SHENZHEN, China, Jan. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Master of Economics program at Peking University HSBC Business School (PHBS) was recently reaccredited for the five-year period of EPAS accreditation under the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) accreditation system.

Founded in 1971, the mission of EFMD is to advance the development of management and business programs worldwide. Its EFMD program accreditation is recognized as the leading international system of quality assessment, improvement and accreditation of business programs. An accredited institution must enter a process of re-accreditation every three or five years to maintain its accredited status.

Located in Shenzhen, China's first Special Economic Zone, PHBS is poised to leverage its strength in the Pearl River Delta, making it an ideal setting for studying advanced topics in finance, economics, and management – where coursework for its master's programs is conducted in English. PHBS faculty members have published papers in top-tier international academic journals, and the school opened its UK Campus in 2018.Further, PHBS has established several high-level think tanks, for example, the Sargent Institute of Quantitative Economics and Finance headed by Nobel laureate in economics Thomas J. Sargent.

Highly commending the school's teaching quality, academic development, and internationalization, EFMD accepted PHBS as an official member in December 2009 and conferred EPAS accreditation on its Master of Economics program in September 2011, making PHBS the first EPAS-accredited higher education institution on mainland China.

This past September, the EFMD Peer Review Team conducted an online review during which they met via Zoom with the school's deans, management team, economics program faculty members, staff members, students, alumni, and company representatives. The re-accreditation review covered the PHBS's teaching quality, academic assessment, student development, internationalization, graduate placement, and IT resources, among other topics.

University accreditation is important, serving as a quality indicator for prospective students and employers. Holding multiple accreditations, then, speaks volumes about a school's standards and practices. In addition to EFMD, PHBS holds AACSB and AACSB accreditations, granted by the two most influential business school accreditation organizations, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) and the Association of MBAs (AMBA). AMBA accredits the MBA portfolio within a business school, while AACSB grants university-wide accreditation, the hallmark of excellence in business education worldwide.