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EMBA， short for Executive Master of Business Administration， is a popular course in the world. As its tenet reveals， the course is to foster senior executives with sense of responsibility and professional virtues.
In China， the EMBA is also very popular as almost all famous universities and some specialist business schools have this academic degree which was acknowledged by the Chinese government. The graduates of EMBA are expected to have mastered the theories and operations of modern enterprise management and thusly gain the ability to make business decisions and manage the enterprises under the complicated economic， social and technological circumstances.
All these descriptions tell that the EMBA courses are set for entrepreneurs or executives， but in China， there is a third group of students – the governmental officials. Many of the business schools have no objections to， and even like， enrolling governmental officials into their classrooms.
The governmental officials appeared to like the courses very much. According to the survey made by Forbes， the number of governmental officials takes 8.3% of the total number of EMBA students in China. In the Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management， the proportion reaches 10% and in the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business， it is 11%.
“The government is always an important source of students for our courses，” says one the student recruitment officers at the Business School of Renmin University of China.
The Ban
However， the source might be cut off nowadays. In August， the Department of Organization of the CPC Central Committee and the Ministry of Education of China issued the ban strictly forbidding the governmental officials to take the costly training courses. EMBA and several other courses are clearly included in the “negative list”.
The ban took effect and saw the impact immediately. In September， when the new semester began， there were a lot of “students” choosing to quit the EMBA courses. People call it the “wave of leaving EMBA”. Nearly all the students that dropped off are the governmental officials.
In Hefei， Anhui， a man who is the deputy director of a provincial ministry decided to take the EMBA courses from China University of Science and Technologies （CUST） in June. “I have come to a certain age and has the wish to learn more， such as the latest management knowledge， to improve my own working ability，” says the governmental official. He even joined in the inauguration ceremony for the 2014 EMBA Courses with his classmates – most of them were governmental officials from Anhui or Hefei governments – on July 31. “I shared ideas and working experiences with them and I was looking forward to the new classes，” he said.
However， his vision was broken by the ban from the central government. Upon hearing the news， this deputy director immediately called the recruiter at the CUST and told him that he had to quit. “I am negotiating with the school and hoped that my proposal of quitting would be approved soon，” he said in late September， when the class had begun for about a month. He also contacted some of his colleagues and tobe classmates and knew that they were going to or had quitted the class.
“It is a pity that we have to quit and leave our dreams of learning more behind，” he says. “But this does not mean that I have no place to learn. I can find other ways to fulfill my curiosity and desire.”
The phenomenon is not limited to the CUST or Anhui. In August and September， the EMBA teachers in China received numerous applicants or proposals to quit， most of which came from the governmental officials. In Beijing， the recruiter of the EMBA courses at the Renmin University of China admitted that the number of students “had reduced a lot in this year”.
Actually， the ban over the governmental officials’ taking EMBA courses did not came out suddenly and groundlessly. Early in January of this year， the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Revolutionary Committee of Chinese Kuomintang submitted a proposal to the congress of Guangdong， suggesting issuing the ban over the governmental officials’ taking EMBA courses. It was said to be the first governmental proposal to ban the EMBA courses for governmental officials.
The proposal just matched the Eight Rules of CPC Central Committee to Build a Clean Governance， one of which required the governmental officials to be thriftier in their catering， accommodation and traveling. Since the EMBA courses generally cost tens of thousands of yuan per semester and some top business schools in China even charged 1 million yuan for a twoyear course， the huge cost， which is usually afforded by the government or the taxpayers， is definitely one of the items that were forbidden or at least discouraged by the Eight Rules.
“The number of our students from the governmental departments and the state-owned enterprises began to decrease since the coming-out of the Eight Rules，” the aforementioned recruiter at Renmin University of China.“The issuance of ban further scared says them away from our classes.” According to him， Renmin University of China recruited students in Beijing， Shanghai and Shenzhen in 2014. The CMPM Project， which is laurelled as the best EMBA course of this university， had recruited no official-turned students this year. “The students could not fill a classroom.”
