Audencia’s Shenzhen campus gets a new name as the school launches three new programmes

Shenzhen Audencia Business School has been renamed Shenzhen Audencia Financial Technology Institute (SAFTI) and is now recognised by the Chinese Ministry of Education as a Sino-French institution. Its new name better illustrates the expertise taught and the hybrid themes of the three new Bachelors of Science that will be offered from September.

Created in 2016 in partnership with Shenzhen University, Audencia’s campus in the city nicknamed China’s Silicon Valley has reached an important stage in its development. Recognised as a Sino-French institution by the Chinese Ministry of Education, it has just been awarded an accreditation for three new programmes and adopted a new name to become Shenzhen Audencia Financial Technology Institute (SAFTI).

Three Bachelors of Science (rather than Bachelors in Management, which are more adapted to the Western market) will welcome their first students from the beginning of the 2022 academic year to train them for jobs in promising sectors:

• BSc Big Data Management and Applications
• BSc Blockchain and Information Systems
• BSc Financial Technology

These three new programmes, as well as the Master of Science in Financial Technology & Risk Control offered since 2020 on campus, have all received the Chinese accreditation. 

The programmes recognised by the Ministry of Education can recruit after the Gaokao (the equivalent of the French baccalauréat). Audencia is targeting a minimum enrolment of 260 students in its three new programmes, i.e., 1,040 students within four years, in addition to students in the MSc programme. This growth in Audencia’s activities in China is in line with the objectives of its ECOS strategic plan, which aims to have a total of 2,300 students abroad by 2025, including its activities in Africa and South America.

For Desi Schmitt, Director of International Affairs at Audencia: “This is a great achievement for our school, the result of a real collective effort. Behind these four accreditations (including the MSc Fintech) and the recognition of our school’s status, the stakes are very high. First, this announcement confirms the lasting and official cooperation between Audencia and Shenzhen University for an ever more stable and bright future. Second, and most importantly, these recognitions are a significant guarantee for recruitment, as our legitimacy and credibility are officially valued, and will also have a positive impact on Audencia’s international ranking criteria. Finally, this recognition will facilitate the launch of still more new programmes within SAFTI, based on the CSR expertise of our faculty.”