Competitions · Business and economics · FBLA
FBLA has stopped running in the China region.
From 2025 the competition is open mainly to students within the United States. If you are reading a page that invites you to register, pay and choose a group, it is describing a season that will not open here.
Current status
What has changed, and what has not.
The competition itself continues. What has stopped is the route into it from China.
The China region stopped from 2025
The organisers state that for the following one to two years the competition is open mainly to students within the United States. No China-region season is running.
Students at US schools are unaffected
FBLA continues in the United States through its regional, state and national structure. A student already at an American school enters through their own chapter as before.
And it may return
The notice describes the pause as lasting one to two years rather than as permanent. If you are planning more than a year ahead, it is worth asking the organiser whether a China season has resumed.
Meanwhile there are alternatives
Several business and economics competitions remain open to students in China. An advisor can match one to what a student was hoping to get from FBLA.
For the record
What the competition is.
FBLA is one of the largest business education organisations in the world, certified by the US Department of Education and the career and technical education association, and listed by the National Association of Secondary School Principals among the activities principals recommend to students.
- Founded
- 1942
- Scale
- More than 6,400 member schools worldwide, over 4 million students reached cumulatively, and around 200,000 students a year
- Recognition
- Recognised by more than 100 well-known companies and universities, several of which attach scholarships
- Who could enter
- Students in grades 9 to 12
- The route
- Regional, state and national selection, leading to the National Leadership Conference
- China-region status
- Stopped from 2025
- Format of the first stage
- An online objective test - 60 minutes, 80 multiple-choice questions, 5 marks each, no penalty for a wrong or blank answer, 400 marks in total
- Two ways to enter
- As an individual, or in a team of three whose members may come from different year groups, schools and regions
- Two subject directions
- Marketing, and business management
What it tested
Two directions, and everyone chose one.
Worth knowing if you are comparing other business competitions - these are the two halves most of them divide along too.
Marketing
Brand marketing, market segmentation, advertising and media, and e-commerce - the foundations of how a product reaches a customer.
Business management
How the commercial world actually runs: multinational operations, human resources, corporate finance, and optimising management decisions.
A team scored on its average
Team entrants each sat the same 80 questions alone, and the team score was the average. One weak member pulled the whole team down, so a small strong team beat a large uneven one.
And one chance to change your mind
A student could change their chosen group once, before the registration deadline. After that the choice was fixed.
What to look for elsewhere
Three features worth asking about in any business competition.
FBLA did these well. When comparing what to enter instead, they are the things to check.
Can teams cross schools?
FBLA teams could be formed across year groups, schools and regions. Not every competition allows that, and it matters for a student whose own school has no business club.
Is there a route beyond the first paper?
FBLA ran regional, state and national stages ending in a leadership conference. A competition that stops at one written test offers considerably less.
And who recognises the result?
FBLA was backed by more than a hundred companies and universities, several with scholarships attached. That is a fair question to ask of any replacement.
Ask about the syllabus, too
FBLA published the content of each direction in detail. A competition that will not tell you what it examines is harder to prepare for.
Student results
What Hanlin students got.
Taken from Hanlin's published record of student honours and rewritten in English. Figures are as the organisers reported them.
In the world, Banking and Financial Systems
One line from Hanlin's published FBLA record. The rest of it is below.
FBLA
- 2023-2423 students invited to the leadership conference, first nationally in Marketing, and 3 national Golds advancing to the global round
- 2022-2320 invitations, 15 placings, and 2 teams finishing in the national top two to advance globally
Earlier years
- 2021-22A 100% advancement rate from the qualifying round, with first and fifth nationally in Business Plan
- 2020-2111 teams reached the global final. Top 15 in the world in Marketing, and second in the world in Banking and Financial Systems - the first time a Chinese student had reached the top three in that event
The full record, across every subject and year, is on the student honours page.
Talk to an advisor
Hanlin does not coach FBLA. Ask what it does coach.
The services below are real, but not for this competition. An advisor will say plainly whether there is a route here and what is worth entering instead.
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Briefly answered.
What families ask when they find this competition.
Can students in China still enter FBLA?
No. The China region stopped from 2025, and for the following one to two years the competition is open mainly to students within the United States.
Is FBLA finished altogether?
No. It continues in the United States through its regional, state and national structure. Only the China-region route has stopped.
Might it come back?
The notice describes the change as covering the next one to two years rather than as permanent. Ask the organiser whether a China season has resumed before planning around it.
What was FBLA?
Future Business Leaders of America - one of the largest business education organisations in the world, founded in 1942, with more than 6,400 member schools and around 200,000 students competing each year.
What did the first stage involve?
An online objective test of 80 multiple-choice questions in 60 minutes, worth 5 marks each with no penalty for a wrong answer, in either marketing or business management, entered individually or in a team of three scored on its average.
What should I enter instead?
That depends on whether the student wants economics, finance, marketing or general business, and whether they want to work alone or in a team. Tell us both and an advisor will suggest competitions that are open.
Related
Where to look instead.
Business and economics competitions that are running.
Business competition enquiries
Tell us what they wanted from FBLA.
The China region has stopped, but the reason a student wanted to enter - marketing, management, a team format, a route to an international stage - still points somewhere. Tell us which of those mattered and an advisor will suggest what is actually open.