On the banks of the Yangtze River, in the heartland of Hubei Province, the School of Economics and Management of Yangtze University, located in the historical and cultural city of Jingzhou, is deeply rooted in the birthplace of Chu culture. It inherits the Chu spirit of “enduring great hardships in pioneer work, embracing inclusiveness”. After more than forty years of development, it has become an important think tank and talent cultivation base that serves the high-quality economic development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, the coordinated development of food security and energy security, and the "hub construction" of Hubei. The school adheres to the educational philosophy of “applying knowledge for the world and cultivating talents”, and follows the development strategy of “economics and management +”. It closely focuses on the national strategies and the high-quality development of regional economies, and has established an economics and management discipline system and talent cultivation system with distinct regional characteristics, industry characteristics, and characteristics of the times.

I. Historical Evolution

The School of Economics and Management of Yangtze University was formed in 2019 by merging the former School of Economics of Yangtze University and the former School of Management of Yangtze University. The historical development of the school can be traced back to the educational accumulation before the merger of the four universities. The original Jianghan Petroleum Institute established the Industrial Economics Teaching Department in 1980 and successively offered majors such as Accounting, Materials Management, and Technical Economics. In 2000, it obtained the authorization to confer the Master's degree in Business Management; the original Hubei Agricultural College established the Department of Agricultural Economics and Management in 1984 and successively offered majors such as Agricultural and Forestry Economic Management, Human Resources Management, and Business Administration. In 2003, it obtained the authorization to confer the Master's degree in Agricultural Economics Management; the original Jingzhou Normal University established the Economic Department in 1993 and successively offered majors such as International Trade, Investment Economics, and Marketing. In 1998, it added undergraduate majors such as Marketing, Public Administration, and International Economics and Trade.

II. Disciplines, Platforms and Faculty

The school has four teaching units: the Department of Agricultural Economics, the Department of Economics, the Department of Management, and the Department of Accounting. Currently, it has 3 first-level discipline master's degree programs (Agricultural and Forestry Economic Management, Applied Economics, and Business Administration), 3 professional degree master's programs (Master of Business Administration (MBA), Master of Accounting (MPAcc), and Agricultural Master's), and 10 undergraduate majors (Economics, Finance, International Economics and Trade, Agricultural and Forestry Economic Management, Business Administration, Marketing, Human Resources Management, Logistics Management, Accounting, and Financial Management, etc.); it has 4 provincial key discipline platforms (Yangtze River Economic Belt Development Research Institute, Hubei Rural Development Research Center, Hubei Yangtze River Economic Belt Regional Development Research Center, Hubei Rural Economic Development Research Society), and 1 provincial-level practical teaching demonstration center (Economic Management Experimental Teaching Center). The school currently has over 124 faculty members, including 102 full-time teachers, 22 professors, 48 associate professors, 4 doctoral supervisors, and 54 master's supervisors; among the teachers, there are 44 teachers with doctoral degrees, 1 national outstanding teacher, and 39 external teachers.

III. Talent Cultivation and Scientific Research

The college adheres to the fundamental task of fostering virtue and nurturing talents, centers its efforts on student development, and follows the requirements of new liberal arts education. It continuously deepens educational reforms and promotes organized scientific research. In the past three years, the college has been awarded 2 national first-class undergraduate program construction points (Logistics Management and Accounting); 1 provincial excellent grassroots teaching organization; 1 national first-class undergraduate course and 7 provincial first-class undergraduate courses; 1 key textbook of the Ma Project; 1 first-class teaching achievement award from Hubei Province, and 1 second-class teaching achievement award; 13 provincial-level and above undergraduate innovation and entrepreneurship training projects, including 5 national ones; 19 students have won national or provincial awards in the Challenging Cup andInternet Plus Competitions; 1 person has won the gold medal in the national finals of the Internet + competition; the postgraduate admission rate and employment rate have remained stable at over 12% and 96% respectively. In the past three years, the college has comprehensively promoted organized research, focused on disciplinary directions, encouraged interdisciplinary integration, strengthened the construction of research teams, and increased research incentives. It has been awarded 6 national research projects and over 40 provincial-level projects. The research funds received reached 14.34 million yuan. 6 achievements have received instructions from provincial leaders and won 4 humanistic social science awards in Hubei Province. More than 150 high-quality papers have been published.

IV. Social Service and International Cooperation

The college actively implements the deep integration of industry-university-research cooperation, continuously promotes the integration of the university, the government, enterprises and institutions, and actively explores new models of integration of government, industry, academia and research. In recent years, the college has established cooperative relationships with enterprises such as the China Petroleum Society, the China Petroleum Enterprise Association, and the National High-Tech Research Center of China Petroleum Group. It has continuously deepened cooperation in areas such as scientific and technological collaborative research, internship base construction, cooperative education and graduate employment, and enterprise training and staff further education. Remarkable achievements have been made. The college adheres to the open and cooperative educational model and maintains close contact and exchanges with renowned universities at home and abroad. It actively adapts to the trend of internationalization of higher education and actively conducts international academic exchanges and cooperation. It actively promotes international education cooperation projects and continuously explores the international elite talent cultivation model.

Forty years of continuous efforts have led to new achievements in the new era. The School of Economics and Management of Yangtze University will continue to uphold the school’s motto of “Pragmatism, Progressiveness, Entrepreneurship and Service to the Country”, taking the service of the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, the coordinated development of food security and energy security, and the “supporting role construction” of Hubei Province as its mission. It will stride forward towards the goal of building a distinctive and high-level School of Economics and Management. In the mighty sound of the Yangtze River in the new era, it will play a magnificent melody of the people of economics and management.