#China #Beijing #Peking University #Future Leaders #Guanghua School

A New Paradigm in Global Education: The Future Leaders Program at Peking University

In September 2025, Peking University's Guanghua School of Management proudly welcomed its sixth cohort for the International Bachelor's Program, known as the Future Leaders Program. Launched in 2019, this dual-degree initiative aims to develop future leaders who possess a deep understanding of China alongside a global perspective. Since its inception, the program has cultivated a network of 15 leading international business schools, attracting 235 high-achieving students from 35 different countries and regions.

What sets this program apart is its unique structure that gathers top students carefully selected from partner universities worldwide. After two years of study at their home institutions, these students join Guanghua for an immersive two-year experience in China. Here, they face a rigorous curriculum and collaborate with prominent enterprises, with classes held not only in Beijing but also at Guanghua's satellite campuses across China. This setup ensures students gain firsthand exposure to the country's diverse economic landscape and innovative spirit, offering them practical insights into Chinese markets within a globally diverse context.

The innovative nature of the Future Leaders Program was recently highlighted at the program's Deans Forum held in Beijing, which brought together deans from 16 educational institutions. The forum culminated in the signing of a Consensus on the Future of Business Education, emphasizing crucial topics such as digital transformation, sustainable development, interdisciplinary training, and ethical, globally-oriented leadership. Professor Liu Qiao, Dean of the Guanghua School of Management, stated, "Business education is at a crossroads. We must prepare students not just with technical skills but also with the imagination, values, and courage to tackle complex social challenges."

Entry into the Future Leaders Program is highly selective, targeting the top 20% of students from each partner university through a stringent two-step assessment process. This guarantees a stream of academically prepared and globally diverse participants. Graduates from the program have gone on to pursue successful careers in various sectors, including finance, consulting, technology, and social innovation, landing positions at companies such as Goldman Sachs, McKinsey, Tencent, and even the United Nations, while others have started their own enterprises or pursued further academic study at prestigious institutions like Stanford, Harvard, and Oxford.

Niklas Muennighoff, a member of the program's inaugural cohort who is now pursuing a Ph.D. in AI at Stanford, expressed, "The Future Leaders Program gave me a real insight into the business culture of China and methods for effective cross-border collaboration. The coursework transformed my professional outlook."

As the network expands through dialogue with institutions in the UK, Australia, Mexico, Indonesia, and beyond, the Future Leaders Program is evolving into a broader experiment aimed at exploring university collaborations that equip students to address the pressing global challenges of our time. The demand for forward-thinking leaders in this interconnected world has never been higher, and the Future Leaders Program stands ready to meet this challenge head-on.



With an ever-growing emphasis on collaboration and innovation, the Future Leaders Program at Peking University serves as a testament to the institution's commitment to shaping the next generation of leaders capable of navigating the complexities of an increasingly globalized world.