Modern Languages for Business Management with Chinese

Chinese is now one of the most strategically important languages in global business, and combining it with broader modern languages for business management gives you a distinctive set of skills that relatively few graduates in the UK market can offer. This degree at Heriot-Watt University takes language learning seriously as a professional and intellectual endeavour, developing your Chinese to a high level while also giving you the business management knowledge you need to operate effectively in international commercial settings.

This four-year full-time programme includes a sandwich placement year, a year abroad and a work placement, meaning you will spend substantial time in both professional and international environments before you graduate. The language component develops your reading, writing, speaking and listening in Chinese across business and professional contexts, while the management curriculum covers topics including international trade, marketing, finance, strategy, organisational behaviour and cross-cultural management. You will develop a sophisticated understanding of how Chinese-speaking markets work, how businesses operate across cultural boundaries and what it takes to communicate effectively in multilingual professional environments.

The career opportunities for graduates who combine serious Chinese language ability with business management expertise are considerable. Multinational companies operating in or with China, international trade organisations, financial services firms, government departments working on trade and foreign policy, and a wide range of professional services firms all value this combination. The placement experience and international exposure built into the programme make graduates particularly attractive to employers who need people who can operate from day one in complex international environments.

Postgraduate study in international business, management, Chinese studies or translation is also a natural pathway.