November 16, 2018. Shanghai – The CEIBS Board of Directors today held its Annual Meeting at the School’s Shanghai Campus. The meeting was chaired by Board Chairman Professor Lin Zhongqin, who is Academician of China Academy of Engineering and President of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and Vice Chairman Gerard van Schaik, Honorary Chairman of EFMD.

During the meeting, CEIBS’ Presidents and Deans briefed the Board, covering both broader aspects – such as reflections on overall issues, CEIBS’ priorities in building its competitive advantage – and more concrete issues such as faculty and research, “Internationalization 2.0”, the school’s financial status and Budget Plan 2019. The Board approved all reports and plans submitted by the school and unanimously agreed that the independence and autonomy of CEIBS should be insisted upon. The Board had high praise for CEIBS’ progress in 2018 and the work of the Management Committee, especially its teamwork and entrepreneurial spirit, as well as the strategic vision displayed in the reports submitted. The Board also made a number of comments and suggestions, such as using the occasion of CEIBS’ 25th anniversary to strengthen ties within high levels of both the Chinese and EU governments, creating synergy with local communities for societal significance, enhancing the school’s European dimension, continuing innovation with digital education and internationalization, etc.

November 18, 2018. Shanghai – CEIBS President Li Mingjun was among the speakers that opened and laid the groundwork for discussions during the CEIBS 2018 Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the Digital Economy Forum held today at the school's Shanghai Campus. The forum is part of this year's annual reunion celebrations that attracted an audience of more than 700 people including experts and scholars on the digital economy, CEIBS leaders and faculty, alumni and students. Also among the speakers that opened today's forum were CEIBS Professor of Management, Zhu Xiaoming and a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Prof. He Jifeng.

They set the stage for discussions to come throughout the day-long event, touching on the importance of the digital era which is now shaping every aspect of the global economy, and how it is tied to both innovation and entrepreneurship.

“This is a time of creation that is full of possibilities and rapid iterations,” President Li pointed out at the beginning of his speech. “When we talk about innovation and entrepreneurship in the digital economy era, we are looking at how traditional enterprises can find their core competitiveness within this new environment as well as how start-up digital enterprises are opening up new tracks and creating new opportunities.” The digital economy has not only changed the way in which information is transmitted and how knowledge is acquired, but also the model of the resources allocated and value created by traditional industries. It has transformed longstanding patterns of industrial competition and will reshape the core competitiveness of enterprises, forcing traditional industries to seek innovation and change, to find survival skills more suitable for the current environment. This is both an unprecedented challenge and a historic opportunity. In his address, President Li encouraged CEIBS alumni from all walks of life to seize this opportunity to change the world, to use their creations to illuminate the future, to express their passion and dreams, to develop their knowledge and expertise, for the benefit of China and the wider world. With the "China depth and global breadth” that a CEIBS education provides, he said, there are more opportunities and possibilities to create a better future.

In his speech titled “A Giant Leap from the Industrial to the Digital Economy”, former CEIBS President Zhu Xiaoming looked at the important role that the digital economy is playing in driving economic development. He pointed out that many countries around the world have positioned the digital economy at the height of their development strategy, with China's digital economy ranked second in the world. “There are only two types of companies in the current business economy – the typical commercial company and the highly digital enterprise. The former is entangled in the leap of the digital economy, experiencing a baptism at the basic market level. The latter is entering a synergistic and smart economy, and is on the way to the future," he said. “Entering the digital economy era, artificial intelligence is at your fingertips; and data, computing power, and algorithms have become hot spots in the artificial intelligence industry. As far as China's current situation is concerned, data is an area of strength, and computing power is catching up, but in terms of the algorithm China is not as strong, and the algorithm is precisely the most valuable part of artificial intelligence.” He also stressed that developing a new generation of apps, transforming the manufacturing industry's production process, or the business processes of the supply chain and service industries, is a way to improve efficiency at minimal cost.

Prof. Zhu is well known for his work on the digital economy and during today's forum both the Chinese and English versions of his book Emerging Champions in the Digital Economy were officially released. The English version of the book was selected as a "2018 Classic China Project".

Prof. Zhu's speech was followed by input from another academic, Prof. He Jifeng, who is a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He touched on “Knowledge of the Digital Economy: Something One Must Know in Contemporary Society”. He focused mainly on development trends in the digital economy, the explosion in technological innovation, the disruptive impact of digital technology, ad gave examples of how innovation can impact enterprises. He pointed out that since the beginning of the last century, the global economy has undergone tremendous changes, and technology has become the main driving force for global growth. It is estimated that by 2020, the number of IoT devices will be three times that of the population, which puts higher demand on interconnection. “Connectivity is a very important part of the digital economy,” said Prof. He.

