BSc (Hons) International Business Economics

Key information

Degree

Types of study

Full time

Duration

Three or four years depending on entry qualifications

Start date

September 2025

Faculty

Nottingham University Business School China

Study model

4+0

About the study model: For the 2+2 study model courses, the student will spend the last two years at our UK campus. For the 4+0 study model courses, the student will spend the entire degree programme in Ningbo, China with 'study abroad' opportunities from year three.

Introductory video

VZan

566609

Entry requirements

Entry requirements for our programmes vary depending on your school qualifications, which determine your entry into either the preliminary year (Year 1) or qualifying year (Year 2). Please visit here for more detailed information.

*Entry for Mainland Chinese students is through the National Higher Education Entrance Examination, commonly known as Gaokao.

Course overview

This programme equips students with a solid understanding of how firms and entrepreneurs make economic decisions within real-world business environments, and how such decisions shape broader economic and societal outcomes. Students develop analytical skills through training in micro- and macroeconomic theory, data analysis, international trade and investment, business strategy, and market competition.

Unlike traditional Economics programmes, which emphasise modelling and theoretical formulation, this programme focuses on the practical application of economic principles to international business contexts. It adopts a firm-level perspective, integrating core economic knowledge with management and international business insights, helping students understand how companies navigate complex global markets and policy environments.

The interdisciplinary and applied nature of this programme prepares graduates for a wide range of careers in multinational corporations, policy think tanks, financial institutions, and consulting firms, particularly in roles related to economic analysis, strategy, and market forecasting. It also offers a strong foundation for pursuing postgraduate study in international economics, applied economics, or business-related disciplines.

Special features

A degree with enormous prestige in economics combined with management or other areas of business
Develops a theoretical understanding of economic issues in China with a focus on modern business and its operating environment

Course structure

The degree is offered as a three or four-year programme depending on your entry qualification.

For domestic students the course structure follows the Chinese higher education system and is based on a four-year programme. For international students, with relevant qualifications, the course structure follows the UK higher education system and is based on a three-year programme.

Preliminary year modules

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The preliminary year is designed to help you develop your English language skills so that you can make the most of your degree programme.

This special English language programme designed by the English for Academic Purposes experts at the University's Centre for English Language Education is carefully integrated with academic content modules so that you are prepared fully for years two to four of your degree programme.

*Note:

This year is not compulsory for students with appropriate qualifications for year two entry.

Compulsory

Students (excluding International students) must take all modules in this group

Code	Title	Credits	Taught
CELEN048	Reading and Writing in Academic Contexts	20	Autumn
CELEN069	Oral Communication Skills A	10	Autumn
CELEN041	Introduction to Business & Management	20	Autumn
CELEN121	Critical, Creative, and Reflective Thinking	10	Autumn
CELEN125	Introduction to Statistics for Business	10	Spring
CELEN124	Introduction to Calculus and Linear Algebra for Business	10	Spring
CELEN082	Oral Communication Skills B	10	Spring
CELEN051	English in Specific Academic Contexts a (Arts & Social Science Pathways)	20	Spring
CELEF002	Introduction to Information Technology For Business	10	Spring
	Credit Total	120

International students must take all modules in this group

Code	Title	Credits	Taught
CELEN041	Introduction to Business & Management	20	Autumn
CELEF008	Introduction to Academic Skills	10	Autumn
CELEN107	Introduction to Mathematics for Business and Economics A	10	Autumn
CELEN109	Introduction to Statistics for Business and Economics A	10	Autumn
CELEN121	Critical, Creative, and Reflective Thinking	10	Autumn
CELEN042	Introduction to Business Economics	20	Spring
CELEF002	Introduction to Information Technology For Business	10	Spring
CELEF007	English for Specific Academic Purposes: Business and Economics	10	Spring
CELEN108	Introduction to Mathematics for Business and Economics B	10	Spring
CELEN110	Introduction to Statistics for Business and Economics B	10	Spring
	Credit Total	120

Qualifying year modules

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Compulsory

Students must take all modules in this group

Code	Title	Credits	Taught
BUSI1116	Entrepreneurship: Theory & Practice	20	Full Year
BUSI1117	Introduction to Economics	20	Autumn
BUSI1133	Calculus and Linear Algebra	10	Autumn
BUSI1118	Microeconomics for Business	20	Spring
BUSI1132	Statistics	10	Spring
	Credit Total	80

Restricted

Group 1 Business and Economics

Students must take a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 20 credits from the group

Code	Title	Credits	Taught
BUSI1112	Business Law	20	Full Year
BUSI1088	Future of Work	10	Autumn
BUSI1067	Introduction to Digital Business	10	Autumn
BUSI1073	The Digital Economy	10	Spring
ECON1055	Game Theory	10	Spring
	Credit Total	60

