The final of the 1st China University Students PR Plan Contest, organized by the China International Public Relations Associations (CIPRA), took place in the Communication University of China. The student team “JPC” of the University of Macau won the Bronze Award in the competition. The JPC team members are Hong Dinglin, Shi Xinxin, Li Shuozhou, and Xue Yi majoring in the Department of Communication of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities. This award reorganizes students’ excellence in public relations campaign planning. Students on the winning team will also be provided with internships and job offers in one of the ten corporations and public relations agencies selected as the “China Public Relations Interns Center” by the CIPRA.

443 teams from 146 universities in the Greater China region were entered into the competition, with each team creating a PR campaign for one of the seven assigned companies’ needs on the occasion of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. The JPC team’s PR campaign aims to improve the brand image of the Li Ning, a Chinese leading sport goods company, to a global company. One judge, Ms. Diane Wu, the Senior Vice President of Fleishman-Hillard International Communications (China), praised the campaign for its “creativity and high applicability.” The judge also encouraged the UM team students to work for her agency because of their performance.

“The rapid growth of economy in the Mainland and Macao fosters the blooming of public relations in these areas. However, whether universities can produce students with PR knowledge and skills needed by the industry or whether students with those qualifications can find a PR job in the market becomes the key to the future development of public relations in China and Macao” said by Dr. Regina Chen, the student team advisor and Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication of University of Macau. “Thus, participating in this competition that provides winning students with internships or jobs in corporations with a strong PR function or professional PR agencies benefits both the university and the students involved.”