The International Center for Journalists and Tsinghua University will launch China's first Global Business Journalism Program in September 2007.

"This program will move business journalism in China to a new level," said Li Xiguang, executive dean of the Tsinghua School of Journalism and Communication. "The courses offered respond to a growing public interest in business and economic news and to an increasing demand for trained editors and reporters to cover the field."

The international founding sponsors of this project are Merrill Lynch, the Knight Foundation and Bloomberg News.

The initiative includes a two-year master's degree program and workshops for professional journalists from around the country. The program will train students how to cover the fast-changing world of global business, economics and finance at one of the country's most prestigious universities. The goal is to create a cadre of top-notch business reporters and editors, who can produce clear, balanced and insightful coverage of Chinese and global companies. This will help make China's markets more transparent and foster greater understanding between China and the international business community.

"China's importance in the global economy is growing exponentially, and journalists must gain the skills they need to cover the increasingly complex business landscape," said International Center for Journalists President Joyce Barnathan. "This program will bring together the journalism training expertise of our organization, the prestige of Tsinghua University, and the commitment to the highest ideals of business and journalism embodied by the program's funders."

The master's degree program, taught in English, will target 25 to 30 students each year from China and other Asian countries. The two top students will receive internships in the United States. In addition, workshops will be conducted at Tsinghua University for dozens of professional Chinese journalists and media managers.

The initiative will target emerging leaders in China and the Pacific Rim region eager to gain expertise in international business journalism. A special emphasis will be placed on comparative studies of Chinese and Western companies and financial markets. Courses will include analyzing case studies of China's corporations, using the Internet to develop stories, and learning the techniques of investigative reporting.

The International Center for Journalists, a non-profit, professional organization, promotes quality journalism worldwide in the belief that independent, vigorous media are crucial in improving the human condition. In the past 22 years, the International Center for Journalists has worked directly with more than 20,000 journalists and media managers from 176 countries through hands-on training workshops, seminars, fellowships, international exchanges and other media development programs.

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