April 12, 2019. Shanghai ― The China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) has been selected as the Asian partner for the Mars Corporation’s Economics of Mutuality (EoM) initiative being implemented by its Catalyst team. The collaboration will be Catalyst’s first partnership with an academic institution in Asia. Under the agreement, CEIBS will engage in academic research into the practical application of EoM in a Chinese business context, conduct related case studies, deliver classroom lectures, and host an annual forum. The partnership comes at a historic moment in CEIBS’ history; this year is the school’s 25^th anniversary. 

“We are pleased to partner with Mars, through Catalyst, on this very important initiative. It comes at a time when there is a major push towards corporate social responsibility, both from the school’s leadership and its alumni who are looking for new ways in which to positively impact and shape the global economic environment. EoM is in line with CEIBS’ goal of educating socially responsible business leaders who seek to go  beyond  financial success to achieve global significance,” explains CEIBS Vice President & Dean Professor Ding Yuan.

The CEIBS faculty who will work on generating academic research for the initiative are Professor of Marketing Lydia Price, Associate Professor of Strategy Peter Moran and Assistant Professor of Management Byron Lee. The entire project is being led by CEIBS Professor of Economics and Finance and Associate Dean (Research) Xu Bin. 

Clockwise from top left: CEIBS Professors Xu Bin, Lydia Price, Peter Moran and Byron Lee.

Since its inception in the mid 60’s Catalyst has worked closely with scholars and academic institutions around the world (including in Asia). However, according to Bruno Roche who is Chief Economist at Mars Incorporated and Managing Director at Catalyst, they felt the time has come to be more purposeful in their efforts to “move East”, taking the Economics of Mutuality concept to China and wider Asia through an institutional partnership with an academic institution in China.  

“We selected CEIBS because we need to ensure that we are partnering with the right academic partner with both rich academic research and academic education as well as a strong practical business application mindset. We also believe that partnering with CEIBS will help us build a bridge between the Western culture, shared by many of us at Catalyst, and the Chinese culture where CEIBS is very present. The partnership will also provide us with access to a network of high-powered alumni to speed up the spreading of EoM in businesses in Asia, and particularly in China,” says Roche.

CEIBS’ more than 22,000-member strong alumni network is the largest among business schools within mainland China. It also includes graduates from more than 80 countries and regions, the majority of whom are in leadership positions within their organizations. As Roche explains, EoM is a management innovation that can help companies operate more effectively by expanding their KPIs for success to go beyond looking at merely “profit and loss’ and include the overall impact they are having on society and the environment.  

The Catalyst team’s goal is to organize a coalition of business and management schools around the world, with a “bridgehead” in each continent. “We hope CEIBS will be that bridgehead, that head of the network not just for China but also for Asia,” says Roche. “Over time, we hope to develop something similar in Africa and also in India.” Management schools already involved with the EoM initiative include Oxford Said in the UK and Sciences Po in France.

For more about EoM visit https://economicsofmutuality.com/ 

March 9, 2019. Shanghai — Undeterred by a light but steady rain that started the day, more than 200 participants turned out for today’s 2019 CEIBS Female Leadership Forum which explored the weighty issue of the future of female leadership. Organized by a handful of determined MBA 2020 students, with support from members of the CEIBS faculty, co-organisers and sponsors, the event featured powerful women and men from across Asia.

The forum explored familiar issues such as how women can be assertive without being perceived as “difficult”, “sensitive” or “emotional”; the disparity in how much women are paid compared to their male counterparts; and overall gender imbalance in the workplace — especially in positions of authority. As CEIBS Professor Emily David noted in her opening remarks, only about 2% of the world’s CEOs are women and, at a mere 6.6%, China has triple the world’s average of females chairing boards. Research has shown, she stressed, that it is vital to have inclusion programmes that ensure women have the leadership skills they need to succeed. “We will see the biggest strides when we all start measuring these efforts and paying attention,” she urged.

The audience received inspiration, throughout the day, from presenters such as keynote speaker Susanna Chiu, the First Woman President of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants, who told all the women in the room, “Age doesn’t matter, we are all future leaders!” A recurring theme during the event was for women to get out of their own way. Sharing her own personal story, Veronica Zhou, a CEIBS EMBA graduate and Professional Leadership Development Consultant, told the audience that the fear of not being ready prevents many women from moving forward in their career. “The fear… is limiting. It keeps you from taking the next step,” she explained, while urging men to provide encouragement to women co-workers — as her former boss had done for her.      

During an interactive workshop that got participants on their feet and engaged in lively group discussions right after lunch, Rita Malvone, Principal at Peacock Management Consulting drove home the message that we hold our leaders to very high standards so we should be more generous in how we engage with them. The importance of education was another topic that was also stressed, with CEO of Wall Capital Advisors Adrian Wall speaking of the need to ensure that there are educational opportunities available to both genders plus specific programmes that address areas where women may need a little extra help. In his view, negotiating skills is not one of those areas as both genders are equally bad in this area. “The one difference is that women are less likely to ask, and when they do ask they are less specific about what [they] ask [for],” he said. This is in line with research that has shown that women are less likely to negotiate when being hired, and are less likely to ask for a raise or promotion.   

