Peking University’s PHBS Celebrates 20 Years of Excellence

On 26 October 2024, Peking University HSBC Business School (PHBS) marked its 20th anniversary with a grand ceremony at the Shenzhen University Town Sports Centre, drawing over 3,600 attendees, including distinguished alumni, faculty, and global guests from 13 countries. This event celebrated the achievements of PHBS over the past two decades and laid out its aspirations for continued growth and global recognition.

Reflecting on PHBS’s journey, Hai Wen, the school’s founding dean and vice chairman of Peking University’s council, highlighted the importance of “vision and perseverance” as the foundation of PHBS. He emphasised “endless innovation” as crucial to its progress and “united to achieve” as key to its accomplishments. Dean Wang Pengfei reiterated these sentiments, affirming that PHBS would remain committed to academic excellence, talent development, and internationalisation as it strives to strengthen its global reputation in business education.

In recognition of the people instrumental to the school’s growth, awards were presented to several key figures during the ceremony. Among the honourees were Xu Zhihong, academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and former president of Peking University, and Thomas J. Sargent, 2011 Nobel laureate in Economics and honorary director of PHBS’s Sargent Institute of Quantitative Economics and Finance. Their contributions, along with those of other honourees from both academia and industry, were acknowledged for helping shape PHBS into a leading institution in business and finance education.

The event also marked the launch of PHBS’s “Intelligent Information Base of Chinese Enterprises,” a milestone project designed to enhance research and enterprise information accessibility in the era of artificial intelligence. The database, which uses the ExpertCPT technology platform developed by PHBS’s Intelligent Center for Enterprise Information, is the first of its kind focused on Chinese enterprises. According to Wei Wei, director of the Intelligent Centre, the platform will support detailed enterprise information searches and management case studies, offering students and researchers a powerful new tool to engage with China’s evolving business landscape.

PHBS’s UK campus joined in the anniversary celebrations, holding an exhibition on the school’s history and hosting speeches by alumni who reflected on their experiences and achievements since graduating.

Over the past 20 years, PHBS has built a network of over 50,000 alumni, many of whom have gone on to lead in finance, academia, and other sectors globally. The anniversary event celebrated their contributions, highlighting how PHBS has evolved into an international institution with a far-reaching impact. As the school moves forward, it aims to continue fostering innovation and leadership among its students, further solidifying its status as one of the top business schools worldwide.