亲爱的MBA同学们、各位来宾：
晚上好。我很高兴来参加2006MBA新生入学导向的闭幕式暨酒会。今年，清华经管学院进行了第八次新生入学导向活动。这项由我们学院在国内首创的活动，承袭由上一届老生为下一届新生组织的传统，已经成为我们学院的一个品牌。
今年与往年有什么不同呢？我们同往年一样，录取了在全国考生中最优秀的学生。不同的是，在今年的365名新生中，有40名留学生。再加上60名来自世界各地的交换学生，我们的学生群体，在国际化的进程上完成了一次“小跃进。”
从明天开始，你们就正式开始在清华的学习，在接下来的2到3年时间里，你们将有机会聆听清华经管学院院内教师和院外嘉宾的真知灼见，将和来自世界各地的优
秀学生成为同窗好友，一起学习在日新月异的全球竞争中必须要掌握的商务管理知识。你们在清华的学习并不轻松，有时还会艰辛，但今天的辛勤耕作正是为了明天
的收获，我相信你们未来一定能够成功。
你们是如此之幸运，生活在这个时代。今天，中国和中国经济正处于历史性变革时期。中国的整体经济规模已居世界第四，位于美日德之后；中国的对外贸易总额居
世界第三，仅在美德之后；中国的外商直接投资总额居世界第二，仅次于美国；中国的外汇储备已经接近1万亿美元，居世界第一。到今年年底，我国加入WTO后
的五年过渡期就要结束，中国的经济将会更加开放，和世界其它国家和地区的经济联系将更加紧密。
这对同学们，对我们学院都非常重要。我们学院致力于培养在中国乃至全球有竞争力的商业人才。我们积极参加AACSB认证，我们和麻省理工斯隆管理学院合办
国际MBA项目，我们和海外超过50家一流商学院交换学生，我们以亚洲、欧洲、北美等全球顶级商学院的办学标准要求自己，不断提高项目质量。
国际化是清华MBA项目的必然发展方向。清华经管学院首任院长、中国前总理朱鎔基教授要求学院为学生用英
语授课。我们发现，这些年来,中国学生，特别是工程和管理类专业的学生，不能适应国际竞争的主要原因之一是英语语言能力欠缺。去年,
美国咨询机构麦肯锡公司发布了《中国正在出现的人才短缺》的报告。该报告通过调查多家跨国公司后指出，英语不过关是中国大学毕业生无法适应跨国公司工作的
首要障碍。因此，英语沟通能力强的学生在未来求职中将具有很大的优势。
这是一个值得纪念的年份。秋季入学的海外学生人数大约为2006级国际MBA项目新生的三分之一，约占清华MBA项目总人数的十分之一。如果我们将海外交换生人数统计进来，我们有约占总数四分之一的学生来自海外。我们学院学生群体的国际化程度有了很大的提高。
同时，我们的教师群体也更加国际化。本学年将有大约10名教师加盟清华经管学院,他们从哈佛、斯坦福、伯克利、密歇根、威斯康星、纽约大学等海外一流大学获得博士学位,将给清华经管学院带来前沿的学术思想和全球化视野。
对于那些还不能用英语流畅交流的同学们，我想说：应该抓住在清华学习的大好机会，努力提高英语水平，为未来用英语进行工作沟通打好坚实的基础。对此投资，你们不会后悔的，这或许将成为你此生回报率最高的投资项目。
我25年前从清华本科毕业,随后去美国留学。我是清华在文革后最早去海外留学的学生之一。那时，中国经济刚刚开始对外开放。如果我没有记错的话，我们现在
所处的地方过去正是生产蔬菜的四季青人民公社。我上高中时曾经在这里学过农。25年过去了,中国和世界经济发生了巨大的变化。在接下去的25年里，中国经
济将会随全球经济一起大步向前。你们不仅仅是这一变化的见证者，更是它的创造者。请勇敢地接受历史赋予你们的使命！
Dear MBA students, ladies and gentlemen,
Good evening. It’s my great pleasure to
participate in the Tsinghua MBA orientation ceremony and the banquet.
