Two Chinese students successfully graduated from the Business Administration bachelor’s program at VŠTE
At the Institute of Technology and Business in České Budějovice, two self-paying students from China successfully completed their bachelor’s studies: Xiaofeng Yang and He Chen. They finished their three-year studies with the state ceremonies, which took place on Thursday, June 30, on Nemanická street. They received their diplomas alongside other Business Economics students during the graduation ceremony on July 15. Their study was and still is marred by covid, as anti-epidemic measures in China continue to be very strict. However, all three Chinese who are currently studying at VŠTE have really liked the Czech Republic and plan to stay here.
He Chen will continue his master’s studies at VŠTE, and Xiaofeng Yang will study the Czech language course next year. The students also completed an internship in Madeira, which was also a reward for their excellent results. “Both of them are studying with honors. They are very kind, gentle, friendly people who love Czech architecture and culture, Europe is very attractive to them. They travel a lot when they have the opportunity, they go to see Europe, they like to get to know each other. They are very polite and independent,” says Ing. Renata Ulbrichtová from the Department of Foreign Relations.
How did the collaboration with China’s Shandong Foreign Trade Vocational College in Qingdao come about? “Cooperation started through the China Center in 2016. We visited China for the first time in 2018 as part of the largest student fair in Asia, China Education Expo 2018 in Beijing. Thanks to the House of Foreign Cooperation, we visited the embassy, where an interesting educational program was held, and we started a great cooperation with Beijing,” adds Ulbrichtová. According to her, what are the specifics of Chinese communication? “Every booth at the fair has a representative from China, which makes dealing and negotiating much easier. The Chinese are not easy to convince and dealing with them is lengthy, sometimes taking years. The B2B section, when dealing with company representatives, is always great. The Chinese are at a very advanced level and have a positive attitude towards Europeans. The face-to-face meeting was a success because they easily remembered me due to my European appearance and were already very accommodating in further meetings.”
The second trip of the representatives of VŠTE led to the cities of Xuzhou and Qingdao, where they visited the partner school Shandong Foreign Trade Vocational College, from which around 10 students regularly travel to Czech companies for internships since 2017. After a three-month internship in the Czech Republic, it was Xiaofeng Yang and He Chen who went to study at VŠTE. “That is our goal for the future – so that interns can see how things work with us and subsequently want to study with us. We are also communicating with an English professor from the same university who would like to come for a one-year internship. Professor Yingxi Wang will work at the VŠTE Institute of Corporate Strategy,” adds Ulbrichtová.
And what are the foreign department’s plans for the next school year? “We are currently in talks with a large group of Indian students who are expected to come to study a master’s program at VŠTE in 2022/23. They have passed the exams and are accepted, but due to the heavy administrative burden at the Ministry of the Interior and the complicated visa process, it is not certain that they will be able to come. This collaboration came about through my visit to the fair and the embassy in New Delhi. At the fair, our school was awarded one of the best stands, a contract was signed there and we established relations with the embassy,” explains Renata Ulbrichtová, who hopes that a group of up to 30 Indian students could start a new phase of foreign relations at the Institute of Technology and Business in České Budějovice.