On November 15, at the Innovation Conference for Training Urgently Needed Foreign-Related Trade Talent, it was learned that Shanghai University of International Business and Economics is cultivating foreign-related trade talent through unconventional approaches. From 2024 to 2026, the university will establish 29 specialized classes (order-based classes), including 940 undergraduate students and 449 graduate students, achieving substantive results in training talent for urgently needed foreign-related fields such as export control, foreign-related rule of law, corporate globalization, and international organizations.
Strong Demand for Composite Foreign-Related Trade Talent
Global economic and trade governance talent is facing a shortage. A report titled "Century of Change and Global Leadership Talent Training Towards 2050," jointly written and released by the Global Leadership Academy and the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China, points out that the gap in global leadership talent, including global economic governance talent, exceeds 14 million. World Trade Organization data shows that from October 2024 to October 2025, newly introduced tariffs and other import measures worldwide affected goods imports worth 2.64 trillion US dollars, accounting for 11.1% of total global imports. Facing an increasingly complex international economic and trade environment, there is significant demand for composite talent who are familiar with international rules, skilled in cross-border operations, and equipped with risk prevention and international negotiation capabilities.
In China, the gap in overseas operations talent serving corporate globalization is notable. The "2024 White Paper on Talent for Chinese Manufacturing Going Global" shows that the overseas talent gap rate in China's manufacturing industry reaches 48%. A 2026 survey of more than 120 enterprises by CIIC Consulting shows that about 75% of surveyed enterprises report a shortage of overseas talent. The "White Paper on Human Resource Challenges for Chinese Enterprises Going Global (2024-2025 Edition)" shows that the core position talent gap for Shanghai-based enterprises operating overseas is approximately 80,000 to 100,000, accounting for 15% to 20% of total enterprise workforce demand. Meanwhile, foreign-related trade legal talent is extremely scarce. The Ministry of Justice's "2025 Annual Report on Building a Rule-of-Law Government" shows that in 2025, there are 12,000 lawyers in China capable of handling foreign-related cases, accounting for only 1.45% of the nation's 830,000 lawyers, and even fewer can independently handle countervailing, anti-dumping, and WTO dispute settlement cases. According to industry estimates, the total gap in foreign-related legal talent is 50,000 to 100,000, and may expand to 100,000 to 150,000 by 2030.
Building a "1+3+3+4+X" Talent Training Framework
The talent shortage facing expanded high-level opening-up calls for universities to accelerate the training of urgently needed foreign-related trade talent. To this end, Shanghai University of International Business and Economics has established a Management Committee for High-Level Foreign-Related Trade Talent Training, forming a "1+3+3+4+X" framework for talent training: taking the cultivation of outstanding foreign trade talent for the new era as one main line, targeting three major industries of international trade, international finance, and the digital economy, focusing on three major areas of international trade innovation and governance, international finance and international investment, and digital management and intelligent decision-making, and through four pathways of interdisciplinary integration, industry-education integration, digital-intelligent empowerment, and global co-creation, establishing X specialized classes, basically forming a new paradigm for foreign-related trade talent training based on demand traction, rapid response, and industry-education integration.
In terms of export control talent training, as a pilot unit for national high-level export control talent training, the university integrates industry and education, exploring a high-level talent training system that connects undergraduate, master's, and doctoral levels and intersects economics, law, and political science, with four subdivided research directions: export control and foreign-related trade security, export control compliance and risk management, export control industrial chain and supply chain management, and export control international governance. At the same time, the university leads the development of the core course "Export Control Compliance Practice and Risk Management," introduces high-level practical experts from government departments such as the Department of WTO Affairs of the Ministry of Commerce, and forms 16 mentor groups using a model of "on-campus dual-discipline mentors plus off-campus industry mentors."
In terms of foreign-related legal talent training, as an Innovation Base for Collaborative Training of Foreign-Related Legal Talent under the Ministry of Education, the university offers an Excellence Class for Foreign-Related Trade Legal Talent at the undergraduate level, establishes an Elite Class for Foreign-Related Trade Legal Talent at the master's level, co-builds a Special Class for Cross-Border Capital Market Legal Elite Talent with Grandall Law Firm (Shanghai), and sets up overseas internship bases in Dubai of the United Arab Emirates, Kuala Lumpur of Malaysia, and Sydney of Australia, tempering students' practical abilities through hands-on projects.
In terms of corporate globalization talent training, the university focuses on key regions designated by the national strategy, including Latin America, Southeast Asia, and Africa, collaborates with leading enterprises such as Orient International Group, Bank of China Mauritius Branch, and Silude Asia, and opens special classes for corporate globalization, setting up three major directions: trade rules and digital trade operations, cross-border finance and risk management, and cross-border operations and project management.
In terms of international economic and trade organization talent training, the university pioneered a complete education chain for international public procurement. The joint procurement project was launched in 2021. The university pioneered a "International Public Procurement" micro-major domestically, co-built the first domestic "International Public Procurement (United Nations Edition)" training course system with the Joint Procurement Project Office, containing 8 courses. It co-built an Innovation Base for International Organization Industry-Education Integration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and dispatched a group of students to serve as UNDP United Nations volunteers.
President Liu Liya of Shanghai University of International Business and Economics stated that in the future, the university will cooperate with Changning District and the Hongqiao International Central Business District to form the "Hongqiao-SUIBE" Corporate Globalization Service Consortium, building the nation's first AI and big-data-driven digital foundation for globalization talent training, and forming a new "Hongqiao Solution" for serving corporate globalization. At the same time, relying on the bulk commodity trade special class, the university will join hands with East China Normal University, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Shanghai University, and other institutions to build a five-in-one talent training platform integrating teaching, research, industry, international outreach, and training, and establish a bulk commodity trade school with national influence. In addition, the university will upgrade the culture, commerce, tourism, sports, and exhibition special class, co-building a one-stop new platform for culture-commerce-tourism-sports-exhibition linkage and a demonstration zone for integrated development of culture, commerce, tourism, sports, and exhibitions with Songjiang District.
Zhou Hanmin, Standing Committee Member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and President of the Shanghai Public Diplomacy Association, attended the event.
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