First Secretary Economic and Commercial Counselors Office Embassy of China Speaks at Week of Asia's Seminar Day

You cannot be an educated businessman without understanding China. This was the opening statement by Dean Howard Frank during Seminar Day on March 7, 2006. The event was held as part of Smith's Week of Asia, organized by the Asian MBA Association. The first of the two lectures was delivered by Mr. Chuanshui Zhong, First Secretary Economic and Commercial Counselors Office Embassy of China in Washington, D.C., who expounded on China Economic Policy Evolution in the past, present and future.

During the speech, Zhong described the astonishing growth of Chinas economy. Said Zhong, Few key reasons underscored the success of Chinas reforms for the past decades, including political and leadership stability, favorable world economic prospects, as well as globalization. He added that China has clearly been the beneficiary of the globalization process, which positively affected the country's domestic economic reforms and brought about further industry upgrading. Chinas interest in the globalization process was markedly demonstrated by its long negotiation with World Trade Organization, of which China eventually become a part.

Zhong also delineated four challenges confronting China in the next five years: (1) Continuing to extend the economic growth by supporting rural areas; (2) Promoting innovation-based economic growth; (3) Improving the environment, while maintaining economic growth; and (4) Resolving potential trade conflicts with other countries. China has recognized the challenges and is embarking on strategies to tackle the challenges such as diverting revenue to support rural areas, encouraging the clean use of energy and putting into action new policies to support innovation, said Zhong.

The forum also saw Anil K. Gupta, Chair of the Management & Organizational Department of the Smith School, speak alongside Zhong. During his lecture entitled India, China and YOUR Future, Gupta said that China and India, two rapidly emerging sources of world-class competitors, can fundamentally transform the worldwide core competencies with much lower cost structures and larger talent pool. He cited a report from the U.S. National Intelligence Councils 2020 Project, January 2005, that the emergence of China and India, similar to the advent of United States in the early 20th century can alter the geopolitical landscape with dramatic potential.

Drawing from the increasing trend of Indian ad agencies whether branches of global marketers or Indian-owned companies performing high-end creative work and computer-intensive marketing tasks, Gupta said, Knowledge-based works that can be remotely done are now being done in India.

With everybody talking about the success stories of China and India, the forum has enabled me to better understand how the rapid growth of these two mega markets commenced, said MBA student Hui Ren, one of the organizers of Seminar Day. The speech from Mr. Zhong has given me greater insights into the most updated action plan of China for the next five years.

Bei Haung, the president of the Asian MBA Association and a second-year MBA student also shared the same feedback. Said Huang, Mr. Zhong has helped me answer numerous questions that were being asked at me as an international student from China. Also, as MBA students living in a global economy, topics such as long term stability of China, sustainable growth of the Chinese economy, oil consumption, currency policy and trade deficit are unavoidable and will continue to be important to us as China and India become two mega powerful forces to reckon with.

Using an old popular adage in China, Huang summed up the event perfectly, "Introduce a modern China to the world and let the world know China better."

Culture Day and Asia Night
Week of Asia also included a Culture Day where students were shown two movies, "Kung Fu Hustle" (Hong Kong) and "I Not Stupid" (Singapore). The final night of Asia Week was marked by pomp and merrymaking. In an event held on the third floor atrium of Van Munching Hall on Thursday, March 9, faculty and administrators joined students and their families for food and music from their home countries.

The mood in the atrium was very festive with stalls displaying images from Asian countries. At each stall, visitors were able to sample a vast array of foods, such as peanut pancakes from Singapore and fried rice from China.

The highlight of the event was a high-end fashion show featuring traditional attire from Asian countries including China, Japan, Thailand, Korea, and India. The show concluded with a special appearance on the runway by honorary models Dean Howard Frank and Associate Dean Scott Koerwer. The show was organized by Shuyin Helen Zhang a former professional model (pictured above and right in green), who provided first-class training to all of the MBA student models. Thanking the models and make-up artists who participated in the event, Zhang said that she was happy that Smith students had had a chance to see the marvelous range of colors and styles commonly found in Asia. The evening ended with singing and dancing to Asian music.

▓ Smith Media Group, Kenneth Ng & Priscilla Mwangi, MBA Candidate 2006