The Faculty of Business (FB) at City University of Hong Kong (CityU) has started the Chinese New Year with an outstanding piece of good news: official accreditation by the European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS).

International recognition of this stature is cause for celebration. CityU is now one of only two premier business schools in the Greater China area accredited by both EQUIS and the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), the highly-regarded not-for-profit corporations devoted to the promotion and improvement of higher education in business administration and management.

CityU gained AACSB accreditation in January 2005, and was given EQUIS status on 27 February 2007, which in itself is a special milestone because CityU is the 100th leading school so accredited.

“This is a very deep honour for the Faculty and the University,” said Professor Matthew Lee Kwok-on, Acting Dean of the Faculty of Business. “EQUIS accreditation means CityU’s Faculty of Business now ranks alongside fellow EQUIS-accredited institutions such as INSEAD, IMD, Richard Ivey School of Business and London Business School. We are now recognized as one of the world’s leading business schools.”

To gain EQUIS accreditation, institutions must demonstrate a very high standard of quality and a high degree of internationalization and professional relevance.

“The Faculty of Business has worked very hard over the years to establish our programmes as world-class and this latest honour is a tremendous reward for everyone’s hard work,” said Professor Chris Wagner, Chairman of the EQUIS Accreditation Committee in the Faculty. “We want to express our thanks to all our staff, students, alumni and advisors for all their contributions that have helped us gain this remarkable accolade,” he added.

EQUIS was created in 1997 by the European Foundation for Management Development to develop an international accreditation system for business schools trying to make an impact beyond their domestic frontiers.