The Consents
Then， why did the Chinese central government stop the governmental officials from taking the EMBA courses？ The huge cost is one of the reasons. In the notice issued along with the ban， the Chinese governmental official stated that the “huge cost of EMBA courses will be a huge burden for both individuals and the public and is not style the thrift-oriented central government advocates”.
A study reveals that only 20% of the EMBA students in China need to afford the costly courses by themselves. The governmental official-turned students universally have the government pay for their courses. The more governmental officials go to business schools and the better courses they choose， the larger is the burden for the government.
Some of the EMBA students can find sponsors for the courses and actually they are either the leaders of the state-owned enterprises or the governmental officials with certain relations to the enterprises. No matter for what reasons， the “free” EMBA courses for governmental officials are quite normal. That’s why they could take them as long as they wish despite the huge cost.
But there is a problem then which a lot of people， including the central gov- ernment， are worrying about. Are the EMBA courses another tool to bribe the governmental officials or another hotbed for the corruption.
“The tuitions for EMBA courses are far beyond the normal salaries of governmental officials. Their popularity among the officials is questionable，”a Chinese newspaper reported. “Some of the enterprises sponsor the governmental officials’ EMBA courses and some business schools even offer the governmental officials free courses. What’s behind is definitely more than the support to satisfy people’s curiosity and desire to learn more knowledge. This could lead to the corruption， in which the enterprises gain the favor of the governmental officials and in return the governmental officials give these enterprises the benefits – usually illegal– they desire. Such a phenomenon is definitely worth attention.”
Even the government-made payment for the EMBA courses is not reasonable. Since the courses are focusing on the economic side and are originally made for the entrepreneurs， it is of limited use for the administrative leaders– don’t say managing the government like running a company. That’s quite different from each other. With quite a few relations of the courses to the governance， the governmental officials’ purpose of taking the courses is far from what they have claimed： to learn more for the better governance and service for the people. Then， what do the governmental officials take the EMBA courses for？ Apart from the said theoretical studies，“people” and “connections” are the best fruits they can gain from the EMBA courses. Who are attending the courses are governmental officials from other enterprises， leaders of state-owned enterprises， famous entrepreneurs and other social celebrities. These people are hard to get together in one place. What place is better to know so many successful men from different sectors than an EMBA classroom？
Many Chinese people could tell how Tian Pujun， a not-so-famous Chinese actress， met and fell in love with Wang Shi， one of the richest men in China， in the EMBA courses at the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business. The romantic stories are limited to the girls who want to marry rich men， but the bonds that can be forged in a business school are more than love and marriage.
“I can get to know a lot of people there. Some of them are my colleagues in different departments. Some of them are successful businessmen in Anhui. I am sure I can learn a lot from them，”says the Anhui governmental official mentioned above. What he does not say is that he， once forging the classmatelike relations with these people， could help him greatly， no matter in the political career and economical benefits.
“The EMBA and other similar courses are more like a club to improve the merchant-bureaucrat association. The governmental officials can weave their network of power and the merchants could find their ‘backers’ there. The bonds， if misused， could easily lead to the power rent-seeking， a precondition for the corruption，” says Zhou Shaolai， a fellow with the Institute of Politics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
The Dissents
It is impossible for one thing to win the support from everyone. So is the Chinese government’s ban over governmental officials’ taking EMBA courses. Those objectors to this ban are none other than the governmental officials and the business schools.
The governmental officials who support the EMBA state that they（governmental officials taking EMBA courses） are not there just for bonds and relations. He called for the masses， media and society to view the EMBA courses with different viewpoint.