Tsinghua SEM has organized orientations for the last eight consecutive
years, and we are the pioneer in China to launch this program. So
what’s new this year? We have the same high quality students as
before, the best among all the applicants. But this year, among a
total of 365 students, 40 are from overseas, a record number. In
addition, we have 60 exchange students coming from all over the world.
In terms of our student body, we are more international and diversified
than ever. On our road toward a truly international school, we have
just made a “small leap forward.”
Tomorrow, you will formally start your program at Tsinghua SEM.
For the following two or three years, you will have the opportunity to
learn from our faculty, your fellow students, and many other
distinguished speakers about everything you want to learn on business
management in the ever changing world. Studying at Tsinghua will not
be easy, and sometimes it will be tough. But this is what you are
prepared for, and I’m confident that you will prevail.
Think about it, and you will soon realize how truly lucky you
are for being in this place, at this time. China and the Chinese
economy are undergoing historic transformation. China’s economy is
already the fourth largest in the world, after the U.S., Japan, and
Germany. China’s total foreign trade is the third largest in the
world, behind the U.S. and Germany. China has enjoyed the world’s
second largest foreign direct investment inflow, next only to the U.S.
And China’s official foreign reserves, approaching $1 trillion US
dollars, is the world’s largest. By the end of this year, the
five-year transition period after China’s entry to the WTO will end,
and China’s economy will become more open and more integrated with the
rest of the world.
What do all of those mean to you, and to our
School? They mean a lot. We are committed to educating our students –
you – to be competitive not only in Chinese firms in China, but also in
all firms around the world. We are not only competing with the
business schools of our neighbors, but also with the top business
schools in Asia, Europe, and North America. That is why we are
participating in the accreditation process organized by AACSB; this is
why we have been collaborating with MIT Sloan for our international MBA
program for 10 years; and this is why we are having overseas exchange
students programs with more than 50 schools.
We have no choice but to make our program more international.
Mr. Zhu Rongji, the founding dean of Tsinghua SEM and former premier of
China, instructed us to teach courses in English. Over the years we
found that one of the big obstacles for the Chinese students in many
fields, in particular in engineering and management, to excel in the
international business world is the lack of English language
proficiency. Last year, McKinsey issued a report titled “China’s
Looming Shortage of Talent.” After surveying many multinational
corporations in China, the report listed the lack of English language
skills as the number one problem that the multinational firms in China
are facing today in hiring new graduates from the universities.
Therefore, there is a huge premium for the bilingual graduates on the
job market.
This is a year to be remembered. We have, for the first time in
our School’s history, about one-third of our students in the
international MBA program coming from overseas; and more than 10% for
the entire MBA program. If we include exchange students, we have about
one-quarter of the students from overseas. So our student body has
become much more international than before.
So does our faculty. Ten new faculty members
will join Tsinghua SEM for the coming academic year, all of them have
earned their Ph.D.s from overseas research universities, including
Harvard, Stanford, Berkeley, Michigan, Wisconsin, and NYU. They are
bringing in frontier research ideas and global experiences to our
School. We will all benefit from them.
For those who are not fluent in English yet, I have this to say:
seize this opportunity at Tsinghua, and try seriously to make English
one of your working languages. You will not regret; and this can well
be the best investment you ever made in your life.
I graduated from this university 25 years ago, and left for the
U.S. for my graduate studies. I was among the first Tsinghua graduates
after the Cultural Revolution to study abroad. At that time, China
just opened up its economy and society. The very place we are
standing on was part of Sijiqing People’s Commune, which grew
vegetables for Beijing residents. As a high student, I spent some time
in this Commune for helping harvest, as required by the school. In 25
years, China and the world changed a lot. For the next 25 years, China
will change even more, so will the world. You will make a difference
for China and for the world. It is the challenge you can’t afford to
avoid.