On May 18, an agreement was signed between China Southern Airlines and Tsinghua SEM on EMBA development. According to the agreement, in the next three years, China Southern Airlines will send one hundred qualified senior managers to attend Tsinghua SEM's EMBA program.

Dean He of Tsinghua SEM welcomed the incoming students from China Southern Airlines and he promised, "Tsinghua EMBA program will utilize all of its current faculty resources, alumni network and international cooperation to provide the highest quality management education to senior managers in China Southern Airlines."

Mr. Liu Shaoyong, Board Chairman of China Southern Airlines addressed at the signing ceremony, "Proud I stand here today as a former EMBA student in Tsinghua!” He emphasized that China Southern Airlines, as a large civil aviation corporation, is challenged technologically and managerially, and human resources serve as the corporation’s most precious resources. The reason why China Southern Airlines chooses Tsinghua as their strategic partner is because of Tsingua SEM's unique combination of global aspiration and local understanding. Previous two years' campus life in Tsinghua benefited him tremendously in all terms and he wished more senior managers in his cooperation could benefit from as well as applying what they learn in Tsinghua to their leadership successes in the future.

This cooperation is the first and the largest corporate-level cooperative manager development program between higher education institutions and large corporations. Chinese EMBA student is a epitome of a unique social class in China. The opportunities and challenges derived from the opening and reform of Chinese economy require Chinese enterprisers to reflect on their managerial skills and experiences. Their desire for advanced management education is so perceivable and pressing that Chinese EMBA program should shoulder this responsibility to promote the diffusion of advanced management knowledge and practices.