In 2002, the Bundesbank’s University of Applied Sciences (UAS) established a partnership with China’s central-bank-affiliated university. In October 2017, the two institutions decided to continue this partnership until 2020. The agreement extending the arrangement was signed by Kang Yitong, Dean of the People’s Bank of China School of Finance, and Erich Keller, Rector of the Bundesbank’s UAS, at the German embassy in Beijing.

The first student exchange between the two universities took place in May 2014. People’s Bank of China MA students spent a week attending lectures in Hachenburg and, two months later, undergraduates from Hachenburg took part in a two-week summer school hosted by the Chinese central bank. There are many similarities between academic life at the two institutions, as Hachenburg rector Erich Keller explains: "The students are taught in small groups and live on campus in Beijing’s student area, Haidian. Just as in Hachenburg, around half of the students are female."  One difference, though, is that the PBC School of Finance offers both an MA and a BA course. Keller himself has lectured at the PBC School of Finance on numerous occasions. Initially only the Bundesbank UAS professors played an active teaching role in the partnership, giving lessons to the Chinese students about monetary policy and banking supervision. This changed a few years ago, however; nowadays professors from Beijing also teach Hachenburg students about the Chinese financial markets.

According to Keller, the partnership – especially the exchange programme – is highly valued by both institutions, which is why there are plans to step up collaboration, for instance through joint research activities by teaching staff.