To further strengthen international exchange and cooperation and diversify pathways for student overseas study and faculty academic exchange, on September 18, 2026, a three-member delegation from the School of Economics and Finance, Queen Mary University of London visited the School of Economics, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics. The delegation included Professor Jason Sturgess, Director of Postgraduate Programmes, Lecturer Hao Ma, and Emanuela Nova, Strategic Project Manager. Professor Chen Yuanyuan, Deputy Dean of the School of Economics, received the guests and chaired the meeting.
At the start of the discussion, Deputy Dean Chen Yuanyuan extended a sincere welcome to the delegation. She noted that the two universities have maintained a long-standing, stable partnership with frequent exchanges. Since its establishment in 2008, the Study and Exchange Centre of the School of Economics has sent more than 1,000 outstanding students to overseas partner universities. In recent years, amid new shifts in overseas education, the School of Economics, with university support, has upheld an open and enterprising mindset and continued to advance international collaboration. She expressed hope that this meeting would unlock further cooperation opportunities and create better pathways for students’ postgraduate study abroad and future careers.
Professor Jason Sturgess shared his pleasure at returning after a three-year interval. He remarked that the two sides have collaborated for many years with deep mutual understanding and smooth, pleasant cooperation. Shanghai University of Finance and Economics serves as an important source of high-calibre students, and the School of Economics and Finance at Queen Mary highly values this partnership. He added that university graduates face labour market pressure not only in China but also in the United Kingdom. In response, Queen Mary University of London has been launching new programmes tailored to evolving times and labour market demands, featuring cutting-edge, targeted curricula to help international students excel academically and professionally.
After reviewing the progress of ongoing joint programmes, the two sides exchanged views on shared priorities. Deputy Dean Chen Yuanyuan outlined recent shifts among Chinese students in destination choices and programme preferences, updates on SUFE’s faculty restructuring and newly launched majors, international partnership schemes between peer Chinese universities and overseas institutions, and developments in Sino-foreign cooperative education policies. She also put forward suggestions on promising programme areas, study duration arrangements and faculty deployment for future collaboration. Professor Jason Sturgess acknowledged these new trends in international education. Together with Lecturer Hao Ma, he introduced the newly launched “1+1” FinTech Master’s programme at his school, which integrates academic study with internships.
Towards the end, Professor Jason Sturgess presented the annual summer academic symposium hosted by his school and warmly invited faculty members from the School of Economics to participate. Deputy Dean Chen Yuanyuan enquired in detail about potential exchange openings for undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students at Queen Mary’s School of Economics and Finance. Both sides agreed to sustain regular information sharing and communication, and to deepen and expand cooperation under relevant higher-level policy guidance.
Source | Study and Exchange Centre, School of Economics, SUFE
