Аксель Нильссон из Швеции: магистерская диссертация в Шанхайском университете Цзяо Тун

The academic side

Axel wrote his master's thesis at Shanghai Jiao Tong University during the spring semester of 2025 with the support of a scholarship funded through the Swedish School in Beijing. His topic was heterogeneous stock market reactions following China's carbon neutrality commitment, supervised by a faculty member at Antai College of Economics and Management.

He describes the practical advantage of being there: direct supervision, the university's academic resources, and access to Chinese market data that would have been difficult to obtain from Sweden.

Beyond the thesis

He travelled to Suzhou, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Wuhan and Nanchang, and describes a memorable episode in Moganshan where he and friends stumbled on a wedding celebration and were invited to join it — which he offers as an illustration of Chinese hospitality, noting that language barriers did not prevent shared food, drinks and laughter.

His own conclusion is that speaking even a little Mandarin "goes a long way" in connecting with people, and that this has motivated him to keep studying the language.

What he took from it

He describes the exchange as helping him grow academically, socially and personally, and credits the scholarship with removing financial pressure so he could focus on the research and on the wider experience. He is now continuing internationally, based in Shanghai and beyond.