He also shared his views on the future of the digital economy: by 2025, the population connected to the internet will increase by 2 billion up to 3 billion; artificial intelligence will generate new value of US$5-7 trillion for white-collar work. He added that there was still a lot of room for improvement; for example in the future human genetic sequencing may be available within an hour at only a cost of $100; driverless cars may significantly reduce the number of deaths resulting from car accidents; North American oil production could increase by 100-200%; and the percentage of solar and wind power generation's contribution to the grid could climb to 16%.

He explained that the digital economy is inevitable, arising from the existence of high-end products, increasing human capital and international trends. It will bring excess value to consumers and is attracting a lot of capital, he noted. There are currently 176 unicorns in the field, an indicator that the digital economy is not just being encouraged by the government, but is also being driven by the market. For China, the development of information technology will become a new model to promote economic transformation and support innovation-driven strategies.

"The development of information technology is a model of contemporary scientific and technological innovation, and it is a vivid display of innovation-driven development," Prof. He concluded. He also pointed out that the development of information technology is equivalent to a 'big bang'. Originally impacting only a few people, it is now closely related to every aspect of human life. Currently, this big bang model is at the stage of "human, machine, and material integration" – human beings are subjects, objects are carriers, and computers are the means of transmission. The digital realms that will disrupt the economy in the future include: mobile internet, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, cloud technology, advanced robotics, driverless, genomics and energy storage technologies.

November 18, 2018. Shanghai – In a vigorous discussion of AI that went well beyond the typical questions about whether computers will steal our jobs, leading executives from Microsoft China, iFLYTEK and Yi Technologies today joined a leading academic expert to discuss the digital economy’s role in industrial development. The discussion, held at CEIBS Shanghai Campus, took place during the CEIBS 2018 Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the Digital Economy Forum.

The question of job safety was briefly address, however, by iFLYTEK Executive President and Chief Scientist Yu Hu during a speech delivered ahead of the panel discussion. As he reassured the audience that machines and humans will need to work together in the future, no matter what the technological gains made, the real-time transcript of his presentation popped up on the screen behind him, showcasing iFLYTEK’s voice recognition prowess.

Yu also shared his views, during the panel, on what digitisation means to modern companies. He believes it will impact not just traditional management-related issues but also those related to products, people and how they are managed. “But, most importantly,” he added, “will the world in which the company is operating change, and will your positon in the cosmos change as a result?”

Microsoft China Vice President Richard Feng had a less philosophical view. Referencing Gartner’s definition of the digital economy, he said, “My understanding is that it is where data is a new currency. There are new forces available, we have to make use of them. For example customers’ online complaints can be transformed into power [that this insight provides].” Earlier in his presentation, Feng had also touched upon the importance of leveraging digitalisation to provide value. “We do not innovate for the sake of innovation, but to create value for our clients,” he said. “We should not just achieve digitalisation of current business, but [also ask ourselves], what can we do to create new business?”

That was also an issue raised by Professor He Jifeng. He is a Computer Software Scientist who is also an Academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences as well as East China Normal University’s Dean of the School of Computer Science and Software Engineering. He spoke of the transition that has been made, for example, in the added value we obtain from commodities. “Before, the added value was mainly the product itself; but now [for example] other than the selling price of a car there is additional value [that we can derive]. I can rent it to you and get an income. Or you can sit in my car and I can charge for the experience,” he said as he made the case for the need to optimise technology to change existing business models. “In the early days, technology was used to solve management problems, we used computers to do things like accounting. Now they are used everywhere from small work stations to factories, so everything will change.”

For YI Technology Founder & CEO Da Shengwei, despite the changes that are revolutionising the business world, there is one constant: data. In offering his take on how today’s companies can make use of digitalisation, he spoke about the importance of data and the need to have adequate storage. “Data is the only thing that will continue to grow exponentially. Traditional companies were about how much hardware and software they had. If data and hardware increase exponentially the only solution is algorithm to the Cloud level and the Edge level. So, in future, we should make investments in the Cloud,” he suggested. Yi Technology is a start-up artificial intelligence algorithm company whose business model is based on using less – but highly efficient – computing power to provide service to its corporate users and end consumers, now at 13 million and growing. They are trying to “make the real economy smarter [by improving] the interface between humans and machines, [closing the gap between the] real economy and physical world.”

The CEIBS 2018 Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the Digital Economy Forum was part of a broader series of events that marked the school’s annual alumni reunion weekend.

