Summary:

Earlier this month, the Shanghai University of International Business and Economics established the SUIBE School of Trade Negotiations. The institute will conduct both teaching and research and will recruit its first students in September 2018. It will focus on five areas: bilateral negotiations, multilateral negotiations, working with international organizations, international dispute mediation, and international law.

This is China's first institute in this specialised field, although universities such as SUIBE did previously offer relevant programmes within other departments. Officials from the university said that the new school was aimed to address a shortage of Chinese personnel in major international organisations such as the WTO, as well as trade dispute lawyers.

Analysis by Kevin Prest:

This new institute is an example of Chinese universities responding to national or regional development priorities, which can create opportunities for international cooperation. Looking at the SUIBE School of Trade Negotiations in particular, this institute intends to give its students the chance to study in overseas partner universities as well as conducting joint research with international partners. More broadly, Chinese institutions tend to be more open to international cooperation in the fields emphasised by local or national governments, so a good understanding of local, regional and national priorities can help UK universities to discover potential cooperation opportunities.

The new institute also illustrates the way that China's Ministry of Education encourages universities to focus on developing individual areas of expertise. This is an important element of the country's current higher education policy and is also reflected in other recent developments such as the World Class Disciplines project, recently discussed on SIEM News.

Sources:

1. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-10/11/c_136672352.htm - Chinese university opens int'l trade negotiations school, Xinhua (English)

2. http://eng.suibe.edu.cn/d4/1f/c4657a54303/page.htm - Press release from SUIBE (English)

3. http://news.suibe.edu.cn/d4/13/c1415a54291/page.htm - Press release from SUIBE (Chinese, with more detail)