King's College London

Fresh from winning the HE Careers & Employability Team of the Year at this year's targetjobs National Emerging Talent Awards on 16 April, King's Careers & Employability has today been shortlisted for 'Graduate Employability Initiative of the Year' at the inaugural UK-China Business Awards, hosted by the China-Britain Business Council.

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 '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.

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, 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 inaugural UK-China Business Awards seek to highlight UK and Chinese organisations large and small, who are succeeding in international trade and investment between the two countries and are timed to fall between the date of Shakespeare’s birth - April 23- and China’s Dragon Boat Festival, and will be held beneath Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in the Underglobe on 21 May 2026.

The event will celebrate the many innovative ways that Shakespeare has been translated, interpreted and shared with China, and vice-versa. It will be at once a celebration of UK-China cultural understanding, collaboration and Business success.