November 17, 2018. Shanghai – What will be China’s role in the “$26 trillion impact sector that is turning the economic system on its head?” That was the question Amit Bhatia, CEO of the Global Steering Group for Impact Investment, left with the audience after his keynote speech during today’s CEIBS Global Impact Investing Forum. His audience included mainly alumni of China’s leading international business school, CEIBS, who are on campus for their annual reunion over the next two days. Bhatia challenged them to think about the role they – and China – can play in the impact movement that has its sights set on repairing the societal and environmental damage done by capitalism 1.0, as we move forwards the more equitable 2.0 version.

“An impact revolution and impact movement is possible because $26 trillion is not to be scoffed at,” he said. Conceding that version 1.0 – where tech enterprises held sway over global capitalism for three decades – had significantly improved quality of life, he also pointed out that it had made the poor poorer and “it is devastating the planet”.

“It works for the 1%, it doesn't work for the 100%,” he said. His company, GSG, describes itself as an independent global steering group catalysing impact investment and entrepreneurship to benefit people and the planet. During his speech, Bhatia cited the billions of dollars invested by countries around the world as a show of global support for the “movement”.  He also listed three traits – shared by all previous successful movements – which he pointed to as signals that this initiative is “on the right side of history”. The impact movement, like other successful ones before it, he said, will “restore justice or balance”. He also noted that it is “replicable and reinterpretable” saying it is clear that “profit and purpose are here to coexist”. His third point was that the movement is inclusive, bringing together private and public markets, big business and small start-ups, and other players typically on opposite sides of the fence. “The revolution we are talking about has these core characteristics that ensure it will end up on the right side of history,” he said. “We have a unique opportunity to build a world where capitalism is more human, a rare opportunity to make sure capitalism 2.0 works for the whole – not just the 1%. Our role is to work together to make sure capital finds its highest purpose.”

Earlier in the day, during his welcome address, CEIBS President Li Mingjun spoke about the role the school can play in addressing the negative fallout (such as the gap between rich and poor) from China’s rapid – and overall positive – economic growth and technological innovation. There is now increasing recognition, he said, that improving the well-being of people's livelihood is the fundamental purpose of economic development and efforts are underway, in various sections of the society, to gradually make the changes needed. “Today's themes – impact investment, responsible investment, etc. are the best evidence of this,” he said. “With the rise of social enterprise in China, the development of impact investment has fertile soil [in which to grow].” In his view, impact investing is an effective way for modern enterprises to fulfil their social responsibility and help sustainable development, traits that CEIBS has long advocated. “While realizing the creation of wealth, we will continue to promote economic development and social progress. CEIBS will continue to increase investment in research and education in this area,” said President Li.

The education sector’s role – along with that of other non-governmental players – was also explored by Ma Weihua, former President of China Merchants Bank turned philanthropist. Ma is currently Chairman of China Alliance of Social Value Investment and China Global Philanthropy Institute. “Now there is a gap between pursuit of better lives and unbalanced development, issues that will be addressed through supply side reform,” he said. “The government has made substantial investment in this regard, but we cannot rely on only government efforts. There is a big need for public goods and services, for example in the educational and health care fields. We need to pool the efforts from different areas of society.”

He also made the point that impact investing is in line with China’s five big overarching goals (innovation, coordination, green environment, openness, sharing) that will be the driving force behind the country’s transition from merely rapid growth to high quality development. It is no surprise, therefore that impact investing is becoming increasingly popular in the country. According to Ma, efforts are now being made to roll out standards, enhance communication between the government and other players, along with providing mechanisms for enhanced information sharing. “We want to build a good ecosystem and then we will have a better environment for impact investing,” he told the audience of CEIBS alumni representing a wide range of industries. “I hope you can join in this initiative.”

The issue of China’s role was further explored in the panel discussion that followed. (See related story here).

Today’s forum was geared towards providing participants with an understanding of global impact investing trends, an overview of sustainable and systematic structures of global impact investment, as well as China’s potential leadership role in impact investing and sustainable finance. It also included the release of the 2018 CSR Index of Listed Companies in China. (See related story here).

November 17, 2018. Shanghai – Nearly 400 faculty, students, and visitors from the business community gathered at CEIBS Shanghai Campus today for the Global Impact Investing Forum that explored topics such as trends in global impact investing and sustainable finance. It was one of a wider range of events and activities taking place this weekend as part of the 2018 CEIBS Alumni Reunion. As part of the forum, United Nations Social Impact Fund (UNSIF) Head Nan Li Collins moderated a panel which sought to tackle the question of whether or not China can become a leader in impact investing and sustainable finance.

Despite getting a late start when compared with other parts of the world, said EY China Head of Green Finance Judy Li, the story of impact investment in China has really been one of going from zero to hero. She also highlighted one of the biggest factors that has helped affect this change.

