“211 Project”
The “211 Project” refers to the Chinese government’s blueprint to build up 100 key universities and disciplines in the 21st century.
As the earliest national university of commerce in China, SUFE, by virtue of its academic prestige and disciplinary advantages, qualified for the project in 1996, one of the first in China.
With the construction for more than a decade, the “211 Project” has enhanced SUFE’s educational strength and comprehensive power in a remarkable way, placing it in the leading position of China’s universities of finance and economics. Plenty of our disciplines have reached the national advanced standard, and some have considerable influence worldwide. In the time to come, Chinese government will lay even greater emphasis on the “211 Project”; motivated by that, SUFE will continue its progress toward the target of a high-level university which is modern, international, and information-based.
Innovation Platform for Economics
The “985 Project” refers to Chinese government’s priority to the construction of some universities into world top ones or high-level ones.
In 2004, SUFE proposed the program of “Innovation Platform for Economics”. Following the international practice in economics teaching, we restructured the courses of economics in an all-around way and established a discipline of economics which is first-class in Asia and renowned across the world. The Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Finance, and Shanghai Municipal Government attached much significance to the program, and have appropriated special funds to support it. After that, the platform became a model by which the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Finance promoted the “Innovation Platform for Key Disciplines” along with the “985 Project”. So far our “Innovation Platform for Economics” has got into the “Construction Program of China’s High-level Universities”.
While setting up the platform, SUFE drew from world-famous universities a large number of talents in economics; these scholars have made up a disciplinary team with international competitive edge. Meanwhile, we have made great achievements in our academic research and course reform in accordance with the international practice, laying a solid foundation for the establishment of an economic discipline to the advanced international standard.
National Key Research Bases of Humanities and Social Sciences
The National Key Research Bases of Humanities and Social Sciences are the pillar of the “211 Project” and the “985 Project” as well as an essential part of “National Innovation System of Philosophy and Social Sciences”.
The Institute of Accounting and Finance of SUFE was ratified in September 2000 by the Ministry of Education as one of such bases.
The institute has altogether 26 full-time research fellows, of whom 12 are professors and 5 are associate professors; besides, there are 5 part-time research fellows. Ever since its establishment, the institute has been creating an academic atmosphere and encouraging intellectual innovation, aiming to reach the standard of top international journals and establish the “national team” of accountancy study.
With national and ministerial research projects (it has undertaken 19 national projects, 75 provincial or ministerial projects, and more than 10 consultation projects) as its focus, the institute has carried out a series of researches on such fields as accounting information and business pricing, government control and surplus management, auditing market and registered accountants’ independence, formulation of accountancy rules, financial supervision system, company management, etc., producing lots of findings with nationwide and even international influence. Moreover, 55 books have been published and many papers have been included in the top international journals like Journal of Accounting and Economics, The Accounting Review, Accounting Horizons and The British Accounting Review, some of which are breakthroughs in China. When it comes to the domestic journals, 22 papers have been published by Economic Research Journal, 17 by Management World, and 360 by other core journals. 55 of the institute’s research findings received great honor, such as “Award of Research Findings in Humanities and Social Sciences by China’s Universities”, “Award of Shanghai’s Excellent Research Findings in Philosophy and Social Sciences”, “Award of Shanghai’s Research Findings in Consultation”, and “An Zi-Jie Award of Research on International Trade”; some of the findings were unprecedented in China, and some have reached the advanced international standard, exerting profound influence on the development of China’s accountancy and financial studies.
National Training Bases for Talents in Economics
To promote the development of China’s theoretical economics and to cultivate more talents in economics, the Ministry of Education decided in 1998 to set up “National Training Bases for Talents in Economics” in 13 universities where the economic disciplines were well-constructed.
In October 1998, the ministry formally ratified SUFE to establish such a base.
For the past 10 years, the training base has been following the guiding principles by the ministry, i.e. “Clear Target, Bold Reform, Prominent Findings, Efficient Staff, Advanced Equipment, Excellent Teaching, and First-Class Quality”. Based on the “Innovation Platform for Economics” and modeled after the teaching concepts of some top universities in the world (esp. the research-oriented ones), the national base conducted a series of education reforms in connection with SUFE’s status quo; these reforms touch upon such aspects as learning style, teaching style, degree programs, curriculum, and education administration, covering the education of undergraduates, master candidates, and PhD candidates. The mode of education thus formed, which is both long-term and effective, could produce for China many creative human talents with international horizons. To acquire a high-quality teaching staff, the training base is making tremendous efforts to draw qualified PhD holders, especially those from non-SUFE universities and overseas universities. From 2004 to 2007, it engaged a total of 30 PhD holders from prestigious overseas universities like Harvard and Princeton, thus forming a first-class teaching staff.
National Bases for Cultivating College Students’ Cultural Qualities
In order to promote the cultivation of college students’ cultural qualities and improve their comprehensive abilities, the Ministry of Education decided to set up the “National Bases for Cultivating College Students’ Cultural Qualities” in some universities.
In April, 2006, the ministry ratified SUFE as one of such bases.
SUFE has kept a fine tradition of creating its campus culture. Since the establishment of the base, cultivating the students’ cultural qualities has grown into the kernel of our education, and is fully implemented in teaching concept, course design, and mode of education. Our performance groups have won many awards in nationwide competitions, and the Folk Music Society of SUFE has taken a leading position in China’s universities—by frequent performances to the public, it is widely acclaimed.
SUFE’s national base shoulders the responsibility for promoting campus culture, cultivating students’ love of art, and improving the quality of education. It aims to incorporate liberal arts and science into the entire teaching process by combining moral, intellectual, physical, and aesthetic educations together as an organic whole and putting them into effect; the base also emphasizes cross-disciplinary education for purpose of curriculum enhancement and the students’ overall abilities.
