SHRM and the China International Talent Exchange Foundation (CITEF) have formed a strategic alliance to expand the presence of SHRM certification and certification preparation across China. SHRM President and Chief Executive Officer Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP, and CITEF Deputy Director Jinfa Wan signed the agreement on Feb. 9, 2021.
Over the next three years, SHRM and CITEF will work collaboratively on several initiatives to increase the number of SHRM-certified HR professionals in China. Those who earn their SHRM-CP and SHRM-SCP will also recertify their credentials every three years through this alliance. (The alliance does not cover Hong Kong, Taiwan or Macau.)
Through a network of regional education partners in China, CITEF will offer SHRM certification preparation, including the SHRM Learning System, plus a supplemental textbook translated into simplified Chinese that features test-taking tips and other information specifically for candidates from China. CITEF plans are well under way for identifying and training certification prep teachers; a group is familiarizing itself with the materials now, to be ready for the first SHRM exam applicants and prep course students in China.
The SHRM certification exams will be administered in a dual-language English and Chinese format, at five in-person Prometric test centers across China: Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Shenzhen. The first exam, at the SHRM-CP level, is scheduled for December 2021, and CITEF will soon open the application window to recruit the first cohort of test-takers. Each year thereafter, both the SHRM-CP and SHRM-SCP exams will likely be offered once a year on a schedule to be determined by SHRM and CITEF.
CITEF has said there is a high level of interest in both the certification exams and in the SHRM Learning System and related resources.
"This partnership promises to broaden the reach of the SHRM certification exams throughout China," said SHRM's Chief Knowledge Officer Alex Alonso, Ph.D., SHRM-SCP. "In our first seven years of offering SHRM certifications globally, only about 150 HR professionals in China have earned SHRM certification. Working with CITEF, we plan to grow that number exponentially in the ensuing years."
Candidates from China who are interested in becoming SHRM-certified may apply this summer through a special CITEF website that will provide the basic application steps. The organization will make arrangements with SHRM for each candidate whose application is accepted to take the exam at the level applied for.
Please contact shrmcertification@shrm.org with any questions and for more information.
Nancy A. Woolever, MAIS, SHRM-SCP, is vice president of certification operations at SHRM and editor of Ace Your SHRM Certification Exam: A Guide to Success on the SHRM-CP and SHRM-SCP Exams (SHRM, 2019).