“Firstly, strong support in terms of policy from the government and from the Central Bank,” she said. “For example, the Chinese government recently selected eight districts in five provinces as pilot zones for issuing green bonds. [As part of these programmes,] local issuers receive subsidies from the government for the cost of issuing the bonds and investors are also given preferential treatment.”

Aegon Asset Management SVP and Global Head of Responsible Investments Harald Walkate offered a European perspective on the role of institutional investors and impact investment in China. Among other things, he noted the trend in adopting environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria when deciding which markets and sectors to move into.

“ESG has become very important for institutional investors. They’re trying to make good investments on behalf of their customers, so it means you do have to be creative,” he stated. “[As such,] institutional investors are interested in seeing what kind of ecosystem there is that they can participate in.”

When it comes to impact investment, however, one of the big questions which many observers have on their minds has to do with risk management. As UNIDO Goodwill Ambassador and Made in Africa Founder Helen Hai shared during the forum, at least part of the answer lies in the wave of new technologies being brought on by Industry 4.0.

“One thing we want to do is, we want to help people in less developed areas benefit from [impact investment],” she said. “In China, for example, there are about 6,000 foundations, but are they all transparent in their activities? In the future, blockchain technology can be used to ensure practices are more transparent and more impactful. [Blockchain] is also inclusive, so it means that everyone will be able to build a foundation using this technology.”

Nevertheless, despite recent advancements in financial technology and other areas, China Alliance of Social Value Investment and China Global Philanthropy Institute Chairman Ma Wei Hua said China still has a long way to go in terms of educating Chinese investors on different aspects of impact investing.

“We would really like to have a platform that can match project owners and capital owners as well as greater support for research,” he said. “As well, we don’t have standards on impact investment in China and we need intermediaries to come up with standards so investors can evaluate projects.”

Narada Foundation Chairman and China Social Enterprise and Impact Investing Forum Founding Partner Xu Yongguang added that one of the things project owners need to look for in investors is a willingness to maintain a long-term vision.

“On one hand, for social projects they take a little more time and you need to be a little bit more patient,” he explained. “On the other, they often have better ability to gather social resources because they usually operate in sectors which the government cares a lot about.”

Furthermore, when it comes to impacting investment in China, Harald Walkate emphasised the need for China to come up with a home grown approach to developing and maintaining an impact investment ecosystem.

“China can learn from Europe and the United States and we’re happy to work with China,” he said. “But at the same time you need to work it out in a way that works for China by working on business plans and being innovative and coming up with new investment tools. You have to do it in a way which works for China.”

November 14, 2018. Shanghai – More than 100 alumni, students, and friends of CEIBS gathered today at our Shanghai campus for the latest CEIBS Master Class on Globalisation, Innovation, and Industrial Excellence: Key Pillars of a Profitable Growth in the Automotive Industry. Hosted by CEIBS Vice President and Co-Dean Zhang Weijiong, the event was headlined by Compagnie Plastic Omnium Chairman and CEO Laurent Burelle.

Plastic Omnium is a world leader in intelligent exterior systems, clean energy systems, and modules for the automotive industry. The company operates 122 plants and 24 R&D centres worldwide, including nearly 30 facilities throughout China. Among other things, Plastic Omnium assembles front-end bumpers for Chinese automotive manufacturers. As such, Mr. Burelle explained, the company plays an important role in both quality assurance and risk management.

“We’re in safety products, where you’re allowed zero bad parts per million of deliveries,” he said. “Our customers don’t want to have expensive recalls. They’re expensive in terms of money, in terms of image, and in terms of market share. Every day you see companies making recalls – sometimes one or two million units – because of poor quality.”

He also spoke about the future of the industry, presenting both the challenges ahead and the opportunities. Despite present demand, he predicted that front-end bumpers and other similar lines of business might actually be dead in twenty years. On the other hand, he also believes the automotive industry is at the beginning of an exciting evolution.

“If there are autonomous cars in the future, then there are no accidents, so there is no need for bumpers,” he told the audience. “[But] you can redesign and it will be a fantastic time for designers and for modularity. There will be a lot of excitement and a lot of big business.”

Mr. Burelle also made the point that, even in the current global economic climate, it is important to resist the temptation to believe that the recent slowdown in the Chinese automotive industry inevitably translates into a slowdown for modular suppliers. In fact, he said, as cars continue to evolve, he expects even more opportunities to emerge.

“In the future, body parts are going to be much more complicated,” he explained. “As a result, [growth] will not be through market share in terms of number of cars, but in terms of the percentage of content per car. The strategy will be content per car, not total number of cars.”

