Two foreign students attend their MBA graduation ceremony at the Tianjin University of Finance & Economics on May 15 2010. Photo: CFP

When 33-year-old Clara Lee, former finance reporter in South Korea, got an opportunity to attend a summer MBA program in New York, she ended up coming to China for her graduate management education.

"The programs in the US are really good, but the atmosphere is quite bad due to the economy. A lot of young bright people have started moving to China and Singapore instead. I then realized if I go to China, I will have more career opportunities," Lee told the Global Times.

Clara Lee was accepted into an 18-month MBA program at the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) in Shanghai, which began this autumn.

Lee is not the only foreigner opting to join an MBA program in the dynamic Oriental country.

David A. Wilson, president and CEO of the US-based Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), told the Global Times that a Chinese MBA eduction has gradually become a "stepping stone" for foreigners to build their career in the world's second-largest economy.

Heading east

According to the GMAC, the governing body of the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), which is used as a criterion for business school admissions, 12,000 GMAT scores were sent to schools in the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong this year, making China the sixth most popular destination following the US, Britain, Canada, France and India.

Wilson described the future of MBA education in China as "exciting," adding that program quality in the country is climbing dramatically.

"The economy has been in a recession globally since 2008, but you start to see some slow recoveries from that. As companies come back, they will be hiring more and more people. When you hire people, you need leadership. So there will always be a demand for management," Wilson said. "In areas like China where growth has continued even through the global recession, the demand for management leadership is going to be even stronger."

Li Yuanyuan, MBA director for the Admissions & Career Services department at CEIBS, told the Global Times the school enrolls 80 international students every year, accounting for 40 percent of all students. In the current academic year, the international students come from 21 countries, with South Korea, India, the US, Spain and Canada being the top five places of origin.

Besides individual international students, foreign companies are also sending employees to Chinese business schools to learn the business culture here.

James Osterloh, 31, a senior manager at South Africa's Standard Bank, is also attending the program at CEIBS, and plans to join the bank's China office after receiving his degree.

"Besides an MBA education, I want to gain China knowledge and experience. There are a lot of interactions between China and Africa, many of them in the business sector. Ultimately, I'm trying to position myself to be someone who knows both continents," Osterloh said.

Chinese influence

When international students first come to China, where the legal system is quite different from the West, they always suffer from culture shock, Yang Zhuang, dean of the Beijing International MBA Program (BiMBA) at Peking University, told the Global Times.

"It's really hard for them to adapt to the Oriental culture and political system," Yang said.

To instill the unique business culture of the country in students, Chinese elements are gradually being added to the China business school curriculums.

"Every summer, we organize a trip to provinces like Henan and Shanxi to help students learn about culture along the Yellow River. We also teach courses on the core Chinese ancient philosophies like Confucianism and Taoism," Yang said.

While some business schools use rules from the West Point Military Academy as material for MBA students, BiMBA invites professors from Chinese military academies to teach international students The Art of War, written some 2,500 years ago.

"The Art of War holds great significance in the world of business. For example, it states that 'the supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting,' which can also be applied to business and managerial strategies," Yang noted.

In China, where guanxi, or social connections, plays a critical role in society, business schools are also offering students the resources to lead them on the path toward success.

"We have the largest and best alumni network in the Chinese mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao. International students can use various opportunities provided by the school to establish contact with business leaders across the country, and facilitate their career development," Li said.

Job prospects

Andy Bentote, managing director of Northeast China for recruitment consultancy firm Michael Page International, told the Global Times that the job market has been very strong for high-level employees over the past two years, given that companies have invested extensively into China.

"You need people at senior levels to help drive growth, and come up with a progressive strategy. This has led to a real shortage of quality candidates, not because of a lack of good candidates in China, but because companies need so many of them to fill open positions," Bentote said.

Li said among the international students who graduated in April, half of them chose to develop their career in China, with the majority of them joining local offices of multinational corporations.

More Chinese companies have been trying to elevate their international clout in recent years, providing favorable opportunities for international talent, Yang said.

However, Bentote wants to remind foreigners with an ultimate goal of landing a job in China that a local degree in management does not necessarily help them stand out.

"If they do not have Chinese cultural or language experience, it is going to be very difficult finding a job as employers want people who have both. If you receive an MBA in China, you are not guaranteed to find something here," Bentote noted.