In not more than 500 words, please state why you wish to study in the UK and explain how you think you will benefit in terms of career and personal development once you have returned to China. Please also state how your training will benefit your organization. Please also give full details of any particular areas on which you would like to concentrate while in the UK as part of your course of study or research.

I wish to study in the UK for a number of reasons. I believe that I will benefit from such a study in terms of career and personal development. My organization will also benefit from the professional training that I will receive there.

Arguably the UK is the country with the most developed market economy and it boasts of a number of world famous scholars and researchers in the fields of finance and economics. The London Political and Economic School, for which I intend to apply, is reputed for its Finance Department, considered the best financial research institute in Europe. Receiving professional knowledge and training in such a renowned institute in such a great country is the guarantee for my future career and personal development. As is universally known, China’s accession into the WTO means closer integration into the international framework. One of the important aspects of this kind of integration will happen in the field of finance. Therefore, my study in the UK will provide me with an international perspective. Without such an international perspective for my country and for myself, it is impossible to realize any form of integration.

In the financial sector, China’s opening to foreign capital will create important challenges for the country as it does not have a mature market economy. Well-trained financial professionals are urgently needed to meet those challenges. As a student of finance, I have a strong sense of mission. My father, a government official whom I have always respected, has taught me to serve the society and humanity as a whole. I am by no means a narrow-minded person when I say I want to serve my country. I just want to contribute to China’s integration with the international community and integration by definition should be mutually beneficial.

In my future program, I would like to concentrate on the following areas: a) the latest financial theories, especially the theory of risk management; b) the application of financial theories, with a special emphasis on how to apply mature western financial theories to the particular circumstances of the developing countries like China; c) the framework and structure of Britain’s financial supervision and the legal rules and how they can be brought to bear on China’s financial sector.

I choose to focus on those areas because I have always been interested in them over my past education. My teachers have always taught us to learn from the successful experiences of the advanced countries. But more importantly, by undertaking extensive studies in those fields, I can most immediately benefit my organization, China Social Security Fund. Established in 2000, the organization has completed its infrastructure—the establishment of various departments, the organization framework, and capital market investment. As China’s sole pension fund, it plays an important role not only in terms of government functions but also in terms of the nation’s capital market. As a newly created organization, it has to work out many issues like how to invest in overseas market, how to manage the right of the state-owned stocks, and how to improve the proceeds rate of the fund. Obviously there are no precedents to follow within China itself and as China’s capital market has just started to develop, a large number of financial professionals with international experiences are needed to perform above-mentioned financial operations. Under such circumstances, to study in the UK is a necessity for me.

An examination of my education background shows that I have experienced three stages of academic pursuit—junior college, undergraduate program and postgraduate program. Now I would like to continue my academic pursuit because I want to upgrade my knowledge and further improve my expertise.

I solemnly promise that I will come back to China upon completing my program and resume my work at China National Council for Social Security Fund.