While here in the US, many young college grads are headed for the unemployment line, many Chinese business graduates are finding a world of opportunity. But with more MBAs coming out of China’s universities than ever before, is the bubble about to burst?
As Wall Street is busy laying-off staff, business schools in China are opening the door to wealth and opportunity for their graduates.
This old courtyard, now transformed into a fancy tea house, is a thriving business of a 28 year old.
Its owner Cheng Long only worked for two years after wrapping up his MBA. But his high salary let him build up enough capital to start this business all on his own.
Cheng Long, manager of the Yard Tea House, said, "What MBA studies have given me is more than just business knowledge and skills. It’s the vision and connections that really made me competitive."
Most people graduating from programs like Cheng’s are entertaining at least two job offers, with salaries students in other majors couldn’t even dream of.
Han Guang, business school graduate, said, "I’m not allowed to give you the exact number, but I can tell you that our salary is far above average.”
Sun Yuan, business school graduate, said, "I’ve found a job at Deutsche Bank in Hong Kong. They’ve offered a salary of about 500, 000 yuan a year."
Five hundred thousand. That’s twenty times the average salary of ordinary graduates.
In the meantime, tuition fees for MBA programs are ten times what they were just a decade ago. But that isn’t stopping people from applying. Applicants increase by 20 percent each year.
But does China really need so many business graduates?
Zhao Longkai, executive director of MBA Program, Peking University, said, "China’s economy is transforming at an unprecedented scale. We really need elite business talents, such as career managers and entrepreneurs. That’s different from the US, where they already have too many business leaders. In China, there still isn’t enough."
But he warns that China must continue to focus on the quality of graduates, rather than just quantity.
Every single seat of this classroom used to be occupied by one of China’s high-fliers. Now that they’ve graduated, they are ready to bring their cutting-edge vision to aid the massive transition going on right now in China’s economy.
As the world of Chinese business goes through great changes, it’s a world of opportunity for thousands of young graduates like Cheng Long, who’ll be the ones shaping China’s economic future.