SUNY Forms Nations First Confucius Institute For Business

New York City – The State University of New York today announced the establishment of the Confucius Institute for Business, hosted by Levin Institute at the SUNY Global Center in New York City. The Institute is the nation’s first exclusively for business and working professionals.

The goal of the Confucius Institute for Business will be to equip business professionals with language skills and also the knowledge of business culture, philosophy, and practice to support successful business development in and with China.

This is the fifth Confucius Institute to open within SUNY, which operates more of these establishments than any educational system in the world. The other four SUNY Confucius Institutes are at University at Buffalo, Binghamton University, Stony Brook University, and the College of Optometry. 

SUNY Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher said, “SUNY is proud to be the largest institutional partner of the Chinese Hanban and to be opening our fifth Confucius Institute, which will further expand our Chinese language and culture education portfolio while promoting multi-culturalism. The Confucius Institutes throughout SUNY embody our strategic plan – The Power of SUNY – as models of our achievements and partnerships across the globe.”

New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said, “Today more than ever, New York City’s future business leaders must be equipped with the right tools to navigate the array of languages and customs of their international counterparts, especially when building relationships with Chinese businesses. The opening of a Confucius Institute for Business in New York City, a first for North America, will help us address that need, and it underscores the central role the City plays on the world stage.”  

Assemblyman Jonathan L. Bing said, “As the Assemblymember representing the State University of New York's Levin Institute, I am proud to participate in the ceremony honoring Levin's selection as the home for the first Confucius Institute for Business in the United States. The Levin Institute, in partnership the Chinese Ministry of Education and Nanjing University of Finance and Economics, will be at the forefront of strengthening economic and cultural relations between the United States and China. I am proud to represent a District of hundreds of foreign consulates and the United Nations neighborhood, which serves as the gateway to the United States for so many visitors.”

SUNY Board Chairman Carl T. Hayden said, “Nearly half of the SUNY campuses have working relationships and academic partnerships with China and the Jiangsu Province, proof that SUNY is truly a global entity that New Yorkers can be proud of. I am confident that this most recent venture will greatly benefit our students and communities in New York and China alike.”

The Confucius Institute for Business at SUNY will be developed in partnership with the Nanjing University of Finance and Economics (NUFE), which will send a professor on assignment to co-administer and teach in the new Institute. 

The focus of the new Institute will be on preparing the working business person with the language skills and cultural awareness necessary to be effective in building business relationships in and with China. In developing the academic programs, SUNY’s Levin Institute will rely on significant intellectual content from Nanjing University of Finance and Economics in the following thematic areas: Chinese business culture and philosophy; Chinese macro-economics and policies; commercial trade, finance and investment; Chinese management practices; and Chinese business opportunities, with a focus on the Yangtze River Delta.

Confucius Institutes are established under the aegis of the Confucius Institute Headquarters (Hanban) in Beijing, China, a public institution affiliated with the Chinese Ministry of Education.

SUNY Vice Chancellor for Global Affairs Mitch Leventhal said, “The formation of these new Institutes is an important realization of a key element of SUNY’s strategic plan, SUNY and the World. The fact that there are more Confucius Institutes within SUNY than in any other institution is a sign of the increasingly global footprint of this great university.”

Levin Institute President Garrick Utley said, “The Confucius Institute for Business is the next generation of programs linking the Levin Institute with China, bridging its roots in US-China relations with its current mission to support the economic vitality of New York City and State.”

At today’s ceremony, SUNY and city officials welcomed a delegation that includes President XU Congcai and several colleagues from NUFE, as well as Mr. Shen Jian, the Director General of the Department of Education in Jiangsu Province. Jiangsu Province has a sister-state relationship with New York State, with numerous educational partnerships already underway with SUNY campuses.

In 2005, a SUNY delegation was invited by Jiangsu provincial government to visit Nanjing University, after which a pilot dual diploma program was established between Nanjing University and Stony Brook University. The program was later adopted by additional SUNY campuses.

Additionally, on April 22, 2009, Governor David A. Paterson signed an agreement with Vice Governor Li Xiaomin of the Jiangsu Province on joint economic development. 

About the State University of New York

The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive university system in the United States, educating nearly 465,000 students in more than 7,500 degree and certificate programs on 64 campuses with over 2.4 million alumni around the globe. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunity, visit www.suny.edu 

###