UCL School of Management (SoM) is to collaborate with Peking University’s (PKU) National School of Development (NSD) to offer an international MBA.

PKU and UCL officially signed an agreement on 3 November 2016, to allow the two institutions to jointly deliver an MBA programme at PKU’s campus in Beijing.

The partnership demonstrates how PKU and UCL expertise can combine to create a unique offering. NSD is a leading economics and public policy think tank and SoM is a leading business school focused on technology, innovation, analytics and entrepreneurship. 

It is hoped that the MBA will play a part in educating the next generation of leaders, who will drive China’s development and transformation into a knowledge-based economy. 

UCL President & Provost, Professor Michael Arthur and PKU President Lin Jianhua witnessed the signature. They both agreed that: “We are delighted at how the partnership between Peking University and UCL has developed. Our two great universities are committed to improving access to innovative and excellent research-led education which benefits humanity. Together we can have an even greater impact.”

The PKU-UCL partnership is based on strong research and teaching collaborations between academics on both sides, across a wide range of disciplines from medical sciences and city-planning to language education and archaeology.

High level delegations have visited both universities, most recently the PKU Chair of Council Professor Zhu Shanlu, accompanying Chinese President Xi Jinping to UCL as part of the State visit to the UK in October 2015, and PKU President Lin Jianhua visiting UCL in April 2016.

The partnership is an example of world-leading universities combining their knowledge and expertise to pioneer news ways of working. This is in keeping with the ‘golden era’ of China-UK relations and fits well with government initiatives such as the recent UK-China Strategic Framework in Education.