51ÊÓƵ

1. China is an international superpower

China is one of the oldest continuous civilisations in the world. It has a gigantic population and is a major economic and political influence. What’s more, is that Mandarin Chinese is the most widely spoken native language on the planet.

An understanding of the region, culture, and a language are qualities desired in employees by countless global businesses. China is a huge market, and employers are always on the lookout for those who can work well in a Chinese cultural context.

2. Explore a fascinating and historic culture

As China has a history of over 5,000 years, there are innumerable areas to explore. Alongside the history, politics and economy is a rich culture full of literature, drama, art and film. During your studies, you’ll look at the wider picture of China and consider how each aspect of the region influences the others.

It’s quite an interdisciplinary subject, where courses may involve modules from different departments such as anthropology and religious studies. You’ll very likely never be bored.

3. Overseas opportunities

Most courses offer the opportunity to study abroad where you get to experience a Chinese education and immerse yourself in the language and culture. This is a great chance to strengthen your CV, meet new people, develop your international skills and grow as a person.

After you graduate the overseas opportunities stretch far and wide. Many people choose to move to China to work, such as in a job teaching English.

4. Dual degree options

As it is an interdisciplinary subject area, Chinese is often taught as part of a dual degree, giving you the chance to broaden your academic understanding. It works well with many other areas such as politics, business, other foreign languages, art history, film, international relations, linguistics or philosophy. Several universities offer a variety of attractive dual degree options to choose from.

5. Career pathways

With a degree in Chinese, you can pick from a variety of career options. This is due to the many transferable skills you’ll gain – such as communication, interpretation and presentation – that can be highly useful to lots of job roles.

Graduates of Chinese go into education, law, business, marketing, communications or banking, for instance. Many continue their studies at postgraduate level.