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(Beijing) Tsinghua University will launch China's first Global Business Journalism Program in September 2007. 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, who previously reported from China and supervised Asia coverage for BusinessWeek magazine. 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 funders.

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

Tsinghua University is one of the most important universities in China. 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.

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 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.

Professional business reporting taught in this program will foster greater investor confidence and help integrate China more seamlessly into the global financial infrastructure. Merrill Lynch has long recognized that efficient business growth cannot happen without responsible journalism that explains complicated economic trends, corporate practices and government policy to both the business community and to the public at large,?said Jason Wright, head of communications and public affairs at the company. This program will accomplish these goals.

Adds Senior Vice President and Chairman, Asia Pacific Region, Raymundo Yu: "Merrill Lynch is constantly striving to push the boundaries of excellence and innovation. The China story is amazing, and by teaming up to develop these courses with Tsinghua, the leading Chinese university, Merrill Lynch believes the next generation of journalists in China will be better equipped to tell the story."

This initiative was developed with the assistance of Knight International Journalism Fellow Nailene Chou Wiest, a long-time Reuters business correspondent, who has spent part of her year-long fellowship at Tsinghua University. Knight Foundation, which funds these fellowships run by the International Center for Journalists, looks for opportunities to raise journalism standards around the world.

Business is an important story anywhere but nowhere more important than China,said Knight Foundation President Alberto Ibarguen. There is a need for reliable information that markets can depend on. That won't happen without journalists and editors trained to deliver top quality journalism of the kind we believe Tsinghua University and the International Center for Journalists are uniquely qualified to provide.

We are delighted to be able to provide students in this new program with access to real-time information and data on all aspects of the business world,says Matt Winkler, editor-in-chief of Bloomberg News, which contributed 10 Bloomberg terminals for the program's business media lab. It's important to raise business journalism standards in a country so vital to global prosperity.

Telephone: +86 10 6279 7271 Facsimile: +86 10 6277 1410 E-mail:tsjcws@tsinghua.edu.cn

Website:www.tsjc.tsinghua.edu.cn/English