Awards success continues for King's Careers & Employability at UK-China Business Awards
King's claims Graduate Initiative of the Year at inaugural UK-China Business Awards for work supporting Chinese students.
King's Careers & Employability has won 'Graduate Initiative of the Year' at the inaugural UK-China Business Awards, hosted by the China-Britain Business Council.
Topping off a season of awards success for the department, who were also named HE Careers & Employability Team of the Year at this year's targetjobs National Emerging Talent Awards in April, and saw a record 11 finalists for the targetjobs Undergraduate of the Year, the 'Graduate Employability Initiative of the Year' Award recognises a university or organisation which has demonstrated exceptional commitment to preparing Chinese graduates for successful, meaningful careers.
Recognising the need to support students in an increasingly competitive graduate job market, this award celebrates institutions which have gone the extra mile to support student employability skills, expanding access to opportunities and supporting graduates in achieving sustainable career success.
King's was shortlisted alongside:
the University of St Andrew's, Newcastle University, University of Warwick, University of Exeter and Durham University.
the University of Leeds.
the Universities of Birmingham & Glasgow
The London School of Economics and Political Science
Imperial Business School
AMBA and GBA
Beijing Sino Campus International Edu Tech Co., Ltd.
King's Careers & Employability collect the award for Graduate Initiative of the Year.
The China-Britain Business Council’s Chinese Shakespeare Supper and UK-China Business Awards attracted close to 300 attendees. Hosted at London’s UnderGlobe, the event featured a unique combination of Shakespearean and Chinese entertainment, networking and an awards ceremony celebrating the best of UK-China business, cultural and educational collaboration.
His Excellency Zheng Zeguan, Chinese Ambassador to the UK opened the evening with Sir Gregory Doran, Honorary Fellow of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and former Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company giving a Toast to the Bard over dinner.
Other attendees included senior representatives from the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office, UK FCDO, City of London Corporation, British Library, V&A Museum, HSBC, Microsoft, RIBA, Alibaba, Air China, Tencent, Diageo, PwC and Octopus Energy Group.
King's partnerships with China run deep, but our work strengthening graduate success for our Chinese students and graduates has been an ambitious new challenge for King's Careers & Employability and our international strategy. Without the significant additional resources which other universities have enjoyed, we've built an award-winning programme of events including the UK's largest in-country careers fairs and a unique experiential learning project - we're delighted this work is being recognised so clearly at both national and international levels, and congratulate all our other shortlisted institutions for their work also.
Andrew Wright, Associate Director (Employer Engagement & Work-based Learning)
Andrew Wright, Associate Director (Employer Engagement & Work-based Learning) and Vanessa Freeman, Associate Director (Careers Education and Faculty Partnerships) with the Award.
King's 'Careers in China’ programme has existed since 2018, building a portfolio of networking, experiential and skills-based activity which spans from offer holder engagement - to build their skills and CV before they commence at King’s - and culminates with the UK’s largest suite of in-country careers fairs which continue again this summer in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hong Kong SAR.
Host James Brodie of CBBC, opens proceedings.
Our self-paced digital ‘pathway’ Explore Careers in China supports students’ commercial awareness of the Chinese labour market, ensuring they remain appraised of key industry trends, sector knowledge and recruitment opportunities, undertaken by over 700 Chinese students since 2024, and is supported by a dedicated BiliBili channel with video content in Mandarin, created in partnership with our students.
The initiative also sees regular on-campus engagement of Chinese employers in London through employer presentations, alumni panel events and masterclasses covering Chinese employment trends.
At its heart sits the ‘Insights: China Digital Industry Project’. Uniquely designed by King’s and our partners at Practera, this custom work-related learning project wraps around this wider series of interventions and responds to exit survey data held on increasing numbers of students returning to China, and requiring access to the latest LMI, peer networks, work experience and access to employers, alongside engaging incoming offer holders with pre-arrival digital skills modules focused on the UK labour market, a UK-centric genuine business project in the summer prior to their arrival and building connections with fellow offer holders online before they meet our teams in China, and then arrive in London.
The unique concept for the Insights project was developed between Practera Co-Founder & CEO, Beau Leese and King's Associate Director (Employer Engagement & Work-based Learning) at a meeting in London in December 2024 and has continued to a second year of deliery in summer 2026.
This year’s winner, King’s College London, has built an impressive Careers in China programme: combining digital learning, employer engagement, alumni mentoring, in-country careers fairs and real industry projects to support Chinese students from offer-holder stage through to graduation. Having reviewed the shortlisted entries as one of the judges, what stood out was not only the quality of the winning entry, but the strength of the field.
Ralph Rogers, Regional Head - China at the British Council and Judge of the UK-China Business Awards
His Excellency Zheng Zeguan, Chinese Ambassador to the UK opens the Awards.
