Undergraduate Program: English (for Finance and Economics)

I. Program Overview

Guided byXiJinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, the programimplement the new-era initiative to cultivate morally grounded professionals. By advancing the approach of“nurturing everyone during the entire process and in all aspects”and promoting“the Integration of Moral, Intellectual,Physical, Aesthetic and Labor Education”, it enhances self-directed talent development to foster exceptional innovators. In addition, the program aims to cultivate globally competitive, versatile professionals with applied expertisewho possess a solid foundation in English language and culture, broad knowledge of finance and economics, proficient translation skills, cross-cultural business communication abilities, a strong sense of national mission and social responsibility, international perspectives, innovative spirit, and practical competence.

In 2002, with the approval of the Ministry of Education, Central University of Finance and Economics established theDepartment of ForeignStudies, which launchedthe English Major with a Finance and Economics focusand admittedundergraduates nationwide. In December 2006, the School of Foreign Languages was builtupon the foundations of of the former department, concurrently giving rise to the Department of English. In 2018, again with the Ministry of Education’s approval, the School attained first-tier discipline authorization to confer Master’s degrees in Foreign Languages and Literatures. Through over over a decade of development, the Department of English hasdeveloped an integrated teaching and research framework that synergizes English Language and Literature with Economics and Management disciplines. The Department was designated a Beijing First-Class Undergraduate Program in 2022.

Leveraging the university’s strength in finance, the Department of Englishbuildsan “English+FinanceandEconomics” interdisciplinary model for cultivating versatile professionals. Building upon the core curriculum of the English discipline and reinforced by the University’s specialized Finance and Economics curricula, this framework develops interdisciplinary programs to produce composite talent.

The graduates enjoy broad prospects for further studies in fields like linguistics, economics, and management, with employment rates consistently leading the university. Alumni excel in financial institutions, accounting firms, media, and foreign affairs offices of enterprises.

II. Educational Objectives

The program regards moral education as its fundamental responsibility and nurtures talent through the“Four Services”framework (serving the institutions of the CPC Central Committee, the Central Government, and the Central Military Commission; facilitating national-level international exchanges; advancing science, technology and education development; and improving people’s livelihoods) and the Integration of Moral, Intellectual, Physical, Aesthetic, and Labor Education. It cultivates elite language service professionals with profound patriotism, exceptional expertise in financial English, and the capacity to advancenew-quality productive forcesin the digital era. Graduates will excel in language-related roles—particularly within finance and economics contexts—across management, international business, multinational corporations, government foreign affairs, and educationalandresearch institutions.

The program’s graduate objectives are:

1.Cultivate students with firm consciousness and capability to fulfill the“Four Commitments”—serving the people, serving the governance of the Communist Party of China, serving the consolidation and development of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics, and serving reformandopeningup, andthesocialist modernizationdrive. Simultaneously, students shall demonstrate sound ideological and political cultivation, diligence and resilience, profound patriotism and correct values, robust psychological constitution, well-rounded humanistic literacy, and a strong sense of social responsibility.

2.Students will develop solid English language proficiency, robust comprehensive application skills, and strong academic literacy. English language competence constitutes the core professional competitiveness of the majors. They must possess a firm command of English, demonstrating adeptness in listening, speaking, reading, writing, and translation across communicative contexts. Furthermore, students will cultivate advanced academic literacy to conduct specialized research and academic exchanges in English..

3.Students will develop strong cross-cultural communication competence and an international perspective. Amid globalization, these capabilities are particularly vital. Graduates should possess deep understanding of BritishandAmerican cultures, Chinese culture, BritishandAmerican literature, and related domains, demonstrating acute sensitivity to cultural differences and adaptability in navigating communication challenges across diverse cultural contexts.

4.Students will acquire substantial knowledge in finance and economics, along with proficient command and application skills for financial literature. Such expertise constitutes an indispensable component of our interdisciplinary talent development model. Students should command foundational knowledge in disciplines including Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, Accounting, and Management Science, understand economic landscapes and characteristics of majorcountries and regionsglobally, and demonstrate familiarity with international financial operations and accounting practices.

5.Students will develop foundational computer literacy and proficient operational skills, including the capability to retrieve literature, mine data, and acquireandprocess information using modern information technology. They must command essential computer operations, demonstrate adeptness with specialized software and basic AI tools, and effectively manage daily digital tasks. Additionally, students will cultivate foundational capabilities to sustain learning of evolving digital and artificial intelligence technologies, ensuring adaptability to emerging technological advancements.

