Can CEIBS Maintain Its Global Edge? 2 Profs On China’s Shifting Business Landscape

China Europe International Business School turned 30 in 2024 amid shifting currents in business education, both in China and globally. Once a symbol of China’s opening to the world and its appetite for global management know-how, CEIBS now navigates a more complex operating environment: tighter labor markets, geopolitical uncertainty, unreliability in international student interest — all amid a reevaluation of the traditional MBA model.

Two long-serving faculty members — Professors Byron Lee and Fang Yu — offer their views of the school’s progress and its challenges. Lee, who teaches Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management, joined CEIBS nearly a decade ago. Yu, a finance professor and current academic director of the school’s Finance MBA, has been with CEIBS for 15 years.

Both have seen the institution evolve — and in some cases, resist change. Both spoke to Poets&Quants last fall during a tour of the CEIBS campus in Shanghai.

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A MATURING MODEL IN A SATURATED MARKET

“In the past, demand for MBAs in China outpaced supply,” Yu notes. “Now, it’s the opposite.” CEIBS once ran three MBA cohorts per year. Today, it’s down to one. While this reflects a broader trend across Chinese business schools, Yu also points to structural issues. “There are just more options now—more schools offering MBAs, and more alternative credentials that are cheaper, faster, or more targeted.”

CEIBS’ full-time MBA has held its size steady at around 120 students per year, but competition for top applicants has intensified, particularly as international interest has waned. Yu attributes some of that to pandemic-era visa restrictions — China suspended inbound student visas for several years — and some to shifting perceptions. “Ten years ago, doing an MBA in Shanghai was seen as adventurous, maybe even strategic,” she says. “Now, it feels less urgent.”

At the same time, domestic demand has become more cautious. With a slowing economy and regulatory pressure on sectors like finance and tech, career certainty is harder to come by. “We’re seeing fewer people willing to make big career pivots,” says Lee. “It’s not just students playing it safe. Companies are, too.”

PROGRAM INNOVATION AS A RESPONSE

Rather than expand enrollment, CEIBS has responded by specializing. One example is the Finance MBA, a part-time, two-year program launched in 2012. Originally designed to meet the needs of China’s fast-growing financial sector, the program has gradually evolved to reflect broader industry shifts.

“Our students are older and more senior than the MBA cohort,” Yu explains. “And while it used to be mostly bankers and brokers, now more than 30% come from non-financial industries — tech, automotive, energy. They need financial skills, but for different reasons.”

Recent years have also seen growing gender diversity in the FMBA: women now make up more than half of incoming classes, a striking contrast to global finance programs where men still dominate. Yu attributes this in part to the program’s flexibility and the broader legacy of China’s one-child policy, which gave many daughters the same educational investments once reserved for sons.

BETWEEN AI & ESG: UPDATING THE CURRICULUM

CEIBS faculty are acutely aware that the future of business education will be shaped by technology — and expectations around social responsibility.

“AI isn’t a passing trend,” says Yu. “It’s something every program will need to integrate, whether we’re ready or not.” She’s experimenting with allowing FMBA students to use AI tools for case presentations, while also asking them to critically reflect on where humans still add value.

Lee, who teaches both MBA and executive courses, echoes the concern. “We have to help students manage in a world where AI will do a lot of what humans currently do. That means shifting how we think about skills, leadership, even productivity.”

At the same time, the school — like many of its peers — has increased its emphasis on ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) content. ESG is now required across core courses, and FMBA students must include ESG components in their thesis projects. But both professors express some ambivalence about the trend.

“There’s definitely value in thinking about social impact,” says Lee. “But I worry when industry — or rankings — dictate what gets taught. That’s not how education should work.”

Yu, too, sees limits. “There’s some ESG fatigue. We don’t want it to become a checkbox exercise. Students see through that.”

GLOBALIZATION IN REVERSE?

CEIBS was founded on the idea of building bridges — between China and Europe, between East and West. But in a post-COVID, increasingly polarized world, that mission is harder to fulfill. International student numbers have dropped. Fewer global companies are expanding in China. And business education, like business itself, is facing inward.

“It used to be: What’s your China strategy?” says Yu. “Now, it’s: What’s your China exit strategy?”

Still, the school continues to position itself as an international hub. Faculty come from a wide range of countries — including India, Russia, and across Africa — and CEIBS is one of only three schools in China exempt from the national MBA entrance exam, giving it more flexibility to design and administer its own admissions process.

“We can’t control geopolitics,” says Lee. “But we can offer students exposure to diverse perspectives. That still matters.”

A FOCUS ON MENTORSHIP & REAL-WORLD RELEVANCE

One of CEIBS’ most distinctive features is its mentorship model: every MBA student is paired one-on-one with a senior alumni executive. It’s voluntary on the mentors’ part, and demand often outpaces student numbers. “We’ve had to turn mentors away,” says Lee, who oversees the program. “That says something about alumni commitment.”

Mentorship is not just an add-on — it reflects a broader philosophy. “A lot of what students take away from CEIBS doesn’t come from lectures,” says Yu. “It comes from peer learning, from industry engagement, from working through real problems with people who’ve lived them.”

That pragmatism underpins much of the school’s identity. Whether it’s adapting the curriculum to include AI tools, reframing finance as a support function for industry, or maintaining in-person classes even when online options were available, CEIBS has consistently emphasized face-to-face learning and hands-on experience.

“Our EMBA and FMBA students could’ve pushed for online formats during COVID,” Yu recalls. “They didn’t. They waited for in-person to resume. Because the value isn’t just the content — it’s the connections.”

A SCHOOL IN TRANSITION

CEIBS is not immune to the pressures facing business schools around the world: the MBA is no longer the automatic career accelerator it once was; industry expectations are changing; and political realities increasingly shape student decisions. But CEIBS’ willingness to reflect — and adjust — may serve it well in the long run.

“We’re not perfect,” says Lee. “We have to keep learning, just like we ask our students to.”

Yu puts it more directly. “We’re a business school, but we’re also a bridge. And when other bridges are breaking down, education might be one of the few left standing.”

DON’T MISS THE P&Q INTERVIEW: ZHANG WEIJIONG, CO-DEAN OF CHINA EUROPE INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS SCHOOL