Business China organised a second Expert Sharing session on 6 Oct 2010 at Singapore Management University. Mr Seah Moon Ming & Mr Eric Chen, two heavyweights in their respective industries, took time off their busy schedules to share their experiences on China.
Adopting the theme for Young Leaders Programme, “Tomorrow’s China, Today”, the expert sharing session aimed to encourage Singaporean youths to better understand China, so as to carve a career in China.
First speaker was Deputy CEO of Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd, Mr Seah Moon Ming. He described China as ‘Big, Complex and Tough’.
Taking reference from reports, he said China had overtaken Japan as the world’s second largest economy, in terms of its total GDP. Due to China’s sheer size, he felt that there are ample opportunities which remain to be explored in China.
To him, China is ‘tough’ because of its hierarchical bureaucracy. He quoted the World Bank’s ranking on the ease of doing business in various countries, which ranked Singapore as first and China as 89th.
China is also ‘complex’ because of its uneven social-economic development, hence, it requires more effort to understand the market.
Though it may be tough, quoting Chinese proverb, he advised, “If you know both yourself and your enemy, you can win a hundred battles without a single loss.”
In conclusion, he encouraged the young participants to engage China. He said, “Immerse yourself, connect with its talents, appreciate the business climate, and understand its deep history and culture. The road to success in China can be tricky, but if you make it, China can be rewarding.”
Drawing from his past experiences, the second speaker, Mr Eric Chen (President and Head of Greater China and North Asia region, Fullerton Financial Holdings) shared a wealth of advice to the young participants on getting ahead in their career and venturing into China.
Mr Chen’s sharing to the students could be summarized into 3 points: Developing one’s expertise in a function, learn more about China and building a strong foundation. Mr Chen advised participants against being driven towards money, but instead, to be driven towards becoming an expert in their selected sphere of interests. That, in turn, will help create more opportunities.
To illustrate the importance of China, he shared how China has developed since its reform in 1978. One of the things highlighted was China’s GDP, which has grown by 68 times since the last 30 years.
Mr Chen also said, “China plays a role of increasing influence to the world’s economy, politics, social issues and culture.” Therefore, he reinforced Mr Seah’s points about engaging China, as having experiences in dealing with China that will provide an edge over others.
Lastly, he urged the youths to build a strong foundation by enjoy learning and helping people, and appreciating what they have.
About 100 attended the 2nd Expert Sharing session. Wrapping up the session, guest speakers and participants were invited to continue sharing their thoughts on engaging China over refreshments.