III. Graduate Requirements

1.Knowledge Competencies

Financial English specialists must command professional foundational knowledge, technical knowledge, specialized knowledge, as well as innovationandentrepreneurship and career development knowledge, ensuring a solid career foundation with broad prospects. Simultaneously, they should thoroughly master core professional knowledge in finance-related fields such as public finance and banking, highlighting the“foreign language plus finance”distinctive feature to gain unique advantages for future career development. Furthermore, they need to understand fundamental knowledge in philosophy, history, pedagogy, law, sociology, political science, journalism and communication studies, which fosters interdisciplinary perspectives and thinking modes, enhances comprehensive competencies, and enables effectiveness in international communication.

1.1Foundational Knowledge

Financial English specialists shall possess solid English language skills, mastering basic theories and foundational knowledge in English linguistics, literature, translation, Anglophone socio-culture, cross-cultural communication, and financial English communication. Concurrently, they should have fundamental knowledge and application capabilities in economics, finance, and related fields, enabling flexible problem-solving with such knowledge to fully embody the“foreign language plus financeandEconomics”specialty. Additionally, they must comprehend foundational knowledge in humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences relevant to the discipline, facilitating the formation of an interdisciplinary knowledgestructures.

1.2Technical Knowledge

Financial English specialists should possess knowledge of utilizing essential computer application software—including but not limited to office suites, image processing software, and statistical analysis tools—to efficiently accomplish daily tasks and academic work. Moreover, they must master the application of modern information technology for professional literature retrieval, data collection, and information processing to enhance work efficiency and accuracy. Furthermore, with the rapid advancement of AI technology, language specialists need to understand and familiarize themselves with AI-assisted language translation, linguistic analysis, and language usage knowledge, achieving AI empowerment to better address language processing challenges while improving work efficiency and quality.

1.3Specialized Knowledge

For the literature concentration:Financial English specialists must master fundamental theories and analytical methods of literary research, including basic literary theories, author-and-work studies, literary history, and demonstrate profound reading comprehension of representative poetry, drama, fiction, and prose. They should also ground themselves in Chinese culture while embracing global development, possessing deep understanding of Chinese and international societies, politics, economies, histories, and cultures. Additionally, they need interdisciplinary knowledge systems and methodologies to comprehensively utilize relevant disciplinary knowledge for enriching literary perspectives and enhancing research depth.

For the linguistics concentration,Financial English specialists shall master fundamental linguistic theories, core concepts, and research methods—including phonetics, lexicology, syntax, semantics, discourse analysis, pragmatics, stylistics, and language history. They must possess basic capabilities in qualitativeandquantitative analysis and computer-aided analysis, mastering research methodologies to analyze real-world language phenomena and guide language usage, along withinnovation competence and practical skills.

1.4InnovationandEntrepreneurship and Career Development Knowledge

Regarding innovation knowledge,Financial English specialists should

understand innovation/entrepreneurship and career development principles, possess core innovative thinking and methodologies, and master fundamental innovation approaches and tools.

Regarding entrepreneurship knowledge: Financial English specialists must have basic competencies in career planning, professional skill enhancement, and career mindset adjustment, along with knowledge for continuously advancing their professional competitiveness.

2.Competency Requirements

2.1General Competencies

Financial English specialists shall possess high humanistic literacy and strong critical thinking abilities, demonstrating clear logic, well-defined viewpoints, and appropriate expression. They must excel in communication within foreign language, economic, or business contexts, exhibiting quantitative reasoning, decision-making and execution capabilities, teamwork, leadership, and managerial coordination. Additionally, they require proactive knowledge acquisition and analytical assimilation skills.

2.2Professional Technical Competencies

Financial English specialists should have solid mastery of disciplinary fundamentals and specialized knowledge, understand Chinese-Western cultural differences.They should possess superior bilingual proficiency in Chinese and English alongside cross-cultural communication competence, while demonstrating expertise in applyingfinancial and economic knowledge.

2.3Practical and Innovative Competencies

Financial English specialistsshoulddevelop an innovative mindset, entrepreneurial awareness, and capabilities for innovation and entrepreneurship. Equipped with professional acumen, they must discern industry trends within language services (including translation) and finance-related sectors, demonstrating the initiative and adeptness to innovate proactively in highly competitive domestic and global markets.

