As Shanghai strives to build itself as an international financial center, the city's educational institutions are implementing programs to cultivate future financial and business leaders that will be needed to drive the municipality's economy.

The Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance this year announced a training plan for its finance master's of business administration (MBA) program to help students advance their studies and build a network for the future. Meanwhile, the institute will also launch a 15 million yuan (US$2.45 million) scholarship program for students enrolled in the finance MBA program in 2015.

Ni Haining, deputy director of the finance MBA program at the institute, said they have visited a lot of business executives to understand which qualities are required of successful managerial personnel.

The Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance was established in 2009 with the support of the Shanghai municipal government. Positioned as a world-class educational institute, the institute has evolved as one of the most influential places for cultivating financial talent in the country.

In order to promote finance education and help develop business professionals for the country's future development, the institute has carried out various events including the newly-launched investing contest of Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect and the China semi-finals of the 2014 Global Investment Contest (GIC) held earlier this week.

"China's economic transformation and future development requires a large number of financial professionals with global perspectives," said Anthony Li, deputy general manager of Golden Finance, a Chinese financial-training provider.

Golden Finance has recently reached an agreement with the BPP, a UK-based provider of professional and academic education, to promote the development of high-level talent in the fields of economics and finance.

"With the rapid development of China's economy, more people have participated in the finance and related training programs. The cooperation will help us introduce more international educational resources and improve our educational service," Li said.

The city's other universities, such as Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, have also launched a series of research and practice activities tied to the development of Shanghai Free Trade Zone (FTZ) that was started last year.

wanghongyi@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily USA 09/26/2014 page6)