In addition to MBA 2020 members of the event’s organising team Sissi Chen and Bingzi Li (who also doubled as a very impressive panellist in the Women of STEM discussion) as well as Zhou who was on the HeforShe panel, other CEIBS alumni who participated included Leela Greenberg (MBA 2017) who was also on the STEM panel; along with Yuni He (MBA 2018) and Eric Shao who were on the Women in Entrepreneurship panel. CEIBS Professor Byron Lee also lent his support by moderating the day’s first discussion.

The combination of one keynote speech, three panels and one interactive workshop kept the audience engaged throughout the day. Key takeaways from the event: each of us has the potential to be a leader, each of us has to take that first step toward achieving our goal, and no one is ever completely ready to move forward so don’t let insecurity hold you back. The forum was organized by the CEIBS MBA Women’s Leadership Network and Global Women Connect.

January 28, 2019. Shanghai — The China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) has consolidated its leading position among global business schools, with its MBA programme moving up a further 3 places to #5 in the Financial Times’ ranking of the world’s top 100 full-time MBAs. This is the first time in the school’s history that the MBA has been so highly ranked and the first time CEIBS has had two programmes in the top 5. The CEIBS Global EMBA is now also #5 in the FT’s ranking of EMBA programmes worldwide.

The FT rankings are widely regarded, in management education circles across the globe, as one of the most rigorous and most authoritative. For 2019, it has ranked the top 5 MBA programmes as Stanford, Harvard, Insead, Wharton and CEIBS. The CEIBS MBA also retains its position as #1 in Asia in the FT rankings and is also ranked #1 in Asia by Forbes and Bloomberg BusinessWeek.

“This is a historic and very significant milestone for us and a very good way to start our celebration of the school’s 25^th anniversary,” said CEIBS President Professor Li Mingjun. “It is remarkable what CEIBS has achieved in just 25 years since it was jointly established by the Chinese government and the European Union. Thanks to the tremendous efforts of the entire school, CEIBS’ outstanding achievements in recent years are in sharp contrast to widespread concerns about the slowdown of the Chinese economy and trade tensions between China and the US.”

The efforts of the school’s Career Development Centre (CDC) and the power of the CEIBS brand within the business community, have, for example, contributed to MBA graduates’ success in landing jobs. An impressive 93% of them were employed three months after graduation, the highest among the top 5 schools in the rankings. After studying at CEIBS, graduates enjoyed an impressive 183% salary increase, also the highest among this year’s top five schools.

“The CEIBS MBA offers an excellent return on the investment our students make in their future. We continue to improve the level of support we provide to ensure that they emerge from our programme better positioned to move ahead in their careers,” said Associate Dean and MBA Director Professor Juan Antonio Fernandez. CEIBS is also focused on staying one step ahead of the trends that will impact graduates’ careers, adding, for example, Digital Business as a concentration in response to changes in the way the world does commerce. “The CEIBS MBA is the most advanced in the Asia Pacific. We have 22 electives focusing on digital or innovation related topics,” added Professor Fernandez.

This year’s FT rankings also confirm that CEIBS has done a better job of helping students advance in their careers and achieve the goals they set when enrolling. Alumni have clearly taken note of all these improvements and there has been an increase in the number of graduates who would recommend the CEIBS MBA to others.

At the same time, the rankings have reflected improvements in CEIBS’ continuous efforts to provide cutting edge research that makes a significant contribution to the field of academia and can also be applied in real life. The school’s faculty had 92 articles published in top journals between 2016 and 2018. There is also a strong focus on CSR, which the school’s leadership has made a focus at the strategic level of the organisation. For the last graduating class before the rankings were compiled, more than 40 hours of core MBA classes were related to CSR, ethics or social and environmental issues. CEIBS’ commitment to diversification in and outside of the classroom was also a factor reflected in the rankings. 

Meanwhile there have been other innovations and initiatives that have improved the CEIBS MBA experience even more. For example, CEIBS launched its patented Real Situation Learning Method (RSLM) that has revolutionised the traditional case method of teaching by placing both students and top company executives at the centre of face-to-face discussions that typically take place inside the company being analysed. There has also been a renewed focus on China, with new modules added to ensure that students have a solid foundation in understanding how business is done in the world’s second largest economy. They are given unparalleled access to major corporations that provide insight into vital economic trends such as the globalisation of Chinese companies, innovation in China and family business succession. This is complemented by student exchange outside China at some of the world’s best business schools, along with overseas elective modules (in the US, Japan, Israel, Malaysia and Europe) through which CEIBS provides vital insight into the global economy.