Although China represents only about 16% of Plastic Omnium’s current worldwide revenue, Mr. Burelle emphasised that it is a crucial part of the company’s overall plans. In addition, he highlighted some of the reasons why it is important for the company to maintain a large number of facilities in close physical proximity to their Chinese automotive customers in order to stay profitable and meet their customers’ needs.

“Theoretically, you can send a part for a three-day journey from Harbin to Shenzhen, for example, but cost wise it’s not smart,” he said. “Also, you can’t stack large parts. If you go above 4% logistics and shipping costs, then a competitor who has a plant nearer to the customer will win the business.”

With the Chinese automotive industry predicted to plateau over the next two or three years, Mr. Burelle also told the audience to expect dramatic changes to the landscape in a country where the number of automotive makers has recently climbed into triple digits.

“The market has to consolidate and the market will consolidate,” he stated. “A lot of brands will disappear and be absorbed by other brands. Some of them have already disappeared. It isn’t possible to split a 30 million car market between 100 brands. In the end you will have ten leaders.”

Today’s event is part of the CEIBS Insights 2018 initiative aimed at celebrating the 15th anniversary of the China-EU Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Previous Master Classes have featured speakers such as former French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, Roland Berger CEO Charles-Edouard Bouée, and former Heineken CEO Gerard Van Schaik.

To keep pace with future CEIBS Master Classes and other upcoming events, visit the CEIBS events page here.

November 7, 2018. Shanghai – Nearly 400 CEIBS alumni, academics, media, and leaders from the service industry gathered at CEIBS Shanghai Campus today for the First Global Service Excellence Forum. The first of its kind co-hosted by CEIBS and École hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL), the forum focused on the theme of East Meets West, New Dimensions of Service.

It follows the recent inauguration of the CEIBS-EHL joint Hospitality Executive MBA (HEMBA) programme, which launched earlier this year in response to the strong demand for talented professionals in China’s service sector. As part of her opening address at today’s event, CEIBS Associate Dean (Europe), Professor of Management, and Director of the HEMBA Programme Katherine Xin praised the cooperation between CEIBS and EHL in staging the forum.

“This forum is intended to initiate and enhance communication across multiple service industries,” she said. “And together we hope it will serve as a platform to promote cross-industry cooperation.”

CEIBS President (European) and Professor of Marketing Dipak Jain joined in welcoming participants to the event. In his speech, he expressed his optimism for the future of the HEMBA programme, the forum, and the service industry.

“This, to me, is a step in the right direction,” he told those in attendance. “Life is all about experience. In the future, products are not going to be differentiated anymore. Instead, the service industry will help with everything from branding to bonding. It will be what attracts you and keeps you.”

EHL Board of Governors President André Witschi also offered a welcome address, during which he noted the timing and importance of the partnership between CEIBS and EHL.

“Every time I travel to China I see new hotels. The industry is really growing up and those who have chosen a career in this industry have made a very good decision,” he said. “International collaboration is essential for EHL and we are very proud that we have this cooperation we have with CEIBS. It will be a real powerhouse for future education in the service industry.”

CEIBS Adjunct Professor of Economics and Finance, Counsellor to the People’s Bank of China, and Executive Deputy Director of CLIIF Sheng Songcheng delivered the forum’s keynote speech in which he pointed out the importance of the service industry in helping to maintain a balanced economy in China.

“Many people feel that China is a trade surplus country, but while our trade in goods has indeed been growing for more than twenty years, our trade in services has been in deficit and that deficit is growing,” he explained. “In the first half of this year, China’s trade deficit in services was almost equivalent to the surplus in our trade in goods.”

In addition, despite the rising status of the service sector, Prof. Sheng stated that, when compared with other developed economies, China still has a lot of catching up to do.

“Compared with about 80% in the United States and 70% to 80% in other countries, in 2016, China’s service sector accounted for only 51.6% of GDP,” he said. “India's GDP is about one-third of ours, but its service sector is 53.8% of GDP. This shows that our service industry should develop greatly, from an international comparison.”

Although the industry’s growth has helped create large numbers of new jobs, Prof. Sheng further stated that China’s service sector has continued to struggle with a lack of highly skilled and efficient labour. Moreover, he argued that China can improve this situation through greater foreign direct investment and a greater focus on hospitality management education.

“China has much lower labour productivity than western developed countries and China's service industry labour productivity needs to be improved urgently,” he said. “Only by speeding up reform and opening up can our labour productivity rise rapidly.”

EHL Group CEO Michel Rochat also participated in the forum. In his speech, he expressed optimism for the future of the service industry in China while, at the same time, emphasising the importance of the partnership between CEIBS and EHL.

“The cooperation between our two schools is mutually beneficial to both our economies,” he said. “We have a great platform where students from Asia and Europe can come together to reshape the future of the service industry and drive innovation through the combination of different cultures.”