2.4Career Development and Social Competencies

Financial English specialists need capabilities in career cognition, information gathering, occupation selection, self-analysis, career decision-making, and career path design. They shall maintain career planning consciousness with clear self-awareness of interests and professional orientation. Essential social competencies include organizational coordination, teamwork, innovative thinking, social interaction skills, operational competence, interpersonal abilities for societal harmony and development, adherence to ethical norms for social adaptation, and high social responsibility.

3.Quality Requirements

3.1Ideological and Ethical Qualities

Financial English specialistsshould learnMarxism,Mao Zedong Thought,DengXiaoping Theory, the Theory of Three Represents,the Scientific Outlook onDevelopmentand XiJinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. In addition, theyshall comply with the Constitution, laws, and regulations; observe civic ethical norms and theCode of Conduct for Higher Education Students; adhere to institutional management systems; possess sound moral character and civilized habits; and demonstrate the ability to uphold public morality, adhere to personal integrity, and strictly maintain private virtue.

3.2Physical and Mental Qualities

Financial English specialists must maintain physical health, sound psychological

disposition, strong self-control and self-regulation capabilities, and remain optimistic and steadfastinadversity.

3.3Scientific and Cultural Qualities

Financial English specialists should possess solid scientific knowledge and literacy, revere the scientific spirit, and pursue truth and wisdom. Additionally, they require advanced literaryandartistic cultivation and aesthetic appreciation abilities to both appreciate and create beauty. While understanding traditional Chinese culture, they must demonstrate global perspectives to undertake cross-cultural communication and exhibit profound patriotism.

3.4Professional Qualities

Financial English specialists need robust professional literacy and fundamental disciplinary competence, equipped with rational and comprehensive interdisciplinary knowledge structures to address diverse professional challenges. Furthermore, they emphasize teamwork with collaborative awareness and spirit. Simultaneously, they embrace proactive innovation to continuously explore new domains and methodologies.

IV. Major Disciplines and Core Courses

Module 1:Core Language, Literature, and Culture Courses for Foreign Language Majors.

Major Foundation Courses:English Listening, English Listening-Based Interpreting, English Oral Communication, Analytical Reading, Basic English Writing, Understanding Contemporary China.

CoreMajorCourses:English Public Speaking, English Audio-Visualand Speaking Course, English-Chinese TranslationandInterpreting, Academic Thesis Writing, Cross-Cultural Business Communication, Introduction to Chinese Culture, Second Foreign Language, Introduction to Linguistics, Introduction to Literature, British Literature, American Literature, Academic Paper Writing.

AdvancedMajorCourses:English Phonetics, English Debate, Contrastive Linguistics and Translation between English and Chinese, Translation Theory, Linguistics and Translation, British and American Culture, Selected ReadingsofBritish and American Fiction, European and American Drama, Western Classical Culture, Selected ReadingsofFinancial and Economic Press, Selected ReadingsofEconomic Classics.

Module 2: Specialized Courses with Finance and Economics Focus

Major Elective Courses:General Economic Law, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Econometrics, Introduction to Finance, Introduction to Management, Accounting, Statistics.

V. Academic Duration, Degree, and Graduation Requirements

Academic Duration:The standard duration of study is 4 years, with a maximum limit of 6 years.

Degree Awarded:Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) Degree.

VI. Key LaboratoryandPractical Teaching Requirements

Practical teaching encompasses various forms, including health and safety education, labor practice, innovation and entrepreneurship practice, graduation internship, and graduation thesis/project.

The practical teaching component aims to foster students’all-round development and primarily includes professional internships, innovation and entrepreneurship practice, social practice, and international exchange. Professional internships are designed to cultivate students’ability to apply professional knowledge and skills to solve practical problems. Innovation and entrepreneurship practice aims to develop students’problem-solving abilities and innovationandentrepreneurship skills through activities such as subject competitions, study interest groups, academic societies, and innovationandstartup projects. Social practice helps students understand social and national conditions while enhancing their sense of social responsibility through activities including social surveys, volunteer services, public welfare activities, work-study programs, and volunteer teaching. International exchange seeks to broaden students’international perspectives and enhance cross-cultural competencies through diverse programs such as summer international camps and short-term study abroad, facilitated through the university’s overseas study programs.