So we are in Shanghai now for the second week of the “Doing Business in China” Program, a student-organized program organized by Tepper (CMU) Business School students. This two-week program includes lecture/seminars by Chinese professors and leading business people in the mornings, followed by company visits and presentations in the afternoon. During our free time we explore historical landmarks, museums, and city neighborhoods to better understand Chinese history and culture.
Last week we met with professors from Beijing University and CKGSB on business strategy for both local and multinational corporations doing business in China. Dr. Weiguo Zhang, of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, was kind enough to give a seminar on the history of the Chinese Exchange and an overview of current corporate governance issues in China. He is the Chinese counterpart of the head of the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) in the United States. Afterwards we met with Zero2IPO to meet with the Founder and CEO to learn about his experience in founding the leading integrated service provider for the Chinese venture capital industry. Zero2IPO provides a wide range of services from providing financial advisory services to managing an angel seed fund. Our trip to Lenovo was interesting too; it was cool to see their computer assembly plant and check out their automated warehouse system.
Tomorrow we will be visiting the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Later this week we will be attending seminars on marketing and strategy at CEIBS and Fudan University and will be visiting Microsoft’s R&D Labs. Another highlight is our scheduled meeting with Jeff Song, China President of Ingersol Rand.
David Mantilla 