By Gabriel Bishop, Junior Project Manager for Academic Relations
April was high in academic activities at swissnex China as a number of delegations from Swiss Universities visited us in Shanghai. Here are some of the highlights of the month:
EMBA School of Management Fribourg
The EMBA program of the School of Management Fribourg joined us for a two week long study trip in China. The 13 professionals of the delegation started off with a week of conferences and company visits in Beijing and came to our office on April 8 to kick off a diverse study program set in Shanghai over the following days.
On that day, the delegation was welcome by Dr. Felix Moesner, CEO of swissnex China, who presented the mission and activities of swissnex China and shared insights about the innovation landscape in China. He then gave the floor to Mr. Peter Bachmann, Executive Director of the Swiss Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai. Mr. Bachmann shared his expertise on the opportunities and challenges for Swiss enterprises on the Chinese market.
Dr. Felix Moesner, Science Consul & CEO of swissnex China giving a lecture to the EMBA delegation of School of Management Fribourg
The EMBA delegation from Fribourg further benefited for a few hours from a lecture given by Dr. Heini Shi, Professor of Practice Management at NYU Shanghai. The professor, who has worked in the United States and in Europe, gave an introduction on how to do business in China during a dynamic and interactive session, notably through the presentation of case studies. She highlighted some important factors of success or failure of businesses in China - especially as compared to other markets - by taking the example of two renowned companies.
In the late afternoon the delegation visited CBC Shanghai, before returning to our space where they were invited to attend the FiresideChat with Daniel Heusser . To cap off the day, they took part in the networking reception that followed the conference along with many Shanghai-based Swiss or Chinese professionals.
The next few days were just as rich, as the program organized by the academic relations section at swissnex China included numerous visits and lectures. On April 9, they went to the Swiss Center (SCC) located in the Free Trade Zone in Shanghai. This was an opportunity to understand the activity of the Swiss Center as well as the functioning and the potential advantages of such a Free Trade Zone depending on the characteristics of certain companies.
The lectures included presentations by Mr. Nicolas Musy, Founder of China Integrated, Ms. Emmanuelle Roduit, Deputy General Manager of SCC, Ms. Lucky Ding, Trade Specialist at SCC, as well as Mr. Patrick Glauser, Head of Operation & Business Development Migros. The students from Fribourg also visited two innovative companies that have their premises in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone: Tornos & Steinway Asia Pacific.
EMBA delegation of School of Management Fribourg at the Swiss Center.
On April 10, the delegation spent one day visiting GKIC (Great Knowledge & Innovation Community) located in Yangpu District. The morning program was opened by a guided tour of the GKIC Showroom which illustrated the history, development as well as the companies of the area. Afterwards, the delegation visited NEO, the Chinese blockchain company who has recently set-up an office in Switzerland and Inno Space +, one of the leading incubators for entrepreneurs and startups.
EMBA delegation of School of Management Fribourg visiting GKIC.
In the afternoon session, the students attended a lecture given by Prof. Ulf Henning RICHTER on Socio and Geopolitical Environment of Doing Business in China, followed by discussions with two China-based Swiss start-up companies Ubisim and VirtaMed, who shared their understanding about challenges and opportunities of Chinese market.
On their last day, April 11, the delegation visited Mettler Toledo, a leading global manufacturer and market of precision instruments and services for use in laboratories and manufacturing. The students visited the production units and were given a presentation on the functioning of the company, thus gaining some valuable insights on team management, quality control and innovation strategies of a state-of-the-art company.
EMBA delegation of School of Management Fribourg during their visit of Mettler Toledo
In the afternoon, the students were received in the Shanghai office of Eiger, a full-service law firm with Asia Pacific and Greater China practice strengths providing counseling and assistance in corporate, commercial, dispute resolution and intellectual property matters. Mr. Xu Tian welcomed them and gave a lecture on how to register a company in China and on the legal protection of intellectual property that arise in this context.
swissnex China was delighted to receive and accompany this enthusiastic team of young professionals from Romandie and we wish them the best in their future activities.
HESAV – Haute Ecole de Santé Vaud and Ecole – and Ecole de la Source
On April 26, swissnex China was delighted to receive a group of ten highly motivated nursing students from HESAV and la Source. Dr. Felix Moesner, CEO of swissnex China provided the delegation with special insights into innovation in China and what the swissnex China team does to connect the dots between Switzerland and China.
This stop in Shanghai concluded a study trip of three weeks spent in Jiangnan University, in Wuxi. During the time in Jiangsu province the nursing students learned about different practices of Chinese Traditional Medicine as it is widely administrated in the current care system. Coming to swissnex China was a chance for the young talents to complement this knowledge by discussing the innovation landscape in China and Switzerland and comparing best practices. Notably, the talk included topics like robotic and AI technologies that are gradually introduced to assist their work.
We very much appreciated receiving in our space these students who came full of curiosity, as well as Carlos Masias Valdes and Christopher Gueniat who accompanied them. We would also like to thank HEIG-VD, Etat de Vaud, and CHUV, as well as Anne Catherine Lyon, Chantal Ostorero, and Maxline C. Stettler for the invaluable support!
Nursing students of HESAV and la Source during their visit at swissnex China.
IEMBA ZHAW
In the afternoon of April 9, 14 IEMBA students of School of Management and Law, Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) visited swissnex China.
Dr. Felix Moesner, CEO of swissnex China presented the mission and activities of swissnex China and shared insights about the innovation landscape in China. The students asked many questions about intercultural management, challenges of IPR protection as well as the most important elements that will influence the success of business in China.
Presentation by Dr. Felix Moesner, Science Consul & CEO of swissnex China
Mr. Olivier Zehnder, Consul General of Switzerland in Shanghai gave an introduction about Sino-Swiss relations and Swiss presence in China and Shanghai, followed by a guest lecture given by Prof. Dr. Han Zheng, Innovation and Entrepreneurship expert.
Lecture by Prof. Dr. Han Zheng
After the rich afternoon program, the delegation attended a networking event with Swiss expats in Shanghai organized by swissnex China.
Composed of business leaders and young professionals with strong leadership potential all over the world, the IEMBA delegation of ZHAW embarked on a field trip to China to get in-depth knowledge about doing business in the most fast-growing economy. swissnex China wishes them a successful trip in China!
HFW Bern & Swiss Education Fair 2019
swissnex China also participated in two events in collaboration with Swiss Business Hub. On April 16 came a delegation from HFW Bern to swissnex China for a series of presentations. The lectures were given by Mr. Olivier Zehnder, Consul General of Switzerland in Shanghai, Dr. Felix Moesner, CEO of swissnex China, Mr. Danli Zhou, Co-Deputy CEO and Communication Manager of swissnex China, and Mr. Leo Peng, Senior Trade Officer at Swiss Business Hub.
Presentation by Danli Zhou, Co-Deputy CEO and Communication Manager at swissnex China
On April 13 and 14, swissnex China was present with a booth at the Swiss Education Fair 2019 in Shanghai and in Chengdu. We represented the Swiss public institutions of higher education, answering people’s questions and presenting the variety and the quality of the curricula as well as the excellency of swiss academic research.
Libing Gu, Project Leader for Academic Relations and Gabriel Bishop, Junior Project Manager for Academic Relations representing the Swiss Public Institutions of Higher Education at the Swiss Education Fair 2019 in Shanghai.