 |
| |
Chinese CEOs Build Closer Relations with East Asia at Cheung Kong Sanya Forum
 Sanya, January 17, 2008 - Top business leaders including Nobuyuki Idei, Charles Zhang, and Stephen Roach, discussed China¡¯s globalization challenge in the context of East Asian success at the Cheung Kong GSB Sanya Forum, January 13, 2008, at the Sanya Sheraton.
 ¡°Our aim of learning is not to follow but to surpass¡± said Cheung Kong GSB Dean Xiang Bing. ¡°Learning from the world entrepreneurs in Japan, Korea, India and Russia will help us build up a talent pool with the ability to compete with and manage global companies.¡± Nearly 1,000 Cheung Kong GSB Alumni and top Chinese entrepreneurs heard success stories from China, Japan, and Korea with key speakers including Focus Media CEO Tan Zhi, and Sohu Founder and CEO Charles Zhang, Nobuyuki Idei, former Chairman of Sony and Nam-Kyun Woo, CEO of LG Electronics, China.
 Cheung Kong GSB ¡°People of the Year¡± awards were given to Chinese businessmen who had spent 2007 creating brands (Zhu Xinli of Huiyuan Juice), innovating strategies (Jason Jiang, Yu Feng and Tan Zhi of Focus Media), diversifying to survive (Guo Guangchang of Fosun Group), becoming global (Richard Feng of Markor furniture), and achieving technological independence (Lin Zongming of China Aviation Industry Corporation I).
 Panels of Chinese statisticians and commentators took the floor in the morning session. Xia Bin from the Finance Research Institute of China¡¯s State Council Development Research Center commented that, ¡°inflation is due to a combination of industrial cost growth and salary growth.¡± He believes it is high time Chinese people start personally benefiting from China¡¯s economic growth, and that financial input from abroad should be welcomed, but with caution.
Sohu¡¯s Charles Zhang, representing the 2nd Generation of Chinese entrepreneurs who have made their mark since 1992 said, ¡°Innovation is crucial; although Yahoo has been overtaken by Google as terms of popularity, Microsoft has stayed ahead of the game through continuous innovation. Who knows who will replace Google in the future?¡±
Morgan Stanley Asia Chairman Stephen Roach spoke of China¡¯s Global Challenge, telling the assembled businessmen and women that China was already the greatest beneficiary of globalization and there was much to be optimistic about. Yet with statistics and insight, he demonstrated that China must prepare for a downturn being made possible by inflation, a capital bubble and the West¡¯s growing disconcertion with free trade.
Atlantic Monthly Correspondent James Fallows moderated an afternoon panel of academics and world business leaders, analyzing how East Asian companies could employ soft power to create truly global business culture. Nobuyuki Idei, former CEO of Sony and founder of Quantum Leaps Corporation was upbeat about the next ten years, believing that, ¡°if only East Asian countries could work together with India and Russia theywould create a new history.¡± Of Sony he said, ¡°We were making money in China, but we had to learn how to meet the needs of Chinese society¡±.
 Idei echoed comments made earlier by Chinese entrepreneurs like Wu Ying, former CEO of UTStarcom, who said that foreign internet companies are still struggling to learn what Chinese consumers really want. As Sohu¡¯s Charles Zhang noted, Chinese companies have strong advantages in the Chinese market, having had to fight for their market space from the bottom up. Fosun¡¯s Guo Guangchang was equally optimistic, but cautioned that Chinese entrepreneurs had still to grasp their Japanese counterparts¡¯ attitude on education.
The 2008 Sanya Forum was organized by the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business and the Hainan Provincial Government. For background information, visit the Forum website: http://www.ckgsb.edu.cn/sanya2008/
About Cheung Kong GSB: Founded in Beijing in November 2002 by Asia¡¯s most successful entrepreneur Mr. Li Ka-shing, Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business is China¡¯s first private, non-profit, and independent business school. The Cheung Kong GSB mission is to generate world-class insight on management theory and practice, and to develop world-class business leaders for China and beyond. Headquartered in Beijing with campuses in Shanghai and Guangzhou, Cheung Kong GSB offers MBA, EMBA, and Executive Development Programs. www.ckgsb.edu.cn
Photo Gallery
Bureau of Statistics Chief
Economist Yao Jinyuan |
Business Week (Taiwan) CEO
Jin Weichun |
former UT Starcom CEO
Wu Ying |
Luo Baoming presents an award
to Zhu Xinli of Huiyuan Juice |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
Atlantic Monthly
Correspondent
James Fallows
|
Tu Weiming presents an award to Richard Feng of Markor |
Monex CEO
Oki Matsumoto |
Fortune Asia Editor
Clay Chandler |
|
|
 |