“I was not invited to take the courses. Instead， I take the exam and only got enrolled after passing the written and oral examinations. The texts were quite difficult and I barely passed them，” the governmental official said. “The days were not easier when the new semester began. We had to spend most of our extra time listening to teachers， doing homework and doing a lot of brainstorming. The professors here are great and cunning. They could easily destroy you ego and tell you： you might be a leader in your place， but there， you are just a student. They piqued our interest and expectation. We all believed that we can learn more from here. “And we do. Truth to be told， communication with the classmates is an integral part of the EMBA courses， but we are not here just for talking， making friends and having affairs with beautiful girls. Sometimes we have to study in small hours to understand the lectures and prepare for the exams. Who says the EMBA could not teach you anything useful？ At least I know there is a greater world beyond us and we have to work hard to bring the best to the people I serve.”
The business schools， which definitely suffered a lot of losses from the ban， also voiced their objections. They also disagree with the saying that “the EMBA could make no contributions to the better governance and the development of the economy”.
“The education projects should reclaim their original functions. MBA and EMBA have fostered a lot of practicable talents for the country. At least they are playing an important role in the development of Chinese enterprises and their internationalization，” says Zhang Xin （alias）， dean of a Shanghai-based business school. “Some governmental officials， especially those engaged in the economic management， or those with the desire to promote their careers， have reasonable need to take EMBA courses.”
Though different business schools have different curriculum in EMBA， they mostly share the same contents： macro-economy， strategic management， crisis control， project management， modern marketing methods， legal risk aversion， leadership and execution， financial management and so on.
In Zhang Xin’s opinion， the governmental officials in the departments of trade， finance and economic management needs the knowledge in that field. “The government might look into things in a different viewpoint from the private enterprises and foreign companies， but they should be based on the same knowledge. There is something not so graceful happening here， but a taint could not be the reason to destroy the entire room.”
“The ban over the governmental officials’ taking EMBA courses shows the central government’s determination to crack down on the rampancy of the increasing training programs in China. It should be understood and executed firmly and efficiently，” the aforementioned governmental official says， but he also states that this does not mean that the Chinese governmental officials do not need any training and further study.
“In the long term， it is necessary to build a standardized and normal cross-field study mechanism to let the cadres know the business management， enterprises involvement and public management. This is the right path for a country to improve its governance，” the governmental official wrote.
“From my experiences with the EMBA， I have learnt of the hope for the country， the respect for men and the introspection of the society.”
In China， the EMBA is also very popular as almost all famous universities and some specialist business schools have this academic degree which was acknowledged by the Chinese government. The graduates of EMBA are expected to have mastered the theories and operations of modern enterprise management and thusly gain the ability to make business decisions and manage the enterprises under the complicated economic， social and technological circumstances.
All these descriptions tell that the EMBA courses are set for entrepreneurs or executives， but in China， there is a third group of students – the governmental officials. Many of the business schools have no objections to， and even like， enrolling governmental officials into their classrooms.
The governmental officials appeared to like the courses very much. According to the survey made by Forbes， the number of governmental officials takes 8.3% of the total number of EMBA students in China. In the Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management， the proportion reaches 10% and in the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business， it is 11%.
“The government is always an important source of students for our courses，” says one the student recruitment officers at the Business School of Renmin University of China.
The Ban
However， the source might be cut off nowadays. In August， the Department of Organization of the CPC Central Committee and the Ministry of Education of China issued the ban strictly forbidding the governmental officials to take the costly training courses. EMBA and several other courses are clearly included in the “negative list”.
The ban took effect and saw the impact immediately. In September， when the new semester began， there were a lot of “students” choosing to quit the EMBA courses. People call it the “wave of leaving EMBA”. Nearly all the students that dropped off are the governmental officials.
In Hefei， Anhui， a man who is the deputy director of a provincial ministry decided to take the EMBA courses from China University of Science and Technologies （CUST） in June. “I have come to a certain age and has the wish to learn more， such as the latest management knowledge， to improve my own working ability，” says the governmental official. He even joined in the inauguration ceremony for the 2014 EMBA Courses with his classmates – most of them were governmental officials from Anhui or Hefei governments – on July 31. “I shared ideas and working experiences with them and I was looking forward to the new classes，” he said.