“Having the CEIBS MBA join our Global EMBA in the world’s top 5 of their respective rankings, a feat never before accomplished by an Asian business school and by only a handful of global ones, is an indicator that we are moving in the right direction,” said CEIBS Vice President and Dean Professor Ding Yuan. “Looking ahead, our focus will continue to be on providing rigorous, world class academic tutelage to those who know the value of a CEIBS education, and on the professional development of business leaders who will have a global impact.”

About CEIBS
China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) is among the top international business schools in Asia, where it is the only one to have simultaneously made it to the Financial Times’ top 5 list of MBA and EMBA programmes.

CEIBS has more than 22,000 alumni from over 80 countries worldwide, and over the last 25 years has provided a broad range of management programmes for more than 150,000 executives both at home and abroad. It also offers a Finance MBA, Hospitality EMBA and a wide range of Executive Education programmes. With a faculty team that has extensive China knowledge and global insight, CEIBS is uniquely equipped to nurture business leaders, at every stage of their careers, preparing them to make a global impact.  An unrivalled China expert, CEIBS is guided by the concept of China Focus, and Global Significance.  This is tangibly reflected in the school’s activities and operations at its 5 campuses across 3 continents: Asia, Africa and Europe. CEIBS has campuses in Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen in China, as well as Zurich in Switzerland, and Accra in Ghana.

December 6, 2018. Shanghai – The CEIBS MBA is the 10^th ranked two-year programme in the world and the highest ranked non-US programme, according to the Times Higher Education/WSJ Global Business School Rankings released today. A total of 114 business schools from 24 countries were included on the list, 54 of them with two-year MBA programmes. The CEIBS MBA is also ranked #8 globally and #1 in Asia by the Financial Times, while Forbes Magazine ranks it #1 in Asia and #3 globally among 2-year programmes outside the US.

“We welcome this additional opportunity to benchmark CEIBS and our MBA programme against the world’s best business schools. The results of this new ranking will help us identify ways in which we can improve on our efforts to provide our students and alumni with even more support and better service, in tandem with our continued focus on academic excellence,” said CEIBS President Professor Li Mingjun. “The importance of understanding the Chinese economy and its global role has never been greater. We will continue to provide our students with both the theoretical and practical skills they need to do so, and continue to be a platform for knowledge exchange that will have a positive impact on the Chinese and global economies.”

Launched for the first time this year, the THE/WSJ ranking assesses participants based on a broad range of 20 individual performance indicators broken down into 4 categories: Engagement, Environment, Resources and Outcomes. Based on responses from recent graduates, they are able to get a clear picture of the level of intellectual engagement students receive, how they interact with staff, how they apply what they learn in the real world, alumni success, and whether they would recommend the course to others. In addition to assessing the diversity and inclusiveness of the school’s environment, they also look at the resources the school provides to students – including factors such as the number and quality of staff and the level of career support provided. In order to measure the outcome of the two years of study, they assess the value of the professional network students are introduced to, employment opportunities and career success, and the school’s contribution to social good. 

Among the factors that would have helped CEIBS secure 10^th place would be the increasing global recognition of the quality of the school’s faculty (they make up a third of China’s most highly cited scholars in the fields of Business, Management and Accounting) and how it prepares students for the workforce. The combination of the patented CEIBS Real Situation Learning Method, which has revolutionized the traditional approach to case teaching, plus strong support from both the Career Development Centre and the school’s 20,000+ alumni network, provide CEIBS graduates with a clear advantage over their peers. More than 93% of MBA 2018 graduates were employed three months after graduation and their average salary increase was 95%. In addition to professional success, CEIBS also takes the lead in ensuring that students and alumni recognize the importance of social responsibility. Meanwhile the school leadership has spearheaded initiatives and scholarship programmes that ensure that a diverse group of students are enrolled each year at CEIBS’ five campuses on three continents. 

“We will identify areas in which we can improve while we continue to do what we do best. We are the bridge between China and the rest of the world, we are the source for China expertise within a global context. The THE/WSJ rankings reinforce CEIBS’ position as a major player in the field of business education,” said CEIBS Vice President & Dean Professor Ding Yuan.

Though it is being offered for the first time ever this year, the THE/WSJ Global Business School Rankings carries the weight of being a collaboration between the almost 50 year-old Times Higher Education and the newspaper with the largest circulation in the US, the Wall Street Journal.

November 28, 2018. Accra – China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) today launched its Business Accelerator programme, an initiative aimed at providing African enterprises with the support needed for growth, increased revenue and profitability. The project is an initiative of CEIBS Africa.

The programme will focus on existing businesses that have the potential to diversify and scale up rapidly. With the right blend of business development services, technical support and value chain linkages, plus mentoring by both local and Chinese peers, businesses selected for the programme will be provided with access to much needed inputs, new markets and industry experts. They will then be expected to create innovative solutions that can capitalise on business and commercial value chains in Africa.

The CEIBS Africa Business Accelerator programme is unique in its ability to provide connection and interaction with Chinese businesses, its focus on social and environmental impact as well as the ability to provide access to financing. Businesses selected for the programme will also have access to a working space for 4 months, benefit from a customized training itinerary, international and local coaching and mentorship, access to professional services (legal, accounting, communication, etc.), access to seed grants based on milestone attainment, relationships with potential investors and financial institutions, and links to interested Chinese companies that can help entrepreneurs grow their businesses.  

