On September 7, the opening ceremony of the “Accounting + Law” joint bachelor’s degree program between Dongbei University of Finance and Economics (DUFE) and Dalian Maritime University was held at DUFE. Feng KONG, Deputy Director-General of the Liaoning Provincial Department of Education, Hongxing FANG, Party Secretary of DUFE, Xuhui WANG, Deputy Party Secretary and President of DUFE, and Hongjun SHAN, Deputy Party Secretary and President of Dalian Maritime University, attended the ceremony. Officials in charge of academic affairs offices from universities across the province, heads of the relevant colleges at the two universities, faculty representatives, alumni representatives, and all freshmen of the program attended the ceremony.

Feng KONG pointed out that at present, our province is accelerating the building of a “2211” modern industrial system, coordinating the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, the cultivation and expansion of emerging industries, and the layout of future industries. More than ever, it needs high-quality talent capable of crossing disciplinary boundaries and solving complex real-world problems. The two universities, responding to the general trend, have joined hands to establish our province’s first cross-university joint bachelor’s degree program. This is both a vivid practice of implementing national strategies and a landmark exploration in reforming undergraduate talent cultivation models. He hoped that the two universities would adhere to the fundamental task of fostering virtue through education, improve inter-university collaborative education mechanisms, strengthen process management and quality assurance, and, in the course of program development, truly implement integration, manage quality in routine work, and promptly consolidate experience, so as to provide important talent support and intellectual support for serving the overall cause of comprehensive revitalization and development of Northeast China.

Xuhui WANG and Hongjun SHAN respectively introduced the program’s training objectives, curriculum arrangements, teaching support, and other aspects. Both sides stated that they will share high-quality resources, deepen practical cooperation, give full play to their disciplinary and professional advantages, and improve cross-campus teaching operation and quality assurance mechanisms. They also encouraged the freshmen to build a solid foundation of faith and be devoted practitioners who keep the country in their hearts; to develop strong skills and be front-runners in law-business integration; and to cultivate moral character and be doers who integrate knowledge with action. In their future studies and lives, they should live up to their youth, the times, and the people, and write their own wonderful chapters on the broad platform of the joint bachelor’s degree program.

Wenliang ZHANG, a member of Dalian Maritime University’s Class of 1996 and founding partner of Merits & Tree Law Offices, and Jianchao FU, a member of DUFE’s Class of 1986 and partner at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Certified Public Accountants LLP, shared their professional experiences from the front lines of their industries as alumni representatives. They explained, with real-world cases, the core value of interdisciplinary and composite talent in industry development, offered messages to the first cohort of the program, and encouraged the students to seize the cross-campus integrated learning opportunity, solidly master professional knowledge in both disciplines, proactively use the resources of both universities to broaden their horizons and build their capabilities, and grow into high-quality cross-boundary talent suited to the needs of industry development.

Yi LIN, Associate Professor at the School of Law, Dalian Maritime University, and Zimo WANG, a student in the 2026 cohort of the Accounting Joint Training Program, School of Accounting, DUFE, spoke as faculty and student representatives, respectively. Yi LIN said that as a front-line teacher involved in designing the program’s curriculum, Lin and all the program’s course instructors would be deeply involved throughout the entire process of student development, help students build an interdisciplinary knowledge system, and also serve as guides on their growth path, accompanying them through their four years of study. On behalf of all freshmen, Zimo WANG pledged that they would cherish the hard-won learning opportunity, study every course diligently, actively integrate into the learning atmosphere of both universities, broaden their cognitive boundaries through interdisciplinary learning, hone strong skills, and live up to the expectations of the university and teachers.

After the opening ceremony, the Liaoning Provincial Department of Education held the Liaoning Provincial Symposium on Cultivating Interdisciplinary Talent in Higher Education, focusing on exchanges and discussions around cross-university and interdisciplinary composite talent cultivation. The meeting invited Guangbin LIN, Director of the Academic Affairs Office of the Central University of Finance and Economics; Lei WANG, Deputy Director of the Academic Affairs Office of Dalian University of Technology; and Lingbing LIU, Director of the Academic Affairs Office of Dongbei University of Finance and Economics, to introduce their universities’ exploratory experience and reform ideas in composite talent cultivation. The meeting emphasized that universities across the province should continue to deepen educational reform, conduct research and planning in light of their own realities, launch more interdisciplinary and cross-university joint training programs that meet regional industrial needs, integrate high-quality educational resources, explore and improve long-term mechanisms for collaborative education, and continuously enhance the alignment between talent cultivation and industrial development. Efforts should be made to cultivate more high-quality composite talent capable of meeting the needs of industrial upgrading, organically connect the education chain, talent chain, industrial chain, and innovation chain, and, with a steady supply of high-quality talent, build stronger confidence and a more solid foundation for Liaoning’s high-quality development and the comprehensive revitalization of Northeast China.

Project Introduction 

The Joint Bachelor’s Degree Program in “Accounting + Law” between Dongbei University of Finance and Economics and Dalian Maritime University is the first joint bachelor’s degree program in Liaoning Province. Under the guidance of the Liaoning Provincial Department of Education, the two universities have efficiently integrated their high-quality educational resources in accounting and law, and jointly explored cross-institutional and interdisciplinary talent cultivation in the context of New Liberal Arts development. 

The two universities formally signed the cooperation agreement in November 2025 and will launch the first cohort of admissions in 2026. In terms of overall planning, the two universities adhere to the undergraduate education principles of “top-level design, phased implementation, and long-term development.” Focusing on the intersection of accounting/finance and commercial law, and building on the foundation of their flagship undergraduate programs, they aim to build a benchmark platform for cross-institutional, interdisciplinary, and composite New Liberal Arts talent cultivation. In curriculum design, they adhere to strengthening the foundation, promoting interdisciplinary integration, and applying learning to practice, and have developed an undergraduate curriculum system consisting of “finance and economics core + law core + interdisciplinary distinctive modules + practical training.” In faculty allocation and resource sharing, they adhere to jointly appointing distinguished faculty, jointly building teams, sharing resources, and sharing outcomes. The program aims to organically integrate rigorous and precise accounting professionalism with an impartial and well-regulated legal thinking system, break the traditional limitations of single-discipline undergraduate education, such as a narrow knowledge base and weak adaptability, and precisely meet market demand for talent in in-demand fields such as commercial legal affairs, fiscal and tax compliance, and corporate risk control. It is committed to cultivating interdisciplinary, innovative, and high-caliber undergraduate talents who understand accounting and finance, are familiar with the law, are skilled in compliance, and are proficient in practice.