Finally, CEIBS Vice President and Dean and Professor of Accounting Ding Yuan closed the event by noting how the joint HEMBA programme serves as an important landmark in the service industry.

“CEIBS and EHL have always been very cautious about co-running programmes, especially degree programmes,” he said. “But this programme is different. This is the first time that a business-only school and a world-class non-business school have formed such a strong alliance, and together we will make an important contribution to China's services industry.”

Shanghai. November 6, 2018 – Members of CEIBS’ leadership team and faculty were among thought leaders from the global economy who gathered, during the inaugural China International Import Expo, to discuss China’s Role and Influence in Rebalancing the World Economy. Highlighting CEIBS’ increasing influence in contributing to and shaping China’s economic affairs, presenters during sessions on November 5 & 6 included CEIBS President Li Mingjun, Distinguished Professor and former Prime Minister of France Jean-Pierre Raffarin, along with Professors of Economics Xu Bin and Bala Ramasamy. The roughly 240-member CEIBS contingent at the expo, a major event organised by the Chinese government to show the rest of the world that China is committed to opening up, included President (European) Dipak Jain, Assistant President Yvonne Li, Deputy Director of Alumni Relations Office Tanya Fu and other staff, as well as students and alumni.

As he began his keynote speech on November 6, CEIBS Distinguished Professor Jean-Pierre Raffarin stressed CEIBS’ importance to the Sino-European relationship. “I am very happy to be with you today because I love the China Europe International Business School. This beautiful school has built a bridge between China and Europe!” he declared, pointing to the school’s logo on the event backdrop. CEIBS was jointly established by the Chinese government and the European Union almost 25 years ago, and fostering ties between both sides is in the school’s DNA. This year, in recognition of the China-EU Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, CEIBS has had a special focus on fulfilling 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. The CIIE was another opportunity for CEIBS to engage in and contribute to meaningful discussions on China’s relationship with not only Europe but also the rest of the world.

For example, during his address CEIBS Distinguished Professor Raffarin spoke of the importance of China’s role in rebalancing the global economy in an increasingly complicated and uncertain environment. He pointed to the changes seen in China over the years, saying what was once a “closed country” is now “opening up”. Referencing the work China has done with France on climate change, he told his audience that addressing environmental issues is also part of the wider rebalancing of the global economy. Turning to the long-running debate on unilateralism versus multilateralism, Raffarin stressed that the former is not Europe’s goal. Citing, as an example, calls – from some quarters – for reforming the World Trade Organisation, he maintained that a common vision, not a unilateral approach is needed. “We should make the principle of peace the overall goal, easing tensions rather than provoking,” he urged.

As Europe itself grapples with changes to the power structure within its region, there is a recognition of the increasing importance of the East, he said, adding that the China-led Belt and Road Initiative provides an opportunity for collaboration. “If we are to prioritise peace and development, we should sit down and discuss the issue of the ‘Belt and Road’. We can pursue our common interests in this direction. The rebalancing of the world economy is indeed a very important issue,” said Raffarin. “In the next two decades, we need this rebalancing of the East and the West. Of course, we can't give up the United States. We also need to build stronger cooperation with the East. The world is moving forward, the world is changing, France is a part of Europe, but our future should also face the East, and strive to promote our rebalancing.” He was speaking during the first half of the programme that explored ‘Trends and Challenges in Rebalancing the World Economy’. Dr. Liam Fox, UK Secretary of State for International Trade was the session’s first keynote speaker.

Meanwhile, during a November 5 closed-door forum co-hosted by CEIBS, Shanghai Institute of International Studies and China Research Institute of Fudan University, CEIBS President Li Mingjun made the point that the process of globalisation has revealed new challenges in the distribution of dividends, governance of capital flows and regional integration. “The rules-based trading system has been challenged. The world economy is seriously unbalanced. New economic development requires finding new ways and means to solve the problems,” he said. He further argued that US President Donald Trump's policies since coming to power had effectively declared the end of an era with a new era and governance structure in the process of being conceived and shaped. Discussions such as those being engaged in at the event, he noted, were all the more significant at this moment in time.

The November 5 forum focused on “Challenges and Responses to Global Trade Governance”. Professor Xu Bin, who is also CEIBS Associate Dean and Wu Jinglian Chair Professor of Economics, was among the panellists. Warning that the anti-globalisation trend from some quarters and the trade conflict between China and the US will not be a short term phenomenon, Prof. Xu stressed the need for China to focus on long-term economic development, not merely trade issues. In terms of managing the Chinese economy, he proposed more focus on “establishing a sound legal and economic framework for companies to operate within a regulated but relaxed environment, rather than having direct intervention into companies’ operations”. Turning his attention to how China engages with the rest of the world, Prof. Xu spoke of the importance of putting values ahead of financial considerations. “We are now the number two economy in the world so it’s inevitable that China will have global strategies such as the BRI. But we should, on the Chinese side, put our values ahead of money. Meaning we should help other countries with their infrastructure needs, promote the development of the whole world, treat other countries equally, and so on. Values should be emphasised more than just projects,” he said.

