The leaders of the Global Business Journalism Program at the Tsinghua School of Journalism and Communication met on Feb. 16 with four executives of UBS, a prominent international banking firm that is rapidly expanding in China.

The participants discussed ways to improve business journalism in China and global understanding of the Chinese economy and China’s growing role in international economic affairs. Also participating in the discussions was John Liu, Greater China Managing Editor for Bloomberg News.

Visiting the Omnicom Building were UBS executives Eugene Qian, China Country Head and President of UBS Group China, based in Shanghai; Johan Jervoe, UBS Global Group Chief Marketing Officer, based in Zurich, Switzerland; Rob Stewart, Chief Communications Officer Asia Pacific for UBS, based in Hong Kong; and Joanna Sin, UBS Head of Corporate Communication China, based in Shanghai.

Representing the Global Business Journalism Program were Dr. Shi Anbin, Associate Dean of International Development and Professor of Media and Cultural Studies, Dr. Hang Min, Co-Director of the Global Business Journalism Program and Associate Professor for Media Management and Economics, and Visiting Professor Rick Dunham, Co-Director of the Global Business Journalism Program and a Visiting Professor of Multimedia Business Reporting and Data Journalism.

The Global Business Journalism Program, launched in 2007 in partnership with the International Center for Journalists, is the first and most prestigious English-language business journalism master’s program on the Chinese mainland. A total of 364 students from China and 58 countries around the world have taken part in the trailblazing program in its first nine years. GBJ alumni have been hired by top Chinese news outlets such as Xinhua News Agency, CCTV, People’s Daily, China Daily and China Radio International, as well as by top international agencies such as Bloomberg News and Reuters.

Bloomberg is one of the founding partners of the program and has hired GBJ students and graduates for internships and full-time jobs. Lee Miller, a Bloomberg News Editor-at-Large and Chart-of-the-Day Columnist, is a longtime professor in the program and has become one of Tsinghua’s most-popular scholars. He also directs the ongoing Bloomberg Lecture Series and helps to organize the GBJ alumni network.

ICFJ is a world leader in journalism training, education and innovation. The Washington-based center has trained more than 80,000 journalists, journalism students and media managers from more than 180 countries and has expertise in innovation, technology and cross-culture communication.

China is one of the most important markets for UBS globally. The Zurich-based financial companyis one of the earliest international investors in China and in 2006 became the first foreign firm allowed to invest directly into a fully licensed Chinese securities business.

UBS Group AG Chief Executive Officer Sergio Ermotti told Bloomberg News in January that UBS will double its current staff of 600 people in China over the next five years.Its Chinese operations includewealth management, investment banking, equities, fixed income and asset management.

“China is a great opportunity like it has been for the last 20 years,” Ermotti said in a January interview with Bloomberg Television in Shanghai. While he called the global economy “challenging,” he added that challenging times “are also the good times to plan for the future, and that’s the reason why we are starting to implement our strategic plan.”