I. Program Overview
As a major of Anhui University of Finance and Economics, International Trade first obtained the right to confer master's degree in Anhui province in 1998, and was evaluated as Anhui Provincial-level Key Supporting Discipline in 2002 and, as Anhui Provincial-level Key Discipline of Category B in 2008. International Economics and Trade, the undergraduate specialty of this discipline, was approved as Demonstration Major of Anhui Educational Reform in 2002, and was approved as the second batch of Characteristic Specialty Construction Spots in Colleges and Universities by the Ministry of Education in 2007. In 2008, the teaching team of International Trade was rated as Anhui Provincial-level Teaching Team. At present, a group of excellent teaching and research personnel has been gathered in this discipline, forming an academic team of high professional title structures, excellent educational background structures, and reasonable age structures. This academic team is a combination of the old, the middle-aged and the young scholars, and the young and the middle-aged account for the main body of the team, with 8 professors, 4 associate professors, 14 doctors and 8 doctoral students. There are some academic leaders with outstanding achievements and strong scientific research strength in this academic team, whose related research achievements are not only in a leading position in Anhui province, but also have an important influence in China.
International Trade offers degree programs which are based on Marxist Economics, and combine the related theories of modern international economics and research methods of economics with the practices of China’s foreign economic and trade development. The goal of the graduate programs is to promote the development and improvement of theoretical systems of international economics with Chinese characteristics, and to cultivate high-level special talents with widely international vision, who are developed morally, intellectually and physically to adapt to the open economic environment and international competition. Graduates of this programs will have a solid foundation of modern economic theory, systematically master the professional knowledge of international economy and international trade, can apply economic methods and advanced analytical tools to study issues in fields like international trade and international economic cooperation independently. Also, they are proficient in at least one foreign language, are well-equipped with international visions as well as strong communication skills in both Chinese and English, and thus can obtain responsible employment in specialized positions, which include government foreign trade and economic management, management of multinational corporations, international business of financial institutions, international business of large enterprises, import and export business and etc. There are four research directions in this discipline, including international trade theory and policy, China's foreign trade research, international investment and multinational corporation management, as well as international service trade.
II. Discipline Advantages
With the efforts of all teachers and students, International Trade has developed into a distinctive and advantageous discipline in a positive, rigorous, open, inclusive and orderly atmosphere, whose influence has been increasing.
a) Our discipline orientation is accurate and achievements are distinctive. According to the characteristics that International Trade covers both macro and micro aspects, four research directions have been set up, including International trade theory and policy, China's foreign trade research, international investment and multinational corporation management, as well as international service trade.
International Trade Theory and Policy mainly studies classical trade theories and their latest developments, scale economy trade theories, new economic geography and new trade theories, worldwide trade strategies and policies. Also, it applies international trade theories to analyze the related problems in China's opening-up practice.
China's Foreign Trade Research mainly studies trade and China's economic development, development strategies and related policies of China's foreign trade, regional economic integration in China, Anhui’s external trade, China’s free trade area construction, One-Belt-One-Road issues and etc.
International Investment and Multinational Corporation Management relies on the special discipline region of International Trade and Innovation-driven Economic Growth, and mainly studies international investment theories, the operation and management of transnational corporations, China's foreign investment, the growth and cultivation of Chinese transnational corporations, international competitiveness of enterprises and industries, and etc. Students thus can master professional knowledge of the management of foreign trade enterprises comprehensively and systematically.
With the economic development focus of various countries shifting to the tertiary industry, the importance of international service trade has been increasing. Outsourcing and other new trade forms are also profoundly changing the face of the world economy. International Service Trade helps students to grasp these frontier trends of international trade practice.
Based on these four research directions mentioned above, this discipline has achieved a series of high-level research achievements on many significant issues, such as technological structure of traded commodities, technological innovation and economic growth and transformation, producer services, the foreign trade and economic development in Anhui.
b) The orientation of our talent training is accurate and the talent quality is constantly improved. According to the orientation of Anhui University of Finance and Economics and the development of International Trade, cultivating high-level professionals, who are practical and internationalized, has always been regarded as our training goal. We pay attention to training students' foundation of economic theories, meanwhile, we adhere to the combination of theories with practices as well as the combination of domestic situations with international ones, when imparting professional knowledge. Many theoretical courses, such as China's Foreign Trade Research, International Trade Theory and Policy, practical courses, such as International Business Management, International Trade Operation Experiment, and bilingual courses, such as International Trade and Economic Development, Inter-term Trade Research, have been set up, adopting internationally accepted graduate teaching materials, in order to improve the internationalization level of talent training. By many training forms, such as academic lectures, thesis writing and social researches, we continuously cultivate students' innovative spirit and practical ability, and guide students to establish the concept of all-round learning and lifelong learning. As a result, the quality of graduates has been constantly improved and favored by employers.
