As China embarks on its 15th Five-Year Plan period, China Europe International Business School (CEIBS), an institution jointly established by the Chinese government and the European Union, has aligned its trajectory with national development and contemporary advancements. Following an in-depth analysis of global shifts, technological trends, and future talent needs, CEIBS has systematically charted its development course for the next five years. On April 9, the CEIBS Strategic Development Plan (2026-2030) was launched at the school's Shanghai campus, with faculty, staff, alumni representatives, and over 30 major media outlets in attendance. A media briefing on the strategic plan was also held concurrently.
The launch event featured a keynote report titled "Building on a Glorious Legacy to Embark on a New Journey" by CEIBS President and Professor of Management, Wang Hong. The report detailed the school's key achievements, opportunities, and challenges over the past five years (2021-2025), along with the core principles and strategic direction for the next five years.
Achievements from the past five years were highlighted across eight key areas. First, CEIBS has established a globally recognized brand in management education, with its flagship programs maintaining leading international rankings; the Global EMBA program has ranked in the global top two for six consecutive years, while the MBA program has held the top position in Asia for ten years. Second, the school has built a modern governance structure for an international business school, with the CEIBS Board deepening strategic mutual trust and advisory committees providing strategic guidance. Third, it has pioneered a new model of high-level Sino-foreign cooperation, partnering with over 100 overseas institutions and offering more than 80 international learning modules annually across 20-plus countries and regions. Fourth, CEIBS has become a hub for world-class faculty and research, assembling 120 top professors from over 20 countries and regions. CEIBS case studies are used in classrooms at more than 1,100 institutions in over 80 countries, with cumulative usage exceeding two million, contributing Chinese wisdom to global management education. Fifth, the school has expanded its talent development system for a new era, offering a comprehensive portfolio including a Full-time English MBA, Part-time MBA, Finance MBA, Global MiM, EMBA, Global EMBA, HEMBA, Doctor of Business Administration (DBA), PhD, and Executive Education (EE) programs. Sixth, CEIBS has established itself as a think tank serving national and regional development, having submitted over 1,400 policy recommendations to governments. The CEIBS Lujiazui Institute of International Finance has completed more than 170 key research projects for Shanghai, deeply supporting regional economic growth. Seventh, the school is building a future-oriented smart education ecosystem, accelerating its digital transformation through a "Smart Campus" initiative and constructing a comprehensive AI-enhanced system for teaching, research, and administration to explore new models for business schools. Eighth, CEIBS empowers its alumni to become global business leaders. With over 34,000 alumni spanning more than 90 countries and regions, CEIBS graduates are navigational forces in the business world; 85% hold senior management positions, and 480 alumni serve as chairpersons, presidents, or general managers at 437 listed companies in China.
Building on comprehensive trend analysis, the school will continue to "strengthen advantages, address gaps, seize opportunities, and meet challenges" by implementing effective strategic pathways. The plan outlines eight key strategies for the next five years: consolidating a top-tier position; championing social responsibility; building a premier faculty; achieving academic excellence; optimizing the educational system; fostering China-Europe exchange; accelerating comprehensive AI adoption; and fully empowering alumni. Specifically, the strategies involve staying at the forefront of global management education to enhance competitiveness; integrating ESG and sustainability into the educational philosophy and curriculum; strengthening the faculty through innovative systematic management; solidifying an interdisciplinary research framework and developing a influential China-focused case library; accelerating curriculum innovation and building an integrated industry-academia ecosystem; deepening global academic and business exchanges to serve as a broader platform; exploring AI applications to create an "AI+HI" dual-drive model and a new educational paradigm; and actively building a global alumni network with lifelong learning opportunities.
Following this, CEIBS Co-President (European) Professor Frank Bournois further elaborated on the strategic plan from the perspectives of global presence and international cooperation. He emphasized that the strategy is not merely a vision statement but an executable system covering 23 departments and campuses, comprising 224 deliverable outcomes. Professor Bournois stressed that the core of CEIBS's strategic thinking lies in "structured ambition with adaptive agility." He stated clearly that CEIBS's success will depend not only on the strategy itself but on the consistency and strength of its execution.
