CCTV : Foreign chase Chinese dream

The vast opportunities in China's rapidly-growing economy are attracting an increasing number of young foreigners to pursue MBAs and to start businesses here in China. As Guan Xin reports, they want to be part of the world's fastest growing economy and would like to capitalize on the huge potential of the world's largest market.

Each day in Beijing, Laura comes to a children's English teaching center that she built from the ground up.  Although she was born in the UK and educated at Oxford University, it wasn't until her MBA studies here that she realized that China is where she would like to build her future.

Laura said, "I'm happy to be in China now..."

Her business partner, Premy, is from Thailand, and also came to China for the same MBA program. After meeting each other through school, they successfully sought investment for their business plan and built their own multi-million-yuan company together.

Norasedth Thienprasiddhi, Marketing Director of Leap Int'l Child Dev'l Center, said, "China has one child policy, and income is increasing..."

Just like them, many young people now come to China, believing this is the land of opportunity, a place to build the future. It's a courageous bet, but for many, it has been a bet worth making.

Laura said, "China is a good place to do an MBA, a good place to do business..."

Thienprasiddhi said, "There is huge development potential..."

For those that want to chase start-up dreams in China, MBA programs offered by local universities are undoubtedly a quick springboard for them to enter this vast emerging market. Mark, an MBA student at Peking University, is passionate about the array of business opportunities standing before him.

Mark, MBA student in Peking University, said, "There are a lot of possibilities in Chinese market..."

Professor Yao Yang, BIMBA in Peking University, said, "More and more foreign students are coming to China for MBA education especially after the financial crisis..."

Peking University's MBA program has seen foreign students increase to 40 percent of total MBA students from just 5 percent five years ago. For them, the opportunity to exchange knowledge with classmates from around the world and to gain experience in another culture is one of the MBA program's most valuable benefits.

Thienprasiddhi said, "There are a lot to gain...networking from friendships, teachers, knowledge about financing class, business plan..."

Although the opportunities are huge, there are still a lot of challenges in doing business in this dynamic market.

Professor Yao said, "The most challenging part is to understand the Chinese economic system, during the transformation from a planned economic system, to a market economy..."

Still, with all these possibilities comes a lot of pressure.  Laura says it's harder than she originally thought to bring in customers, and Premy believes the challenge is in teaming up with more local business partners.  For Mark, the dream has just begun. But nothing seems to stop the allure of opportunity in the world's most dynamic economy holding the keys to the world's largest market.