The well attended launch of the programme attracted business owners seeking support in their quest for sustained growth, CEIBS alumni, members of the Chinese community in Ghana, business coaches, diplomats and other major industry players.

As explained by the Executive Director of CEIBS Africa, Professor Mathew Tsamenyi, the idea for the Accelerator programme emerged from the school’s desire to see the emergence of global and multi-million dollar businesses in Africa. He lauded Professor Pedro Nueno, CEIBS Honorary President (European), for his enormous support to the Business Accelerator programme. “In June, Professor Nueno was here with about 26 Spanish CEOs to launch an ambitious 100 million dollar entrepreneurship fund. To answer the question of how we operationalise this fund, we decided to set up an accelerator programme where we will identify viable businesses and then support these businesses with finance and access to market, which are the main challenges that enterprises face,” he said.  

Professor Tsamenyi also introduced the 14 businesses who will make up the programme’s first batch of participants: Joy Springs Company Limited, Market Express, Farmer Torks Greeneries, Ultimate Credit Solutions Limited, F-EBIE Investments, Kasi Express, Scarlette Eagle, SedaCreative, Chaste Shoes, WestCape Technologies, Green Afro-Palms (GAP), StarterPack Ghana, Ninety3 Studios and Shikakorpe.     

In his keynote address, the Economic and Commercial Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in Ghana, Mr. Chai Zhijing, commended the strong entrepreneurial spirit among Ghanaians and challenged participants to take advantage of the platform that CEIBS has provided. “Prior to my arrival in Ghana some two years ago, I had been to other African countries and I can confirm that the enthusiasm among Ghanaians to nurture the private sector is very strong. During the twice yearly import-export trade fair held in Guangzhou, the response from Ghana to the invitation has always been very enthusiastic while elsewhere people are not so eager about this very important fair,” he said.  

Madam Hamdiya Ismaila, General Manager of Ghana Venture Capital Trust Fund and guest speaker for the event, shared her thoughts on what investors look for before putting their money into a business. She stressed two elements that would help enterprises attract the right investors: the owner’s thorough knowledge of his or her business and the presence of a mentor or advisor who inspires him or her. “Investors will generally put their money into businesses that they are convinced about. As investors have to bet that they are going to plough back their money with profits when they invest in your business, you will have to do your bit as a business owner to demonstrate deep knowledge of your business and boost their confidence. You will need to build a good team and put together an advisory board made up of the right people to convince investors that their money will be put to good use,” she said.  

She noted that as accelerators are built to foster the rapid growth of businesses, they are a catalyst for national economic development, places where new businesses are created while existing ones develop growth strategies, leading to the creation of jobs and wealth. She concluded by encouraging the businesses selected for the CEIBS Africa Business Accelerator programme to think big while also being willing to start small.

As part of the day’s launch there was a panel discussion on the topic “How to sustain and grow your business.” It was moderated by CEIBS Associate Professor of Management Professor Daniel Han Ming Chng. Mr. Michael Amankwa, Director of NESST Capital; Madam Barbara Agyeman, Director of Jenisi and Associates Limited; Dr. Josep Maria Romances, CEO of Gordon Investment in Barcelona, Spain and Madam Pearl Esua-Mensah, CEO of Feniks Limited made up the panel.  

Panellists took turns offering advice to participants, including the importance of understanding their financial data, investing in their own growth, paying attention to the culture they want to create within their organisations, and understanding why they are starting their businesses in the first place.

For more information on the CEIBS Africa Business Accelerator programme please contact Lady Diana or Kenneth on 0244341029/0544339764 or via email ndiana@ceibs.edu/ akenneth@ceibs.edu.

October 15, 2018. Shanghai – China Europe International Business School’s Global Executive MBA has moved up nine spots to #5 in the Financial Times’ 2018 ranking of the world’s top 100 EMBA programmes. This is the second CEIBS programme the FT has ranked within the top 10 this year. The CEIBS MBA was ranked #8 globally and #1 in Asia in January. This makes CEIBS the first ever Asian school to have two programmes ranked within the FT’s top 10. In the EMBA ranking released today, the CEIBS Global EMBA is also the highest-ranked stand-alone programme. All four programmes ranked above it are collaborations between at least two schools whose combined data are factored into the results. As the rankings have shown, the independently offered CEIBS Global EMBA offers an increasingly international and diverse experience in providing a world class education with continued improvements being made in the quality of the school’s research.  

“These results confirm that we offer a globally competitive programme,” said CEIBS President Li Mingjun in reacting to the news. “We will intensify our efforts to meet the needs of our students, socially responsible business leaders who are shaping the global economy.”