Restricted

Group 2 Finance and Accounting

Students must take a minimum of 20 and a maximum of 30 credits from the group

Code	Title	Credits	Taught
BUSI1122	Introduction to Accounting	10	Autumn
BUSI1113	Fundamentals of Financial & Management Accounting	20	Full Year
BUSI1070	Business Finance	10	Spring
	Credit Total	40

Restricted

Group 3 Management and Marketing

Students must take a minimum of 0 and a maximum of 10 credits from the group

Code	Title	Credits	Taught
BUSI1086	Organisational Behaviour	10	Spring
BUSI1130	Principles of Marketing	10	Spring
BUSI1134	Production and Operations Management	10	Spring
	Credit Total	30

Year 3 modules

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Compulsory

Students must take all modules in this group

Code	Title	Credits	Taught
BUSI2180	Industrial Economics I: Economics of Organisation and Innovation	20	Autumn
BUSI2105	Quantitative Methods 2A	10	Autumn
BUSI2182	Industrial Economics II: Economics of Pricing and Decision Making	20	Spring
BUSI2183	Firm Strategy and Internationalisation	20	Spring
BUSI2187	Principles of Econometrics	10	Spring
	Credit Total	80

Restricted

Group 1 Business and Economics

Students must take a minimum of 20 and a maximum of 30 credits from this group

Code	Title	Credits	Taught
BUSI2197	Macroeconomic Growth, Cycles and Policy	10	Autumn
ECON2043	Experimental and Behavioural Economics	10	Spring
BUSI2128	Analysing Organisations	10	Autumn
BUSI2190	Trends in Work and Organisations	10	Spring
ECON2044	Health Economics	10	Spring
	Credit Total	50

Restricted

Group 2 Finance and Accounting

Students must take a minimum of 0 and a maximum of 20 credits from this group

Code	Title	Credits	Taught
BUSI2157	Management Accounting	20	Autumn
BUSI2198	Principles of Financial Modelling and Programming	10	Autumn
BUSI2215	Money and Banking	10	Autumn
BUSI2140	Principles of Taxation	10	Spring
BUSI2156	Corporate Finance	20	Spring
BUSI2158	Intermediate Corporate Reporting	20	Spring
BUSI2192	Fixed Income Investment	10	Spring
	Credit Total	100

Restricted

Group 3 Management and Marketing

Students must take a minimum of 0 and a maximum of 20 credits from this group

Code	Title	Credits	Taught
BUSI2179	Human Resource Management with International Perspectives	20	Autumn
BUSI2120	Corporate Entrepreneurship	10	Autumn
BUSI2178	Marketing Management	20	Autumn
BUSI2129	Managing Across Cultures	10	Spring
	Credit Total	60

Restricted

Group 4 Management Science and Data Analytics

Students must take a minimum of 0 and a maximum of 20 credits from this group

Code	Title	Credits	Taught
BUSI2124	Introduction to Management Science for Business Decisions	10	Autumn
BUSI2189	Introduction to Business Programming	10	Autumn
BUSI2118	Database Design and Implementation	10	Spring
BUSI2193	Business Operations Analytics	10	Spring
	Credit Total	40

Additional Module Choice Information for Part I

Students must complete 120 credits with at least 90 credits at level 2 or above.

Although 60 credits per semester is the normal allocation, University rules permit 70 credits in one semester and 50 in the other. This variation from the norm requires careful consideration, and it is sensible to seek advice. Where either semester is undertaken away from UNNC on exchange, the plan for the year requires the Exchange Coordinator’s approval since exchange partners may not permit the arrangement.

In addition to the listed modules, the following modules will also be offered.

In Autumn semester:

BUSI2122 Doing Business in China A (compensatable, 10 credits, with limited capacity, aimed primarily at international students)
BUSI2219 NextGen Family Business: Innovation & Leadership_Autumn (compensatable, 10 credits, with limited capacity)

In Spring semesters:

BUSI2123 Doing Business in China B (compensatable, 10 credits, with limited capacity, aimed primarily at international students)
BUSI2220 NextGen Family Business: Innovation & Leadership_Spring (compensatable, 10 credits, with limited capacity)

Year 4 modules

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Compulsory

Students must take all modules in this group

Code	Title	Credits	Taught
BUSI3222	Undergraduate Dissertation	30	Full Year
BUSI3193	Industrial Economics III: Market Structure and Competition Policy	20	Autumn
BUSI3197	Industrial Economics IV: Games and Strategies	20	Spring
	Credit Total	70

