Martin Li, Chen Yue

    martin.mouse@163.com

    INTERNATIONAL students registering to study at Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School yesterday said they hope to gain experience on a wide range of issues facing China during their time in the city.

    Located in Shenzhen University Town, Nanshan District, the school enrolls 133 international students from 38 countries. They will pursue master’s degrees in areas such as finance and business.

    “I see Shenzhen as a new, growing international city like Hong Kong and I want to learn Chinese and find work here after graduation,” Jin Ho-bang from South Korea told Shenzhen Daily yesterday. Jin, who grew up in Hong Kong, will study quantitative finance at the school. He worked in sports marketing in South Korea before coming to Shenzhen.

    “In Hong Kong everything is really international and you speak only English in business culture,” said Jin. “But I want to spend around 5-10 years here so I can become really fluent in Chinese, then move to Hong Kong. I want to be really competitive in English, Korean and Chinese.”

    Jin said he looks forward to the development of Qianhai in Shenzhen, which will bring more opportunities.

    Qianhai is an area that will be developed by Shenzhen and Hong Kong into a hub of the finance and service industries.

    For German Andrej Dubrovskij, studying in Shenzhen is a chance to learn more about China.

    “In Germany, it’s very popular to go to China ... there are many joint ventures (between the countries),” said Dubrovskij, a financial strategy major.

    He is on his first visit to China and said he will take time to travel to get to know the country better.

    “I will also get to know my fellow students, who have different nationalities, so that we can experience different cultures,” he said.

    A Russian management major, Denis Aksenov, said, aside from campus study, he plans to travel to know more about China.

    “I’d like to know every province and every city,” said Aksenov. “My family has some relationships with Chinese suppliers and manufacturers and I want to help my family do business with Chinese people.

    “I want to improve my Chinese here, because in Russia, it’s simply impossible for you to learn Chinese,” he said.

    Aksenov said he plans to work in Shenzhen or other Chinese cities for one or two years after graduation to gain valuable experience before moving back to Russia.

    German Anastasia Romanora seemed excited about staying in a foreign city like Shenzhen.

    “I really want to do something special (with my time here). I want to go to places where the culture is much different,” said Romanora, who was born in Ukraine and had lived in Germany for 20 years.

    “Shenzhen is really huge, warm and humid,” she said. “Everyone is so nice and helpful!”