VZCZCXRO0295
RR RUEHCN RUEHGH
DE RUEHGH #0040/01 0200716
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 200716Z JAN 09
FM AMCONSUL SHANGHAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7544
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 2455
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 1694
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RUEHGZ/AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU 0150
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 1864
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 8172
RUEHSH/AMCONSUL SHENYANG 1683
RUEHGP/AMEMBASSY SINGAPORE 0207
RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI 1484
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC 0238

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SHANGHAI 000040 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
TREASURY FOR AMB HOLMER/WRIGHT/TSMITH 
TREASURY FOR OASIA/INA -- DOHNER/HAARSAGER/WINSHIP/CUSHMAN 
TREASURY FOR IMFP -- SOBEL/MOGHTADER 
USDOC FOR ITA DAS KASOFF, MELCHER, MAC/OCEA 
NSC FOR WILDER/LOI 
STATE PASS CEA FOR BLOCK 
STATE PASS USTR FOR STRATFORD/WINTER/MCCARTIN/KATZ/MAIN 
STATE PASS CFTC FOR OIA/GORLICK 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: CH ECON EFIN ELAB
SUBJECT: (SBU) SHANGHAI MBA SCHOOL FEELING IMPACT OF FINANCIAL 
CRISIS 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary.  A prominent Shanghai-based international 
business school is seeing demand for its Executive MBA (EMBA) 
program dropping in recent months as the financial crisis hits 
the bottom line of foreign and domestic corporations in China, 
according to two new Consulate contacts speaking with Congenoffs 
on January 20, 2008.  The contacts also said that MBA students 
close to graduation are having trouble finding employment.  End 
summary. 
 
¶2.  (U) According to the school's website (www.ceibs.edu), the 
China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) was 
established on November 8, 1994, in Shanghai. Based on its own 
campus in Pudong, Shanghai, the school is a not-for-profit joint 
venture established under an agreement between MOFTEC (now the 
Ministry of Commerce, or MOFCOM) and the European Commission. 
CEIBS also has offices in Beijing and Shenzhen.  CEIBS receives 
financial support from the Municipal Government of Shanghai and 
the European Union.  The school has a faculty of 50, most of 
whom are U.S. citizens.  The 18-month MBA program enrolls around 
180 students, while the two-year Executive MBA (EMBA) program 
enrolls around 600-650 students. 
 
============================ 
Corporations Trimming Back Executive Training 
============================ 
 
¶3.  (SBU) CEIBS is seeing demand for its EMBA program dropping 
in recent months as the financial crisis hits the bottom line of 
foreign and domestic corporations in China.  CEIBS Dean Rolf 
Cremer said that the decline is not yet significant, but he 
anticipates that applications could fall by 10%-20% should the 
crisis last one to two years.  The declines in applications for 
CEIBS's Beijing and Shenzhen satellite campuses is more 
noticeable than at the main Shanghai campus, said Cremer. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Cremer said that one of the drivers of lower EMBA 
applications is reductions in nonessential expenditure by 
enterprises.  He is hearing from foreign corporations in 
Shanghai that "cash is king," leading to cuts in executive 
training.  Nonetheless, this will not affect CEIBS's operating 
revenues, since the school currently only accepts one-quarter to 
one-third of qualified EMBA applicants. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Changes in student demand for the MBA program do not 
track with those of the EMBA program, because MBA students 
generally are not relying on a sponsor, said Cremer.  Therefore, 
as in other fields, business school applications are up, said 
Cremer, implying that applicants are finding the job market less 
than favorable and look to school as a place to ride out the 
economic hard times.  MBA Academic Director Lydia Price said 
that the current class of MBA students is CEIBS's strongest yet. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) However, students close to graduation are having 
trouble finding employment, said Price.  Cremer and Price agreed 
that foreign students in China have particular difficulties, as 
they generally attend CEIBS as an entry point to a career in 
China, but they are facing a time limit on their job searches 
because of time limits on student visas.  Price encouraged 
Congenoffs to help bring CEIBS graduates, one-third of whom are 
from the United States and Canada, to the attention of U.S. 
corporations and business forums. 
 
============================ 
CEIBS Welcomes Greater Cooperation with the Consulate 
============================ 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Cremer emphasized that CEIBS is looking to increase 
exchange with the Consulate.  CEIBS sponsors high-level industry 
forums--including ones on the automotive industry, banking, 
heath care, luxury goods, and media--which Congenoffs are 
welcome to attend, said Cremer.  CEIBS has close connections 
with the Lujiazui financial district, thanks in part to 
 
SHANGHAI 00000040  002 OF 002 
 
 
co-President Zhu Xiaoming, who is also a vice chairman of the 
Shanghai Committee of the Chinese People's Political 
Consultative Conference, Cremer explained.  Zhu was instrumental 
in establishing the CEIBS Lujiazui International Finance 
Research Centre, which holds periodic finance salons and an 
annual financial forum.  (Note:  Treasury U/S David McCormick 
was a keynote speaker at the forum on October 21, 2008.  End 
note.) 
CAMP