PERSONAL STATEMENT

A graduate from a management program who has worked in sales and promotion for four years, I now would like to pick up my academic career as an economist. By so doing, I hope that I can eventually play a leadership role in China’s ongoing economic reforms.

I did my undergraduate studies at the Beijing-based Northern University, one of the country’s top institutions of higher learning. I entered into this university in 1990 on the strength of my performance in the National University Entrance Examinations, held once every year to screen high school graduates for post-secondary education. My scores in these exams were so great that they constituted the highest total in my county, which made me something of a celebrity in my whole province.

With my education at the Northern, I was solidly grounded in the fundamentals. Studying industriously, I had an overall GPA of 3.3, the fifth highest in our department. My GPA in the courses of my major was even higher, standing at 3.7. I was granted the “Excellent Studies Prize” in 1991 and the “Outstanding Undergraduate Student Scholarship” by the Dept. Of Management in 1992 and 1993.

I did not limit myself to academic studies at the university. Campus life was colorful, an I made full use of all the opportunities to enrich myself. As a freshman, I worked for the Information Department of the university’s Student Union. My performance was such that I was appointed the head of the department for a term of two years between 1991 and 1993. The position gave me a platform from which I founded two periodicals, the “Management Brief” and the “Future Entrepreneur”. In these periodicals, I wrote profusely about topics relating to the economic reforms and general business management. To fund these publications, I led a group of students in offering computer training programs to the unskilled, which was unique on our campus then. All this not only enriched my student life but also helped me to improve my ability in many ways. One of the benefits is that I became an effective writer. In a 1992 composition contest, I was awarded the first-class prize for my essay.

Thanks to my reputation as both a distinguished student and a student organizer, I was offered a job at the university in 1994 after obtaining my bachelor’s degree. I first worked at the Sales Department, responsible for product sales and advertisements. Now , I am the director’s assistant, responsible for wage management, bonus management, drafting regulation and so on. Four years of working experience has taught me how to put textbook skills and knowledge into practice. All the while, I have been improving my academic qualifications. I now wish to study abroad to further my academic career.

Knowing that computers are essential for doing sophisticated research, I made special efforts in mastering computer technologies. I trained myself in a host of programming languages, including the BASIC, Pascal and FoxBASE. Using my programming skills, I have designed a “Personnel Management Information System” and a “Sales Management Information System”, which have markedly improved efficiency in my office. Building on the computer skills I learned as a student, I have in recent years made myself versed in FoxPro, Access, and Visual Basic. Mow I am planning to design a comprehensive management system for my institute to improve management efficiency.

Taking part in various academic activities to hone my ability to do research is an indispensable part of my strategy to improve myself. In the past four years, I have taken part in a number of research projects, including the “External Economics for Research and Technology (R&E) Development” project at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the “International Business Management Bibliography” at the Tsinghua University and the “Washing Machine and Refrigerator Market Research” project for the International Consulting Ltd. The more I take part in these activities, the more I feel I need to study further.

My interest in economics was first ignited in my undergraduate years, when I was listening to a lecture “Planned Economy ad Market Economy” by the preeminent Chinese economist Li Yining ,a professor of the Beijing University, a few blocks away from my university. The thinking he displayed in that lecture on the Chinese economy was so sharp and intriguing that I have focused my academic interest on economics ever since. To pursue my this interest, I took a number of economics-related courses, such as Political Economics, Industrial Economics, Technological Economics, Management Economics, Economic Law, Marketing and Market Research Finance. I also took the care to train myself in mathematics fundamentals, such as Liner Algebra, Probability and Statistics, Industrial Statistics. Books like “Western Economics” and “Comparative Economics” have been my favorite reading materials. By taking these courses, I learned new economic concepts and theories, and thus broadened my perspectives and sharpened my insights.

New perspectives and insights are what China needs as it continues its reforms and modernization drive. Unlike developed countries in the West, which have practiced market economics for several hundred years, Chin has been trying to adopt market principles for only twenty years. The problems waiting to be solved are so many and so complex that even the bravest of the brightest can feel daunted. As the country tries to restructure and rejuvenate its larger, state-owned enterprises, a host of challenges, not the least of which are financial crisis, unemployment, inflation and so on, are rattling the nation. Nobody seems to be sure what China will face a few years down the road. Can China keep growing? Or will it suffer irreversible setbacks? On top its domestic problems, how will China cope with the international competition?

To help answer these questions, I need to further refine my expertise in economics. I hope to become one of the country’s own economists armed with a sophisticated understanding of both the complex reality in China and the general market principles and theories that apply throughout the world, like it or mot. Your institution, with a highly qualified faculty, is the university I have long admired. I am confident that, under your seasoned guidance, I can give full play to my potential and realize my career goal.