Some 180 students aspiring to venture into China attended the expert sharing organised by Business China. The session was enlivened with the humorous sharing by the speakers, triggering occasional laughter in the audience.
Expert Sharing session on 27 March 2010, Saturday, was organised as an outreach for the recently launched Young Leaders Programme. The theme of the session was “Tomorrow’s China, Today.”
Business China was honoured to have Minister-of-State for Trade & Industry and Manpower Lee Yi Shyan, Chairman & CEO of Yanlord Land Group Mr Zhong Sheng Jian, CEO of The Ascott Mr Lim Ming Yan at the session to share valuable tips on a route to a successful career in China.
During the introduction, Business China CEO Mrs Josephine Teo urged the students to deepen their understanding of China because their future would be intertwined with China’s future, just as the global economy is intertwined with China’s economy.
The two and a half hour long session then started off with sharing by Mr Zhong Sheng Jian and Mr Lim Ming Yan respectively. It was followed by a discussion, which received overwhelming response from students who wanted to ask questions.
The discussion panel comprised of Minister-of-State Lee Yi Shyan, the two guest speakers Mr Zhong & Mr Lim, Mr Tan Seng Chai, Capitaland Senior Vice President of Human Resource. Mr Chua Kay Chuan, IE Singapore’s Director for International Operations (China), was moderator for the discussion.
In response to a question, Mr Zhong Sheng Jian offered his advice, “If you are the innovative type, you should venture into developed areas. If you are the entrepreneurial type, you should venture in developing areas(…)The more you meet the needs of the market, the higher the rate of success.” He noted that cities like Beijing and Shanghai were considered developed, and were more suitable for the innovative.
One student asked the panel whether a major in business is critical to becoming an entrepreneur. Mr Lim Ming Yan replied that majoring in business is not the most important thing, however, it is critical that one has a strong foundation, good communication skills, learning ability, good judgment skills. He also encouraged the students to listen more, be inquisitive, read widely and brush up on their critical thinking skills.
Minister-of-State Lee Yi Shyan also shared his views when a student asked whether integrity is important when dealing with the Chinese, who are known to be shrewd in business. He reminded that integrity does not equate naivety and that one should not make assumptions when it comes to business dealings. One who is starting out should interact with the established enterprises and learn from their challenges and experiences.
Even as the session came to an end, but there was no end to the students’ desire to learn. Brimming with questions, many of them approached our guests for further interaction at the tea break.
Click here to read the 2nd Expert Sharing session held on 6 Oct 2010.