On May 8th, the Meeting for Young Innovation Leaders with External Mentors for the 2024-2025 academic year kicked off as scheduled in School of Management, JINAN UNIVERSITY. Leaders from the school, an expert mentor team from PwC's Audit Division, and students from the class of 2022 and 2023 gathered to mark this key moment of industry-education collaboration in talent development.

In his speech, Wenjing LI, Dean of School of Management emphasized, "In the VUCA era, the core mission of business education is to bridge the gap between academic theory and real-world business practice." He noted that the Young Innovation Leaders Program, by integrating real corporate cases and establishing a dual-mentorship system, is equipping students with strategic thinking and data-driven decision-making skills—providing a critical pathway for nurturing interdisciplinary talent.

Associate Dean Jun QI reflected on the program's evolution: Since the launch of the "Future Excellence" Financial Elite Cultivation Program by the Accounting Department in 2017, the initiative has expanded into a three-dimensional training model encompassing "curriculum empowerment, practical simulation, and career navigation." With guidance from PwC's audit experts, modern business tools such as ESG evaluation frameworks have been integrated into teaching, enhancing students' practical capabilities. Upgraded to the Young Innovation Leaders Program in 2022, it has fostered a cohort of elite talent on par with top domestic business schools.

Junjun CHEN, Partner at PwC's Audit Division, attended alongside Senior Managers Runwen YE, Yuru LIU, and Luyi LI, forming a business advisory team. Jun QI presented appointment letters to the mentors on-site. Junjun CHEN highlighted the outstanding performance of previous students, stating, "Students have demonstrated exceptional financial report analysis skills and compliance awareness, showcasing strong professional competence. We look forward to co-creating more remarkable moments in business practice with the new class."

Subsequently, Junjun CHEN presented awards to the class of 2022 "Practice Stars" in recognition of their outstanding contributions to corporate consulting projects. Jun QI conferred the title of "Academic Elite" on the class of 2022, acknowledging their academic research achievements.

Next, class of 2022 students showcased their research reports in groups, with the mentor team offering professional guidance on the logical rigor of research design, industry representativeness of data collection, and innovative dimensions of methodologies.

During the open discussion session, class of 2023 students engaged in in-depth conversations with mentors on topics like "Audit Transformation in Digital Transformation," while class of 2022 seniors shared experiences in building frameworks for business case analysis.

Written: Guitong CHEN

Edited: Weiyuan HUANG

Proofread: Jiecong LI, Qiulian GAN

First Review: Di LONG

Second Review: Jun QI