Ten students from the Bundesbank’s University of Applied Sciences spent two weeks in Beijing attending the “Financial Leaders of Tomorrow” summer program run by the People’s Bank of China (PBC) School of Finance at Tsinghua University. Participants travelled from more than 20 different countries to take part. Together, amid lectures, excursions and a host of new encounters, we delved into China’s economy, culture and day-to-day life, and got far more out of it than we had anticipated. The summer school provided remarkably deep insights into China’s economy and financial system. Our lectures dealt with a range of topics, including China’s banking industry, the investment practices of the sovereign wealth funds, the Chinese capital market, green finance and the country’s macroeconomic governance. Fintech was a particular area of focus. It plays a prominent role in China and is a powerful illustration of how digitalised the country's financial sector has already become. Not only were the lectures challenging in terms of the content covered, but they also gave us the chance to deepen our knowledge of a range of topics through face-to-face discussions with the teaching staff and to explore them from a Chinese angle. A visit to the offices of the company Tencent gave us an especially tangible insight into the country’s fast-paced development. We got a behind-the-scenes look at how quickly and profoundly digital financial services are shaping the day-to-day lives of millions of people. Tencent is a Chinese internet firm with a broad portfolio of business activities, including instant messaging services, social networks, online media (web portals) and interactive entertainment such as multiplayer online games, as well as e-commerce and online advertising. We finished off the summer school by working in mixed groups to present our own business plans. This gave us a chance to collaborate with students from a range of prestigious universities, such as Oxford and Cambridge. Working with people from other countries and disciplines was an invaluable experience and a great way to round off the two weeks.

But the summer school was about far more than just sitting in lessons. In between the lectures, we immersed ourselves in Chinese culture. We tried our hand at martial arts and paper cutting, experienced an international cultural festival packed with games and got to stand on the Great Wall of China. We visited the Summer Palace as well as Kunming Lake and the Forbidden City, let ourselves be guided through the colourful events of China’s past and explored the culinary delights that the country has to offer: from the famous Peking duck to the evening communal hot pot, every meal became an experience all of its own. And it was precisely these shared moments outside of the classroom that made it clear how much a trip like this can teach you about a country that you are otherwise only familiar with from news bulletins and statistics.

The Tsinghua University campus is like a whole little world of its own: mind-bogglingly immense, very green and full of variety. We mostly explored it by bike, spending time playing football with students from other countries and soaking up the atmosphere of one of China's most eminent universities. In amongst lecture halls, parks and sports pitches we were quick to settle into a sense of the everyday, which brought us even closer to the city and its inhabitants.

Looking back on our experiences, we are incredibly grateful to have had this opportunity. The teachers were excellent, everything was organised flawlessly and each day held something new in store. None of us had ever been to China before – and our first trip there has left a lasting impression.

Taking part in PBC School of Finance’s summer program brought us a wealth of benefits: it was intellectually stimulating, interculturally rewarding and personally enriching. The program combines profound insights into one of the world’s leading economies with encounters and experiences whose impact will echo for a long time to come. In short: a worthwhile experience all round!

© PBC School of Finance der Tsinghua Universität