The Executive Dean of School of Journalism and Communication of Tsinghua University said today that English proficiency and in depth financial grasping will be the core competitive advantage for the first ever Global Business Journalism (GBJ) program in Asia.

(Beijing) On the opening ceremony of the first-year GBJ program in Tsinghua University, Li Xiguang, the Executive Dean and a former journalist for national news agency Xinhua, gave the 20 freshmen graduate students his understanding on journalism and on the program.

He said that the program would firstly focus on the practical skills training to meet the media industry's need.

"If you can't get a job upon graduation, it would be the biggest failure for both the school and the university." he said.

GBJ, the first master’s degree program provided in Asia and taught in English, is sponsored by Wall Streets tycoon Merrill Lynch, the Knight Foundation and Global Sources. Bloomberg News also will provide 10 terminals for the program.

The program recruited 20 students this year, including 14 from China and six internationals from Russia, Canada, South Korea and Morocco etc.

The Chair of the Board of the School, Prof. Wang Jianhua, Vice Dean Li Bin and faculties from the program attended the ceremony.

Former Chief Editor of China Daily, Zhu Yinghuang, said the Chinese students should work harder to overcome the language barrier.

"When I was in Da Lian, I found Chinese reporters liked to interview Chinese entrepreneurs, but not foreign big figures," he recalled his visit to Summer Davos in northeast China days ago, "I felt the main problem is the language."

Ex editor for the Reuters and now the co-director of the GBJ program, Nailene Chou said the would-be journalists should learn not only from books, but from daily practices as well.

Bayer Public’s senior public relation specialist William Valentino, also encouraged students to practice journalism in their future study.

"You do not learn anything until you learn to use it," he said.

After the opening, Professor Si Jiuyue, another former XinHua correspondent based in America, hosted a panel discussion with the freshmen on what makes a good business reporter.