agenda for building an overall well-off, modern and prosperous nation. Likewise, after our remarkable achievements, our school is about to step into a new stage and move towards a new goal. We hope that, by 2024, when it is our 20th anniversary, PHBS will be a domestically top-level and internationally renowned school with world-class excellence in specialized domains.

To realize this goal, actions speak louder than words. We need specific measures. We need to conform to higher standards in academic research, student development, societal service and international influence to earn recognition.

However, building a world-class business school cannot be accomplished in one stroke or on one’s own. It requires every one of you to strive for it together. As a teacher, you should impart knowledge, give guidance, conduct scientific research and publish high-quality papers. As a student, you should be attentive in every class, teamwork, physical training, competition, and work. There are no shortcuts. “A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” This is true for personal as well as school development.

In the coming new year we will continue working toward our goals. In 2018, we will consistently adhere to the concept of a “business school with military-like discipline”. We will make impartial and strict evaluation in terms of studies, dissertation, discipline and behavior to enhance our students’ capability in all aspects of morality, intelligence, physique, and skill. We will continually perfect the regulations for faculty members in order to improve the pedagogical, research and service level and lay a solid foundation for a world-class business school.

2018 holds special significance for every member of PKU and PHBS. The PKU 120th anniversary is coming, and the opening of the PHBS UK campus will be a historically generous gift to the university. Students in the UK campus programs will study for 2 years, in Oxford for the first year and then in Shenzhen for the second year. Meanwhile, the students on the Shenzhen campus will also have the opportunity to take courses at the UK campus as well as expand their international exposure.

In 2018, we will hold the first PHBS sports meeting to celebrate the 120th Anniversary of PKU and a running event to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Opening and Reform. An early 20th century president of PKU, Cai Yuanpei, once said that perfect personality arises out of sports. As the creator of future business talent, PHBS values students’ physical activity and morale substance. We choose to celebrate the birthday of PKU and the national event in a special way.

In 2018, the new Ph.D program and a new Fintech class will be open. The PHBS family will embrace the first batch of Ph.D students from the Sargent Institute of Quantitative Economics and Finance, as well as the first batch of students majoring in Fintech in the fall.

In 2018, we will work to continually advance the pedagogical and scientific work of the school. The Case Center of Chinese Enterprise with international standards will be formally launched.

In 2018, collaboration with more enterprises will be carried out to build a communication platform of reciprocity, effectiveness, and sustainable development. A institute of macroeconomic research is scheduled to be jointly set up with Pingan Technology in the coming year.

In 2018, we will take advantage of the geographical location of Shenzhen of China to further develop cross-border cooperation, establishing more cooperation with world-class business schools in the areas of China’s economy, business model, enterprise management education, and staff training.

In 2018, the teaching facilities will be further improved. A media studio for financial journalism major will come into use soon.

Dear professors and students, we come from different parts of the world to meet and stay at PHBS. No matter where we are, we all hope that our PHBS is a world-class school. This is our common mission, which requires our joint effort. Only when we unite to achieve it can the goal be reached.

Dear professors, students and friends, “united to achieve”, is not only the theme of the party tonight, but is also our guiding principle for 2018. I wish for all of you to hold up this goal. I wish all of you diligence and persistence in your studies and work. I wish all of you strength through the waves and that you achieve new success.

Last but not least, I wish everyone health, success and peace. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year！ Thank you!