The annual FT ranking of EMBA programmes is well respected and highly anticipated by business schools around the world as it is seen as a valuable benchmark of their performance. It is compiled every year primarily from surveys of classes that graduated three years earlier. The #5 spot is a historic high for the CEIBS Global EMBA and highest ever ranking of all the school’s programmes. The CEIBS Global EMBA was propelled upwards by improvements in nine of the 16 criteria used in the ranking. These include a better performance in areas which measure the programme’s impact on graduates’ careers and its overall diversity. CEIBS Global EMBA continues to improve in the percentage of international students and the opportunities to broaden their world view by doing classes in various locations around the world. Core courses offered at the school’s campuses in Shanghai, Accra and Zurich are complemented by seven global elective modules delivered in seven countries across five continents. The programme is an integral part of the school’s wider globalisation strategy.  

“Our Global EMBA being ranked fifth in the world is definitive proof that the programme’s unique model works,” said CEIBS Vice President and Dean Professor Ding Yuan. “After three years of hard work since our Zurich campus was established in 2015, CEIBS has achieved synergized and stable operations at our five campuses on three continents. In the future, as the school continues to expand to North America and other regions, CEIBS will better meet the needs of business leaders around the world.”

CEIBS Associate Dean of Global EMBA Professor Nikos Tsikriktsis stressed, “The difference between CEIBS Global EMBA and other business schools is that our students are corporate executives selected from different countries in Asia, Europe and Africa and they form a unique class that is truly global. They benefit from the expertise of a strong international faculty team, and classes in major global cities that are shaping the future of business.” He added, “As the global and Chinese economies continue to develop, the world’s business elite face serious challenges. They can only remain competitive if they fully grasp the importance of, and pursue, opportunities for lifelong learning. In response to economic trends and changes in market demand, we have been proactively optimizing the CEIBS Global EMBA curriculum. Our team is committed to providing professional, cutting-edge business knowledge – both theoretical and practical. We are constantly making innovations to our teaching methods, and have extended the pursuit of knowledge beyond the traditional classroom to build a platform for continued learning."     

In addition to its assessment of graduates’ career progress and school diversity, the FT also ranks schools based on research/CSR, areas in which CEIBS has performed well. CEIBS has made CSR a focus at the strategic level of the organisation, with classes on ethics included as part of the curriculum. Meanwhile, there has been a steady increase in the quality and quantity of research produced by the school’s faculty who have extensive expertise in five disciplines. Their research has been steadily gaining international recognition over the years, with their papers published in world renowned academic journals. Between 2014 and 2017, CEIBS faculty had 125 articles published in top journals. For the last three years, on a list of scholars compiled by the world-renowned academic publisher Elsevier, CEIBS faculty have accounted for a third of the most cited researchers from Chinese business schools in the fields of Business, Management and Accounting, an indicator of the strength of the school’s research capabilities.

“We will continue to strengthen our efforts to engage in rigorous research that has practical implications for the business world and our students,” said CEIBS President Li Mingjun. “We fully recognise that academic rigour is an integral part of our efforts to educate the business leaders of tomorrow.”

News about the ranking came days after the Global EMBA Class of 2016 graduated at a ceremony in Dubai, the first time ever students had their graduation ceremony in the UAE. This was yet another indicator of CEIBS Global EMBA’s reputation as a truly global programme, and CEIBS as an international business school with its roots in China.

The next CEIBS Global EMBA class begins in November 2018.

About CEIBS Global EMBA (http://www.ceibs.edu/gemba)  
The CEIBS Global EMBA is a top-ranked, part-time programme that balances China Depth and Global Breadth for high-achieving business leaders who want to take their career and personal development to the next level. With modules available in 11 cities worldwide, a diverse student body from more than 20 countries, and two integrated cohorts running between China, Europe and Africa, CEIBS Global EMBA provides unparalleled opportunities for participants to expand their global network, while plugging into China’s largest business school alumni network.
Contact details http://www.ceibs.edu/gemba/contact    

About CEIBS (www.ceibs.edu)
China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) is among the top international business schools in Asia, where it is the only one to have simultaneously made it to the Financial Times’ top 30 list of MBA, EMBA, and Executive Education programmes.

CEIBS has more than 20,000 alumni from more than 80 countries worldwide, and has provided a broad range of management programmes for more than 150,000 executives both at home and abroad. CEIBS’ faculty team is uniquely equipped to deliver a combination of China Depth and Global Breadth in both teaching and research.

CEIBS has campuses in Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Zurich, and Accra.

September 29, 2018. Shanghai – Pascal Lamy, former Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and former European Commissioner for Trade, is the latest internationally renowned statesman to join the faculty of China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) as a Distinguished Professor.

"I am eagerly looking forward to an exchange of ideas with the faculty, students and alumni of CEIBS, a business school with strong ties to both China and Europe,” said Mr. Lamy. “With three campuses in China, one in Europe and another in Africa, CEIBS is known for not just its growing global presence but also the high calibre of its faculty and alumni, as well as the academic rigour of its various programmes.”

He added that he hopes his contribution, during his visits, will enrich the already stimulating intellectual discourse on campus and provide the framework for even more lively debates on issues of global importance.     