When detailing the eight strategies, Professor Bournois highlighted three core pillars. The first is a global architecture with China and Europe as the strategic axis, leveraging five campuses across three continents and modules in over 20 countries to deepen cooperation with Chinese enterprises, local governments, and European institutions. The second pillar is the academic essence balancing teaching and research. He emphasized the annual production of over 120 teaching cases, full AI integration across curricula, enhanced publishing in top journals, and expanded interdisciplinary research. The third pillar is organizational and AI transformation, aimed at building an AI-empowered institution. Professor Bournois stated, "CEIBS is not merely 'adding' AI but making it part of our DNA," noting that AI will permeate admissions, teaching, operations, data platforms, and HR, while cautioning that its value depends on proper application. To amplify its market presence, CEIBS aims to increase the proportion of international students in key programs to 30-45% and proactively shape brand influence through AI-driven marketing and global forums.
Professor Bournois acknowledged challenges related to focus, coordination, and external changes, listing five success factors: focus, unified leadership, AI empowerment, accountability, and culture, emphasizing "commitment to promises and deadlines while maintaining standards." He particularly highlighted CEIBS's unique advantage as an "ecosystem" that optimizes relationships among twelve stakeholder groups—including the Board, Management Committee, faculty, staff, students, alumni, corporate partners, media, accreditors, and governments—noting that while complex, this is a distinctive strength. He concluded by stating, "What defines CEIBS is not the plan's content, but the value we deliver," affirming that CEIBS will become a culturally rich, academically robust, and operationally sound business school grounded in China-Europe connectivity, with teaching and research synergy, driven by structured execution.
During the subsequent media briefing, President Wang Hong, Co-President Bournois, Vice President and Chinese Provost Zhu Tian, and Party Secretary Ma Lei engaged with media representatives on topics including CEIBS's global competitiveness, international development, talent cultivation, faculty development, and AI strategy implementation.
Regarding global competitiveness, President Wang Hong identified four aspects: CEIBS's innate "China Depth, Global Breadth" founding principle; its world-class faculty; its student-centric educational philosophy; and its future-oriented innovative training system. Looking ahead, CEIBS will continue to strengthen these characteristics, deepen the integration of teaching and practice, advance digital transformation, and fully implement the eight strategic initiatives to enhance its comprehensive capabilities and global influence, aspiring to become the world's most respected international business school.
On international development, Co-President Bournois stated that while the geopolitical environment is challenging, CEIBS's core advantage as a bridge between China and Europe remains. To increase the international student ratio in MBA and Global EMBA programs to over 30%, the school is enhancing teaching quality, career support, experiential learning, scholarships, and flexible pathways while maintaining the unique "China Depth, Global Breadth" experience. He emphasized that CEIBS's bridging role is long-term and evolving—adjusting curricula, integrating AI, and deepening industry partnerships to keep pace with real business needs. Despite geopolitical fluctuations, he noted that global demand for leaders with cross-cultural competence is growing, reinforcing CEIBS's mission to connect China, Europe, and the world through management education.
On building a premier faculty, Vice President Zhu Tian outlined a multi-pronged approach. First, CEIBS will deepen its "China Depth, Global Breadth" positioning, which provides an unparalleled platform for top international scholars to research cutting-edge business trends and China's economic development. He noted that CEIBS's greatest advantage is its high proportion of senior executive participants, creating a teaching-research feedback loop that attracts scholars seeking real-world impact. Second, as "the most international business school in China and the most Chinese business school internationally," CEIBS offers a globally competitive work environment, language support, compensation, and research backing. Third, the school will implement a combination of measures, including strong support systems for young professors and fair evaluation mechanisms, while considering bringing in industry experts for practical enrichment. The ultimate goal is not only recruitment but creating an "academia-practice-ecosystem" triangle that allows faculty to engage with China's most dynamic entrepreneurs while enhancing both personal reputation and the school's brand.
On accelerating comprehensive AI application, Party Secretary Ma Lei explained that against the backdrop of deep AI-human intelligence integration, CEIBS is adopting an "AI+HI" dual-drive model to upgrade education, research, and campus operations, building a smart, personalized, and high-quality business education ecosystem. This involves three dimensions: curriculum restructuring to add AI and intelligent decision-making modules and create personalized learning paths; teaching and research transformation, where AI handles data analysis and simulation, freeing professors for higher-order teaching, while boosting research efficiency and industry collaboration; and operational upgrades through a smart campus management hub and AI assistants to improve efficiency and refocus resources on talent development and innovation. The school will continue to strengthen its "China Depth, Global Breadth" positioning to cultivate business leaders with both technical insight and humanistic leadership.
With its new five-year strategic plan now launched, CEIBS will continue to deepen knowledge creation, embrace technological frontiers, and expand its global network, serving as a beacon for aspiring learners and contributing wisdom to China's socioeconomic development and global shared prosperity.
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