However， his vision was broken by the ban from the central government. Upon hearing the news， this deputy director immediately called the recruiter at the CUST and told him that he had to quit. “I am negotiating with the school and hoped that my proposal of quitting would be approved soon，” he said in late September， when the class had begun for about a month. He also contacted some of his colleagues and tobe classmates and knew that they were going to or had quitted the class.
“It is a pity that we have to quit and leave our dreams of learning more behind，” he says. “But this does not mean that I have no place to learn. I can find other ways to fulfill my curiosity and desire.”
The phenomenon is not limited to the CUST or Anhui. In August and September， the EMBA teachers in China received numerous applicants or proposals to quit， most of which came from the governmental officials. In Beijing， the recruiter of the EMBA courses at the Renmin University of China admitted that the number of students “had reduced a lot in this year”.
Actually， the ban over the governmental officials’ taking EMBA courses did not came out suddenly and groundlessly. Early in January of this year， the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Revolutionary Committee of Chinese Kuomintang submitted a proposal to the congress of Guangdong， suggesting issuing the ban over the governmental officials’ taking EMBA courses. It was said to be the first governmental proposal to ban the EMBA courses for governmental officials.
The proposal just matched the Eight Rules of CPC Central Committee to Build a Clean Governance， one of which required the governmental officials to be thriftier in their catering， accommodation and traveling. Since the EMBA courses generally cost tens of thousands of yuan per semester and some top business schools in China even charged 1 million yuan for a twoyear course， the huge cost， which is usually afforded by the government or the taxpayers， is definitely one of the items that were forbidden or at least discouraged by the Eight Rules.
“The number of our students from the governmental departments and the state-owned enterprises began to decrease since the coming-out of the Eight Rules，” the aforementioned recruiter at Renmin University of China.“The issuance of ban further scared says them away from our classes.” According to him， Renmin University of China recruited students in Beijing， Shanghai and Shenzhen in 2014. The CMPM Project， which is laurelled as the best EMBA course of this university， had recruited no official-turned students this year. “The students could not fill a classroom.”
The Consents
Then， why did the Chinese central government stop the governmental officials from taking the EMBA courses？ The huge cost is one of the reasons. In the notice issued along with the ban， the Chinese governmental official stated that the “huge cost of EMBA courses will be a huge burden for both individuals and the public and is not style the thrift-oriented central government advocates”.
A study reveals that only 20% of the EMBA students in China need to afford the costly courses by themselves. The governmental official-turned students universally have the government pay for their courses. The more governmental officials go to business schools and the better courses they choose， the larger is the burden for the government.
Some of the EMBA students can find sponsors for the courses and actually they are either the leaders of the state-owned enterprises or the governmental officials with certain relations to the enterprises. No matter for what reasons， the “free” EMBA courses for governmental officials are quite normal. That’s why they could take them as long as they wish despite the huge cost.
But there is a problem then which a lot of people， including the central gov- ernment， are worrying about. Are the EMBA courses another tool to bribe the governmental officials or another hotbed for the corruption.
“The tuitions for EMBA courses are far beyond the normal salaries of governmental officials. Their popularity among the officials is questionable，”a Chinese newspaper reported. “Some of the enterprises sponsor the governmental officials’ EMBA courses and some business schools even offer the governmental officials free courses. What’s behind is definitely more than the support to satisfy people’s curiosity and desire to learn more knowledge. This could lead to the corruption， in which the enterprises gain the favor of the governmental officials and in return the governmental officials give these enterprises the benefits – usually illegal– they desire. Such a phenomenon is definitely worth attention.”