“Mr. Lamy’s expertise on global trade cannot be overstated and, in today’s climate of rules being reviewed and new being paths charted, his addition to our already excellent faculty team takes on added significance,” said CEIBS Vice President and Dean Professor Ding Yuan.

During his three-year tenure, Mr. Lamy will collaborate closely with CEIBS faculty to develop new ideas and research designs as well as engage in intellectual discourse and projects primarily aimed at fostering greater understanding between China and Europe. “He may also touch on other global issues that are both within his areas of expertise and that will also provide further enlightenment for our students, alumni and faculty. We look forward to welcoming Mr. Lamy for his first visit to our flagship Shanghai Campus this December, when his appointment takes effect,” added Dean Ding.

Pascal Lamy is a two-time Director-General of the WTO, serving from 2005 to 2009 and a second four-year term up to 2013. At the WTO, he was credited with pushing for a new Doha round of world trade talks and advocated reform within the organisation. Earlier in his career, he served a full term as European Commissioner for Trade (1999 – 2004), making a name for himself as someone highly adept at managing the powerful civil servants in his department.

A leading international political figure, Mr. Lamy currently serves as the Honorary President of the Paris-based think tank Notre Europe. Born in Levallois-Perret, a suburb of Paris in April 1947, he began his career in the French civil service at the Inspection générale des finances (IGF) and the French treasury department. He later became a close advisor to Finance Minister Jacques Delors and subsequently to Prime Minister Pierre Mauroy.

From 1985 to 1994, Mr. Lamy served as the Chief of Staff for the President of the European Commission Jacques Delors and his representative as an emissary to the G7. In November 1994, he joined the team in charge of rescuing Credit Lyonnais and later became CEO of the bank until its privatisation in 1999 when he became Commissioner for Trade at the European Commission.

Mr. Lamy presently holds a number of positions related to global governance, trade, ethics, Europe, Africa and Asia including President of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council, chair of the World Committee on Tourism Ethics and Professeur associé at École des Hautes Études Commerciales (HEC Paris).

Mr. Lamy has earned degrees from both HEC and École nationale d'administration (ENA). He is also an honorary graduate of major universities in Bangladesh, Belgium, Canada, Switzerland and the UK.

About CEIBS
China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) is among the top international business schools in Asia, where it is the only one to have simultaneously made it to the Financial Times’ top 30 list of MBA, EMBA, and Executive Education programmes.

CEIBS has more than 20,000 alumni from more than 80 countries worldwide, and has provided a broad range of management programmes for more than 150,000 executives both at home and abroad. CEIBS’ faculty team is uniquely equipped to deliver a combination of China Depth and Global Breadth in both teaching and research.

CEIBS has campuses in Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Zurich, and Accra.

September 12, 2018. Shanghai – Using data from this year’s China Business Survey which he co-authored, CEIBS Associate Dean & Professor of Management Juan Antonio Fernandez this evening provided solid advice on how to do business in and with China in the years ahead.

“The biggest change in the country has been social. The middle class is the future,” he said.

He was speaking to members of the European Union’s diplomatic community in Shanghai and business executives during a forum on Sino-EU Cooperation. The venue was CEIBS Shanghai Campus. The event is part of CEIBS’ efforts, on the 15th anniversary of the China-EU Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, to fulfil its role as a platform to further enhance China-EU communication and cooperation, both in business and culture, along with providing a window of China's reform and opening up in the education sector.     

Professor Fernandez began by sharing insights on today’s China, based on results of his annual survey of Chinese and foreign executives who do business in the country. The results have shown that the “good times” are over in China with increasing competition from domestic firms, rising labour costs and a slowdown in the economy.  Finding and retaining middle management continues to be a challenge, with their cost advantage eroded companies are now forced to be more innovative in order to compete, and foreign firms have a hard time getting their HQs to understand that China has changed and so should their approach to how they engage with the market.  

Pointing out that sections of China are ahead of the west in many aspects of the digital revolution ($790 billion in mobile payment transactions in 2016 vs $74 billion in the US and first in terms of the adoption of fintech), Prof. Fernandez spoke of the huge impact middle class generated consumption will have in the years ahead. “Global middle-class consumption will shift heavily toward China, India and other Asian countries (excluding Japan) as the high-income countries see their share decrease,” he told the audience.

The key is to be prepared for this shift.

He then spoke, in his capacity as Director of CEIBS MBA programme of how the school is preparing tomorrow’s leaders to do business with China of the future. The focus is on a combination of experiential learning and innovation. Through the school’s patented Real Situation Learning Method, MBAs gain insights into the China market through visits to companies used in case studies. They cover topics such as innovation, family business, healthcare and globalisation of Chinese companies with visits to companies in Shenzhen, Ningbo, Shanghai as well as Nanjing & Kunshan, respectively. This China Depth is complemented by overseas modules that provide Global Breadth and there is also a deep dive into the fast-paced digital revolution. There are courses, for example, on digital marketing, creativity & design thinking, modern marketing communications, and more. “We will need creativity and innovation to ‘robot proof’ our jobs,” said Prof. Fernandez.

