CKC Honors College offers new programs in digital finance and intelligent accounting

Chu Kochen Honors College will offer two new programs in digital finance and intelligent accounting and enroll students as of 2019, Zhejiang University announced recently.

When finance and accounting are threaded into computer science and artificial intelligence, it will tremendously facilitate the cultivation of talents with global competitiveness, introduces ZHU Zuoxiang, director of the Undergraduate Admissions Office.

The Digital Finance Program

This program aims at cultivating outstanding innovators and leaders well-equipped with their passionate love for the nation, their ability to break boundaries in the banking industry and develop novel financial products and services with state-of-the-art technology as well as their global competitiveness.

Digital finance can be defined as the application of digital technology, as represented by the Internet, big data, AI, block chain, IoT and cloud computing, to the financial industry so as to produce new financial products, services and activities.

“In addition to core courses in finance, students in this program are required to register for a wide range of computer-related courses, such as computer clouding, big data, financial engineering, artificial intelligence, block chain and digital currency,” says FANG Hongsheng, vice dean of the School of Economics. 

This program will also include English-only or bilingual courses with a view to catering to the demands for economic and financial globalization. Meanwhile, it will also offer high-division and bespoke courses with Chinese characteristics so as to cultivate students’ ability to resolve financial problems in China.

“We will strive to provide every student with the opportunity to attend an overseas exchange program in such universities as Cambridge, Oxford and UC Berkeley,” says FANG Hongsheng, “We also set up a “1+1” joint program with Columbia University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Singapore Management University. Students in this program will be given priority when choosing to pursue their master’s degree in finance in any of these three universities or at Zhejiang University.”

Moreover, this program will also incorporate a customized internship scheme for every student. As a trend-setter in financial innovation, Hangzhou is a magnet for many innovators who have led the development of financial technology, block chain, deep learning and AI in recent years. Privately-owned enterprises in Zhejiang Province are the driving force for innovation in financial markets. 

This unique financial ecology will offer cutting-edge platforms for students. While continuing to enhance cooperation with such financial institutions as Dalian Commodity Exchange, Shanghai Stock Exchange and HKEX Group, we will endeavor to cement ties with top-notch financial enterprises so as to make a bespoke internship plan for each and every student to promote their abilities to apply theory to practice.

The Intelligent Accounting Program

This program aims at cultivating exceptional innovators, entrepreneurs and commercial leaders with humanistic spirits and scientific insights, abundant knowledge about business rules and management theories, remarkable analytical and innovative capabilities, outstanding abilities to perceive, guide and achieve intelligent accounting as well as global competitiveness.

“With the groundbreaking advances of AI technology, financial management is facing new opportunities and challenges. There are new algorithms, models and tools for a wide spectrum of financial activities, say, capital management, financial prediction, capital operation, financial risk management, merger & acquisition, and cost management,” says WANG Lei, vice dean of the School of Management, “Intelligent accounting renders it essential for financial experts, financial analysts, fund-raising experts and capital management experts to alter their mindsets constantly, expand their knowledge, acquire relevant skills in data mining and application, gain relevant abilities to develop and utilize AI, build a cross-border collaborative knowledge system and assist enterprises and financial institutions in creating values.” At present, China is in dire need of top-notch talents in the domain of intelligent accounting.

The curriculum of the intelligent accounting program will fuse corporate finance, AI and big data. The program will not only offer such general education courses as Management, Micro Economics, Advanced Mathematics and Computer and Internet Technology, but it will also offer finance-related core courses, including Accounting, Investment, International Accounting Management and Merger & Acquisition, as well as computer-related courses, including Introduction to AI, Theory and Application of Deep Learning, Principles and Technology of Smart Robots, Data Programming and Data Management and Mining. “Students are also encouraged to do their minor in computer science and mathematics,” says WANG Lei.

This program is expected to highlight the defining features of the accounting major at ZJU—embracing innovation, targeting the market and going global. Students in this program will have the chance to participate in various exchange programs and sign up for lectures and courses delivered by world-renowned professors. 

“I am firmly convinced that students in this program will be equipped with lifelong learning faculties and technology development abilities. They will definitely be able to live in tune with social progress, industrial development and technological innovation and adapt to intelligent and globalized accounting in the future,” adds WANG Lei. She is also very optimistic about students’ future after their graduation. “They can either pursue studies in world-class business schools or embark on their career in top financial institutions or enterprises,” remarks WANG Lei.