Liedya Kristina dari Indonesia: belajar bisnis dalam bahasa Mandarin di Beijing Normal

How she chose the university

As her secondary schooling ended, Liedya Kristina wanted to continue Chinese to a higher level while building professional competence in business. She researched study-abroad options online and joined an online information session run by Beijing Normal University's business school.

On that call the staff presented the curriculum and the support offered to international students, and when she asked about choosing a specialisation they explained the difference between international economics and trade and business administration, and encouraged her to pick the broader route based on her career aims. That exchange is what settled her application, and it is a reminder that information sessions and admissions offices answer questions that no brochure does.

Taking the harder language option

She entered a fully Chinese-taught programme rather than an English-taught one. Her account of the first period is candid: adapting to Chinese-medium instruction took real effort, especially while also managing an unfamiliar academic culture.

The trade-off is visible in the outcome. Graduating from a Chinese-taught programme means the language is not a separate certificate sitting alongside the degree — it is part of the qualification. For graduates who want to work across China and Southeast Asia in trade, that combination is the point.

The wider experience

Alongside her coursework she joined the Indonesian student association and worked on cultural exchange between Indonesia and China — the kind of activity that appears in nearly every account of a well-used Chinese degree, and which matters both for the annual scholarship review and for the network graduates end up relying on.

For applicants of Chinese heritage in Southeast Asia, her case is a useful reference point: family connection to the language is an advantage, but it does not remove the requirement to pass the preparatory and annual academic reviews that all scholarship holders face.