Prof. Bala Ramasamy was among participants during the second half of the November 6 event, weighing in on a discussion about “China and the Construction of an Open World Economy”. He shared his views on key topics such as how to address protectionism, WTO reform, and China’s new round of opening-up. He advocated international rules for countries to observe so as to promote fair international trade. He also stressed that China’s Belt and Road Initiative and reform of state-owned enterprises can provide guidelines for developing countries.

November 2, 2018. Shanghai – As part of our 2018 Executive Forum series, CEIBS recently welcomed Radian Partners Founding Principal Jennifer Zhu Scott to our Shanghai campus for a lecture and Q&A session on “Blockchain Technology and a (Potentially) Decentralised Future”. The event was moderated by CEIBS Vice President and Dean Ding Yuan and attended by nearly 100 CEIBS alumni, students, and other members of the Shanghai business community.

The forum comes at a time when interest in blockchain technology is peaking in the wake of last year’s wave of initial coin offerings (ICOs) and subsequent cryptocurrency bubble which have since polarised opinions about peer-to-peer payment systems (and other uses of the technology).

“Many people think blockchain is going to change everything, but I don’t think so,” Zhu Scott told the packed auditorium. “The applications for blockchain are actually very narrow. But, with the right applications, the implications are very profound.”

Among other insights, Zhu Scott used the session to highlight the role and importance of trust in the adoption of new financial (and other) technologies. She also said that, when thinking about blockchain, there is a lot we can learn by looking back at history.

“About a thousand years ago, a bank in Sichuan first issued paper money to replace silver and gold and what happened there is people took a trust leap,” she explained. “They used to have to see the gold to see the money, but because the centralised institution was trustworthy, even though that piece of paper didn’t have any intrinsic value, they still used it.”

Even in digital cash systems like we have today, centralised institutions are intended to play an important role in monitoring transactions and maintaining trust. In 2008, however, people’s attitudes towards these institutions began to change as a result of the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the onset of the global financial crisis.

“During the financial crisis what happened was that people put trust in these banks and instead of being responsible for the customers and the investors the banks completely betrayed that trust, went down on a completely irresponsible route, and ended up causing the financial crisis,” Zhu Scott said.

In the midst of the 2008 crises, however, came the publication of a white paper by a person (or group of people) known as Satoshi Nakamoto entitled, "A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System", which first introduced the bitcoin digital currency.

“What Satoshi Nakamoto did was a very intelligent and very powerful response to the failure of the trust in centralised institutions,” Zhu Scott said. “Not only did he have the vision and wisdom to stay anonymous, but what he also did was to remove the centralised financial institution by using proof of work.”

Since bitcoin and other blockchain databases are shared and are not stored in any single location, they are both publicly verifiable and nearly incorruptible – two factors which, in theory, should make them highly attractive in terms of maintaining trust among users. Unfortunately, as Zhu Scott pointed out, the gold rush set off by interest in cryptocurrencies has, in reality, attracted more than its fair share of scams.

“Even the genuine applications have been tainted by so many companies without the right intentions,” she admitted. “In the early phases people got very emotional and there were a lot of charlatans and people who were out there to try to rip people off.”

Nevertheless, like the internet to the dot-com bubble at the last turn of the century, Zhu Scott said she believes the 2017 cryptocurrency bubble represents an important turning point for blockchain. At the same time, she hinted there is still much work to be done to establish wider credibility.

“The cryptocurrency bubble has burst, but not enough and I think we need to go deeper to get rid of the bad players in the sector,” she said. “But, I think the burst of the cryptocurrency bubble is the beginning, not the end of token economy.”

Ironically, given the fact that blockchain was invented as a tool for decentralisation, Zhu Scott also told the audience at CEIBS that the next big trust leap might actually involve powerful central banking institutions such as the People's Bank of China issuing digital currency.

“I think digital currency is inevitable,” she stated. “It’s just a matter of time before a country issues a digital currency and China is positioned to be one of the first. We are already the most cash free large economy in the world.”

Ultimately, Zhu Scott argued that if China wants to internationalise the RMB while at the same time maintain capital control, digitising the currency using blockchain technology would offer central institutions a clear record of capital flow. Moreover, the introduction of a digital currency could be very beneficial if adopted by other countries along the Belt and Road.