A lively Q&A session followed his speech.

Today’s event was the first of two planned for the European diplomatic community in China. The next event will be in Beijing on September 21.

September 7, 2018. Shanghai – Former Prime Minister of France and faculty member at CEIBS Dominique de Villepin today told a group of Chinese academics that it is vital for Europe and China to work together to balance the “chaos” being caused by the policies of US President Donald Trump. He also warned that waiting for the US to revert to its pre-Trump approach on how it engages with China is a “big mistake” as America’s strategy of containing China’s rise has support beyond the current administration. 

The strategy of today’s America, he said, is based on “taking advantage of chaos, pitting one against another, divide and diminish”. It is based, he added, on the premise that anyone who competes with the US is an enemy on the grounds of national security. “This is the new law in the international community and it will not change when Trump goes,” he said. 

He was speaking at a seminar hosted by the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies (SIIS) and China Europe International Business School (CEIBS), China’s leading international business school. Mr. de Villepin, who is Distinguished Professor and Chairman of the International Advisory Board at CEIBS, is in Shanghai for five days of lectures and speeches with the school’s faculty, students and alumni. Today’s event at SIIS was a high-level discussion with academics from a number of leading business schools with topics ranging from China-EU relations, Iran, North Korea, Syria, the Middle East, and more. The US’ impact on global affairs was a common thread throughout, and one on which there appeared to be a general consensus. However some questioned whether Prof. de Villepin’s views on China-EU relations were widely shared across Europe.  

He had a well-argued case, beginning by presenting an overview of the current global environment, telling his audience that we are in an age of division and volatility. He made the point that it is now a “historic time of risk in Europe”, meanwhile US unilateralism has destroyed many of the gains made in diplomacy over the last 10 years. These two elements, he said, have led to trust being shaken in the West. 

He also warned that the risk of war has never been higher than it is today, with economic confrontations fuelling tensions that the WTO has “done a poor job” of defusing; the battle for technological dominance; and the risk of direct confrontation that accompanies ballooning military budgets and nuclear proliferation. He spoke of China’s role as a “major pole of stability” in this troubled landscape, pointing to how the country’s rise has transformed global governance. “More influence has led to more responsibility for China in the international system,” said Prof. de Villepin. “It means diplomatic responsibility, economic and financial commitment and it also means climatic responsibility.”

He stressed that despite the gains it has made, China cannot, by itself, be the counterbalance to the “disruption” being caused by the US which appears to be having a “nervous breakdown”. “At one point rationality should win. We need China and Europe to stop thinking they can count on the US. They cannot. We need to take on our responsibility for now, while the US cannot,” he said. The outcome of ongoing negotiations with Iran, he told his audience, would be an indicator of how the US would approach the denuclearisation of North Korea and should therefore be keenly watched. He added that there will eventually be a price for the US’ current policies in the Middle East as there will be no way of stopping “the spiralling in the region”.

He ended his speech by outlining solid proposals on how China and the EU could work together to become the “cornerstone of new global order based on multilateralism”. Building on their common vision of peace and shared prosperity, what both sides now need to move their relationship to the next level, he said, was a new “backbone”. 

“Economic coordination must be driven by adapted structures fostering dialogue and understanding,” he stressed. Saying this year’s creation of a French-Chinese corporate Council is a step in the right direction, he argued that more needs to be done “to further develop tools of action focused on key issues like reciprocity, transparency and access to public markets”. France and China, he suggested, could create a public office for investment jointly ruled by both Presidencies to systematically address these matters. “I am also convinced we need to develop cooperation in implementing the Belt and Road Initiative. A permanent secretary could be created between Beijing and Brussels to discuss the best projects and synergies, for example between the AIIB and the European Bank of Investment,” he said. 

Prof. de Villepin also spoke of the importance of political and diplomatic coordination in building an alternative to unilateralism, repeating his previous calls for the creation of a G4 that would bring together Paris, Berlin, Beijing and Moscow.  

“At one point we need to send a strong message to the US that we are not going to be accepting such madness [like what we are seeing now], and I think the moment has come!” he said.

About CEIBS
China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) is among the top international business schools in Asia, where it is the only business school to have simultaneously made it to the Financial Times’ top 30 list of MBA, EMBA and Executive Education programmes.

CEIBS has more than 20,000 alumni from more than 80 countries worldwide, and has provided a broad range of management programmes for more than 150,000 executives both at home and abroad. CEIBS’ faculty team is uniquely equipped to deliver a combination of China Depth and Global Breadth in both teaching and research.

CEIBS has campuses in Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen Zurich and Accra.

July 30, 2018. Shanghai – CEIBS Professor Sheng Songcheng was among a group of newly-appointed counsellors of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government who today received letters of appointments from Deputy Secretary of the CPC Shanghai Committee and the Mayor of Shanghai Ying Yong. To date, there are 30 counsellors, both accomplished scholars and seasoned experts in their fields, serving as the brain trust of the Government.

