Background & Vision

Spanish is the official language of 21 countries with nearly 500 million speakers. The Greater Bay Area hosts tens of thousands of enterprises engaged in cross-border trade with Spain and Latin America. In 2024, the scale of cross-border e-commerce trade with Spanish-speaking countries showed rapid growth, increasing by over 15% annually. As a result, the demand for Spanish-speaking e-commerce experts in the GBA is critical.

Objectives

We aim to cultivate high-quality multidisciplinary talents with a solid foundation in Spanish and practical cross-border e-commerce skills. Graduates will be equipped for roles in cross-border e-commerce operations, customer service, international marketing, logistics coordination, business negotiation, and foreign-related translation.

Program Highlights and Career Prospects

Key Features

Industry-Ready Curriculum: Core curriculum integrates “Spanish + Cross-Border E-Commerce” and “Spanish + Overseas Business” to ensure seamless graduate-to-position matching.

Expert Faculty: Native-speaking teachers from Spain and Latin America; 90% Chinese teachers with overseas experience; high proportion of “Dual-Qualified” faculty with professional certifications.

Small-sized Class Instruction: Courses like Spanish Phonetics, Spoken Spanish, Spanish: Viewing, Listening & Speaking, and Cross-border E-commerce Practice are limited to 15 students, enabling personalized instruction addressing individual skill gaps.

Career Prospects

Jobs: Operations specialists for Spanish platforms, live streamers, overseas customer service, and logistics coordinators.

Entrepreneurship: Launching independent stations or international platform stores targeting Latin American markets.

Further Study: Master’s programs in international business and cross - border trade at foreign universities such as the University of Zaragoza and Universiti Sains Malaysia; or domestic graduate study in Spanish language and literature, international trade, international relations, and Chinese international education.

Civil Service: Customs, foreign affairs offices, commerce bureaus, and Spanish language teaching in primary and secondary schools.

International Faculty Excellence

Ninety percent of Chinese teachers have international study or professional experience exceeding six months across Spain, Mexico, Venezuela, and other Spanish-speaking regions. Spanish teachers hail from Spain and Latin America. Leveraging the School’s robust international faculty roster (approximately 40 annually from nearly 20 countries), half hold master’s or doctoral degrees in language education and international business, with some bringing direct industry experience from cross-border e-commerce and international trade enterprises.

Fig. 1 Teaching by Spanish Teachers

Global Opportunities

Partnerships with the University of Zaragoza and the University of Murcia include: (1) 3 or 3.5+1 joint programs for further study in Spanish; (2) direct graduate admission to international business and international relations master’s programs; (3) regular academic lectures by partner university faculty.

Fig. 2 President of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce Delivering a Lecture

Curriculum

Language Foundation: Basic Spanish, Advanced Spanish, Spanish: Viewing, Listening & Speaking, Spoken Spanish, Spanish Translation.

Professional Core: Spanish Cross-Border E-Commerce Practice, TikTok Live Streaming Operations (Spanish), International Business Spanish, Cross-Cultural Business Communication.

Specialized Electives: Overview of Guangdong Inbound Tourist Attractions, AI-Assisted Translation Practice, Cross-Border E-Commerce Entrepreneurship Guidance, Spanish Business and Cultural Exchange.

Practical Training: Spanish Cross-Border E-Commerce Training, Spoken Spanish Practice, Spanish Interpretation Training, Industry-Co-developed Live Streaming Comprehensive Training.

Fig. 3 Sharing from An Corporate Mentor

Fig. 4-5: A Research Visit to BYD Group Headquarters

Industry Partnerships

Competitions and Events: Students participate in “Understanding Contemporary China” Spanish Speech Contest, Spanish Cross-Border E-Commerce Live Streaming Competition, International Trade Simulation Negotiation, Spanish Market Product Promotion Plan Design. They are also organized to participate in the Canton Fair, the Guangzhou International Cross-border E-commerce Expo (ICBE), and other events to accumulate industry experience.

Fig. 6 Students Providing Translation Services

Industry Integration: 19 off-campus practice bases with organizations like Canton Fair, Alibaba International Station, and Excellence Education Group through “embedded teaching” mechanisms integrate authentic commercial projects into classroom instruction. Annual selection of 15-25 Spanish major students for Canton Fair internships provides practical experience in Spanish store operations, digital marketing, business interpretation, and customer service, with priority employment opportunities establishing a virtuous internship-to-employment cycle.

Fig. 7 Students Participating in the Canton Fair

Fig. 8-9 Students’ Volunteer Work at the 2024 Summit of Spanish and Latin American Businesses in the GBA

Fig. 10 Live Streaming by Spanish Major Students

Fig. 11 Students Participating in Alibaba Talent Job Fair