“There are many incentives for China to issue a digital currency using blockchain, but the hesitation from the central bank is also that once you digitise RMB, in theory, corporations and individuals can directly have a relationship with the central bank,” she said. “So, what do all these commercial banks do?”

That is a very good question and one which could potentially be very disruptive.

October 29, 2018. Shanghai – As Asia’s only academic partner of the World Economic Forum’s Global Leadership Fellows (GLF) programme, CEIBS recently welcomed the GLF’s Cohort 16 to the school’s Shanghai Campus for a look at how globalisation, innovation, and emerging technologies are transforming the Chinese business environment.

The GLF programme is an important part of the WEF’s broader mission to promote cooperation in the global public interest in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The China module follows last month’s WEF Annual Meeting of the New Champions (AMNC) in Tianjin where Premier Li Keqiang reaffirmed China’s pledge to work harder to advance reform and opening-up, harness new technologies and business models, and further stimulate innovation in order to help drive global growth. CEIBS is one of only a small number of schools with which the GLF works globally.

First launched in 2005, the GLF programme aims to develop individual leadership potential through a combination of academic study, on-the-job learning, individual coaching, and access to world leaders. It regularly features some of the world’s top experts in leadership, management, organisational behaviour, and experiential learning. This latest China module included lectures by CEIBS Assistant Professor of Strategy Richard Carney, Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship Taiyuan (Terry) Wang, Assistant Professor of Marketing Lin Chen, Professor of Economics Che Jiahua, and Lecturer of Management Michelle Zheng, along with China Executive Leadership Academy in Pudong (CELAP) Professor Jiang Haishan. The module also included on-site visits to Shanghai Liangxin Electrical Co., Ltd. and Shanggong Group Co., Ltd.

More than 170 participants have graduated from the GLF programme to date, representing a wide diversity of cultural and professional backgrounds. The roughly 20 individuals who make up the current cohort represent more than a dozen countries and a wide range of academic and professional experience. During their five days of lectures, workshops, and cultural activities, we caught up with Global Leadership Fellows Chido Munyati and Gwendoline de Ganay to learn more about their experience during their stop in Shanghai.

Born in Zimbabwe, Munyati originally trained as a corporate lawyer before his journey ultimately led him to apply for the GLF programme and he says it is a decision he doesn’t regret.

“In terms of personal development, whether it has been through education or through work, it’s been the most transformative experience I’ve ever been through,” he says. “The Forum has invested heavily in us and we’ve had the unique opportunity to participate in these modules all around the world. There is nothing like it.”

Through her work as a Community Lead for the WEF’s Young Global Leaders programme, de Ganay says she has had the opportunity to see many parts of the world. Nevertheless, she says the Shanghai trip has been a special experience and has taken her out of her usual comfort zone.

“I’ve worked and lived in North America, Latin America and Europe, but I’d had little exposure to this region of the world,” admits the French national. “Having been able to learn about China from some of the best professors at one of the best schools possible has been pretty amazing.”

For Munyati, the CEIBS trip marked his second visit to China in only just over a month, having recently participated in the AMNC in September. If nothing else, he says the experience has allowed him to go beyond having a superficial understanding of China and to marvel first-hand at some of the changes taking place in the country.

“The transformation China has made in such a short period of time is remarkable,” he observes. “You read about the rapid pace of development, but I think the scale of it is hard to understand until you experience it in person.”

The in-class sessions and company visits also offered participants a unique look into some of the cultural differences having a profound impact on marketing and innovation in a country where things are changing at an almost unprecedented rate.

“We had a really exciting session about how Chinese companies are innovating and how their approach is different to other models of innovation,” de Ganay says. “Breaking it down and understanding why the Chinese approach to disruption has been so incredibly successful and fast was particularly eye-opening for me.”

Having recently transitioned to a role as a Knowledge Lead, Munyati says the opportunity to learn about China has also left him with some additional thought to apply to his new position, where he will be responsible for shaping the WEF’s geo-political agenda for Africa.

“China is obviously an important partner for Africa as its leading investor,” he states. “So, I think it’s important for me to understand what China’s role is and how it’s going to help shape the continent in the decades to come.”

As for de Ganay, she says she hopes to return to China again in 2019 when the WEF holds its Young Global Leaders and Alumni Annual Summit in Dalian. She also adds that the experiences she has had outside of the classroom, including doing tai chi and trying authentic Chinese food, have left her with valuable insights into East Asian culture and values that she can apply to her job at the organisation.

“The cultural aspect is really important in the events that I organise at the WEF,” she concludes. “We also try to have moments where we take people outside of the conference setting and put them in touch with the local environment they’re in, so I’m really glad we’ve had a chance to do that this week, too.”