Even the government-made payment for the EMBA courses is not reasonable. Since the courses are focusing on the economic side and are originally made for the entrepreneurs， it is of limited use for the administrative leaders– don’t say managing the government like running a company. That’s quite different from each other. With quite a few relations of the courses to the governance， the governmental officials’ purpose of taking the courses is far from what they have claimed： to learn more for the better governance and service for the people. Then， what do the governmental officials take the EMBA courses for？ Apart from the said theoretical studies，“people” and “connections” are the best fruits they can gain from the EMBA courses. Who are attending the courses are governmental officials from other enterprises， leaders of state-owned enterprises， famous entrepreneurs and other social celebrities. These people are hard to get together in one place. What place is better to know so many successful men from different sectors than an EMBA classroom？
Many Chinese people could tell how Tian Pujun， a not-so-famous Chinese actress， met and fell in love with Wang Shi， one of the richest men in China， in the EMBA courses at the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business. The romantic stories are limited to the girls who want to marry rich men， but the bonds that can be forged in a business school are more than love and marriage.
“I can get to know a lot of people there. Some of them are my colleagues in different departments. Some of them are successful businessmen in Anhui. I am sure I can learn a lot from them，”says the Anhui governmental official mentioned above. What he does not say is that he， once forging the classmatelike relations with these people， could help him greatly， no matter in the political career and economical benefits.
“The EMBA and other similar courses are more like a club to improve the merchant-bureaucrat association. The governmental officials can weave their network of power and the merchants could find their ‘backers’ there. The bonds， if misused， could easily lead to the power rent-seeking， a precondition for the corruption，” says Zhou Shaolai， a fellow with the Institute of Politics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
The Dissents
It is impossible for one thing to win the support from everyone. So is the Chinese government’s ban over governmental officials’ taking EMBA courses. Those objectors to this ban are none other than the governmental officials and the business schools.
The governmental officials who support the EMBA state that they（governmental officials taking EMBA courses） are not there just for bonds and relations. He called for the masses， media and society to view the EMBA courses with different viewpoint.
“I was not invited to take the courses. Instead， I take the exam and only got enrolled after passing the written and oral examinations. The texts were quite difficult and I barely passed them，” the governmental official said. “The days were not easier when the new semester began. We had to spend most of our extra time listening to teachers， doing homework and doing a lot of brainstorming. The professors here are great and cunning. They could easily destroy you ego and tell you： you might be a leader in your place， but there， you are just a student. They piqued our interest and expectation. We all believed that we can learn more from here. “And we do. Truth to be told， communication with the classmates is an integral part of the EMBA courses， but we are not here just for talking， making friends and having affairs with beautiful girls. Sometimes we have to study in small hours to understand the lectures and prepare for the exams. Who says the EMBA could not teach you anything useful？ At least I know there is a greater world beyond us and we have to work hard to bring the best to the people I serve.”
The business schools， which definitely suffered a lot of losses from the ban， also voiced their objections. They also disagree with the saying that “the EMBA could make no contributions to the better governance and the development of the economy”.
“The education projects should reclaim their original functions. MBA and EMBA have fostered a lot of practicable talents for the country. At least they are playing an important role in the development of Chinese enterprises and their internationalization，” says Zhang Xin （alias）， dean of a Shanghai-based business school. “Some governmental officials， especially those engaged in the economic management， or those with the desire to promote their careers， have reasonable need to take EMBA courses.”
Though different business schools have different curriculum in EMBA， they mostly share the same contents： macro-economy， strategic management， crisis control， project management， modern marketing methods， legal risk aversion， leadership and execution， financial management and so on.
In Zhang Xin’s opinion， the governmental officials in the departments of trade， finance and economic management needs the knowledge in that field. “The government might look into things in a different viewpoint from the private enterprises and foreign companies， but they should be based on the same knowledge. There is something not so graceful happening here， but a taint could not be the reason to destroy the entire room.”
“The ban over the governmental officials’ taking EMBA courses shows the central government’s determination to crack down on the rampancy of the increasing training programs in China. It should be understood and executed firmly and efficiently，” the aforementioned governmental official says， but he also states that this does not mean that the Chinese governmental officials do not need any training and further study.
“In the long term， it is necessary to build a standardized and normal cross-field study mechanism to let the cadres know the business management， enterprises involvement and public management. This is the right path for a country to improve its governance，” the governmental official wrote.
“From my experiences with the EMBA， I have learnt of the hope for the country， the respect for men and the introspection of the society.”