Restricted

Group 1 Business and Economics

Students must take a minimum of 20 and a maximum of 50 credits from this group

Code	Title	Credits	Taught
BUSI3119	Advanced Calculus for Business, Economics and Finance	10	Autumn
BUSI3106	Financial Economics	10	Autumn
ECON2034	Labour Economics	10	Autumn
BUSI3110	Applied Econometrics	10	Spring
BUSI3204	International Economics	10	Spring
ECON3079	Advanced Experimental and Behavioural Economics	20	Spring
BUSI3196	Economics of Regulation and Public Choice	20	Spring
BUSI3212	Enterprise Digitalisation and Transformation	10	Spring
ECON3077	Advanced Health Economics	20	Autumn
	Credit Total	120

Restricted

Group 2 Finance and Accounting

Students must take a minimum of 0 and a maximum of 30 credits from this group

Code	Title	Credits	Taught
BUSI3192	Advanced Management Accounting	20	Full Year
BUSI3190	Financial Markets: Theory & Computation	20	Full Year
BUSI3087	International Finance	10	Autumn
BUSI3123	Derivatives	10	Autumn
	Credit Total	60

Restricted

Group 3 Management and Marketing

AND students must take a minimum of 0 and a maximum of 20 credits from this group

Code	Title	Credits	Taught
BUSI3188	Strategic Management: Perspective, Process and Practice	20	Full Year
BUSI3189	Business Ethics and Sustainability	20	Full Year
BUSI3194	International Business Environment and Strategy	20	Autumn
BUSI3213	Entrepreneurial Management	10	Autumn
BUSI3214	Performance Management and Compensation	10	Autumn
BUSI3211	Big Data Marketing	10	Autumn
BUSI3118	Marketing Services	10	Autumn
BUSI3198	International Alliances	10	Spring
BUSI3120	Strategic Innovation Management	10	Spring
BUSI3146	Brand Management	10	Spring
BUSI3145	Digital Marketing	10	Spring
BUSI3101	Corporate Restructuring and Governance	10	Autumn
	Credit Total	150

Group 4 Management Science and Data Analytics

Students must take a minimum of 0 and a maximum of 30 credits from this group

Code	Title	Credits	Taught
BUSI3115	Logistics and Supply Chain Management	10	Autumn
BUSI3122	Introduction to Data Science: Big Data Analytics in Business	10	Autumn
BUSI3210	Advanced Database Management	10	Autumn
BUSI3124	Stochastic Calculus and Numerical Analysis	10	Spring
BUSI3116	Management of Quality	10	Spring
BUSI3215	Text Analytics in Business	10	Spring
	Credit Total	60

Additional Module Choice Information for Part II

In addition to the listed modules, the following modules will also be offered.

In Autumn semester:

BUSI3223 Global Business Engagement_Autumn (compensatable, 10 credits, with limited capacity)

In Spring semesters:

BUSI3224 Global Business Engagement_Spring (compensatable, 10 credits, with limited capacity)

Part II students must select at least 100 credits at level 3 or above within 120 credits.

UG Dissertation is a non-compensatable module. A student who fails a non-compensatable module will not complete that stage without successfully undertaking re-assessment in that module.

The number of places on ECON2034 open to IBE students is restricted to 20. If applications exceed this number, priority will be given to students with higher average marks in Year 3.

The number of places on ECON3079 open to IBE students is restricted to 10. If applications exceed this number, priority will be given to students with higher average marks in Year 3.

The number of places on ECON3077 open to IBE students is restricted to 10. If applications exceed this number, priority will be given to students with higher average marks in Year 3.

*For the most up-to-date and detailed course structure, please refer to the online course catalogue.

Careers and further study

The majority of our graduates were employed by leading global companies (such as Bank of China, PwC, KPMG, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, HSBC, Mars, Nestle, Abercrombie & Fitch) or went on to further study and research in the UK, America, Australia etc.

For those who pursue further study in the class of 2018, 49.5% were admitted by World Top 50 universities according to QS Ranking. Examples of further study destinations include Imperial College London, University of London, National University of Singapore and Johns Hopkins University.

Fees

Chinese Mainland students

100,000 RMB / year (2024 Entry)

China's Hong Kong, Macao & Taiwan students

100,000 RMB / year (2024 Entry)

International students

120,000 RMB / year

Scholarships, sponsorships and bursaries

To encourage academic excellence, we offer a comprehensive and expanding range of full and partial scholarships.

Historically nearly 30% of our undergraduate students were awarded scholarships for their entry. Once enrolled, current students are eligible for additional merit and/or performance-based scholarships and awards, which covers approximately 32.5% of our whole student body.

Please check here for scholarship types and policies for applicants from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and overseas countries. If you are a mainland Chinese student, please visit the Chinese language prospectus.