Other newly-appointed or reappointed counsellors include: -

Jiang Ping, Director of the Counsellors’ Office of the Shanghai Municipal People's Government;

Shi Liangping, Former Director of the Institute of Economics, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences; Decision-making Consultant of the Shanghai Municipal People's Government; Director of China Statistical Society;

Chen Hongmin, Director of the Research Centre of Industrial Organisation & Technological Innovation, Shanghai Jiao Tong University;

Ji Ping, Former Secretary of the CPC group of Shanghai Taiwan Compatriots Friendship Association;

Jia Weiping, President of Shanghai 6th People's Hospital and Director of the Shanghai Clinical Medical Centre for Diabetes;

Xu Yihua, Professor and Director of Department of International Politics, School of International Relations and Public Affairs, Fudan University;

Tang Zilai, Professor of College of Architecture & Urban Planning, Tongji University; and

Wang Xiao’an, Chief Architect of East China Architectural Design and Research Institute.

Dr. Sheng Songcheng is Adjunct Professor of Economics and Finance at CEIBS. He has been granted Special Government Allowances of the State Council since 1999 and was deputy to the 11^th National People’s Congress. He is among the first scholars to introduce western monetary financial theory into China. He is the main author of Modern Monetary Economics, the very first book from China that systematically described western monetary economic theory, and a prescribed textbook for many years. He was also the main creator of The Aggregate Finance to the Real Economy (AFRE), which has become one of the key indicators of China’s financial macro-regulation. For more than three decades, he has continuously engaged in teaching or research, and has taught more than 100 PhD and Masters candidates, cultivating a multitude of excellent financial talent. Dr. Sheng Songcheng was granted the Scientific Research Award for young scholars by the Henry Fok Educational Foundation, and has published more than 100 papers in leading journals in his field including Social Sciences in China, Economic Research Journal, Academic Monthly, Journal of Financial Research, Finance & Trade Economics, China Finance, etc. He is also the author of several books that have had commercial success. In addition, he is the chief editor of The Theory and Practice of the Aggregate Financing of the Real Economy, which the China Financial Education Development Foundation awarded first prize for excellent research. His newly-published book Central Bank and the Money Supplyis one of the most authoritative in China’s monetary financial field. It has received high praise and has been well received.

During his service at the Central Bank over the past 20+ years, Prof. Sheng has successively held seven positions in Shanghai, Zhejiang, Northeast China and Beijing. He is the former Director General of the Financial Survey and Statistics Department at the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) and President of PBoC Shenyang Branch. He has several times acted as spokesman of the State Council Information Office and during press conferences on financial statistics and financial operations held by the PBoC, interpreting financial operational trends for the general public, promoting the Central Bank’s monetary policies, and enhancing the transparency of monetary policies. His work has generated positive social impact. His past roles also include counsellor of the PBoC. Based on constant and in-depth research, he compiled and published a series of policy research reports and academic papers. He has also delivered public speeches and was interviewed by both domestic and foreign media. He provided policy advice to the leadership for decision-making and facilitated policy communication between the Central Bank and the market, actions that have had relatively significant influence on society. His policy research reports were recognised by the Party Central Committee and major leaders of Shanghai Municipal People’s Government

At today’s appointment ceremony, Dr. Sheng delivered remarks on behalf of all newly-appointed counsellors. In his speech, he made a number of suggestions on further pushing forward with establishing Shanghai as an international financial centre. His first point was that, compared to the leading international financial centres, Shanghai still has a lot of room for improvement in terms of its business environment and innovation cities Index. Recently, the Central Government gave approval for Shanghai to establish China’s first and only financial court. Dr. Sheng noted that this court deserves to be promoted and predicted that it will make improvements to the financial legal environment. He stressed that the construction of both the international financial centre and the global centre of innovation in science and technology could be integrated, a move that would reinforce the support of finance to the real economy and drive co-development of both the city’s state-owned and the private economies. Second, he said, China’s new round of opening-up, especially opening-up in the financial service industry, represents a huge opportunity for the advancement of efforts to transform Shanghai into an international financial centre. He noted that the city possesses quite an advantage in the establishment of the financial market, financial infrastructure and human resources. These factors, he added, means Shanghai can be a pioneer and a model location in the new round of financial opening-up, providing lessons for the rest of the country and worthy of further support from the Central Government. His third point was that Shanghai should make good use of its own strengths and develop its own signature style in constructing an international financial centre. He added that, during recent years, the integrated development of finance and technology has created a new trend and has excellent prospects in application. Many countries and regions including Britain, Singapore and Hong Kong have been actively pushing forward with innovations in fintech. Noting that Shanghai has gathered a great number of talented individuals in the field, he said this is an advantage it should rely on in seizing opportunities in fintech competitions in both the domestic and global markets. Maintaining this edge, he said, would require more investment and strengthening the prospective studies in this area, he added.