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東京大学公共政策大学院 | GraSPP / Graduate School of Public Policy | The university of Tokyo

GraSPPers Voice GraSPPers Voice

As a first GraSPPer to study at HEC Paris

Rui Ding (from China)

I am a foreign student in GraSPP from China, in my last semester of graduate school I got a precious opportunity to exchange study to the HEC Paris. It is a great honor to be the first GraSPPer to study at HEC Paris since this is the first time GraSPP and HEC Paris have made a deal of exchange program.

HEC Paris is considered as the most prominent business in France, the greater part of business leaders in France are HEC Paris alumni. HEC Paris has a deep relationship with leading companies in France, such as LVMH, DANONE, MICHELIN, RENAULT, TOTAL, BNP Paribas, Airbus and so on. I strongly recommend HEC Paris to all GraSPPers.

HEC Paris offers a wide range of curriculum for exchange students which covers Economics, Finance, Accounting, Law, Strategy and French culture. Looking ahead to my future career, I chose many financial courses during my exchange study, e.g. ”Financial Economics”, “Financial Markets”, “Financial Accounting”. Ways of education are different between Todai and HEC Paris. Todai focuses on theoretical study, on the other hand HEC Paris put more energy on empirical research. The knowledge taught in HEC Paris is easier to be applied in real business.

Wine testingAlso, during my exchange study, I chose several unique courses like “Wine Marketing” and “Paris Rive Droite & Rive Gauche”. The “Wine Marketing” is taught by a HEC alumna who is a famous wine merchant and writer. I have leant a lot of knowledge of wine and did wine tasting from that course. “Paris Rive Droite & Rive Gauche” is a lecture for  introducing the culture and history of Paris by showing us sightseeing spots in Paris. In this course, I have visited Louvre Museum, Arc de Triomphe, Les Champ-Elysees, Notre Dame de Paris and so on.


Because Europe is a continent that comprises different countries and cultures, my classmates all have different background. Students from different countries like UK, Germany, Netherland, Italy, Spain, Austria, Greece are studying and communicating together everyday, different minds and cultures expanded my horizon a lot and gave me more confidence to communicate with people from different cultures.

During my exchange study period, terrorist attacks occurred Paris, 130 victims died in that attack. HEC Paris is located in the southern suburbs of Paris, so the school is very safe in that time. Also during that period, my home university- Todai gave me a lot of support to overcome the fear from terrorism.

Studying in HEC Paris is one of the most memorable part of my whole life. I profited highly from my stay at HEC Paris, I highly recommend this exchange program. I am most grateful for the chance of studying in HEC Paris, thanks to all the people helped me in the exchange program.