On November 1, 2016, Mr. Pablo Isla, Chairman and CEO of Inditex and Professor QIAN Yingyi, Dean of Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management (Tsinghua SEM) signed the agreement on behalf of the two institutions, marking the first such cooperation between the two parties where Inditex will sponsor and support students from the university for academic and business exchange to Spain. Under the cooperation, Tsinghua students selected by the institution will be offered a one-week immersion program to Spain where students will visit prominent business schools in Spain, study Inditex’s business model and global facilities, meet with other business corporations and be exposed to Spanish culture and way of life.

Cooperation agreement signing ceremony between Tsinghua SEM and Inditex

Following, Mr. Isla also addressed more than 400 students at the school, one of the world’s most prestigious business institutions and China’s top business school, as guest speaker of Tsinghua Eminent Entrepreneurs Lectures, a lecture series where notable global CEOs from prominent global corporations are invited to speak and interact with top students in China.

Mr. Pablo Isla, Inditex Chairman and CEO, delivers a keynote speech at Tsinghua Eminent Entrepreneurs Lectures

During the speech, Mr. Isla explained in detail the history of the company, Zara’s key business model and highlighted some of the main aspects of Inditex culture such as entrepreneurship, teamwork, self-development, humility and the willingness to listen to customers. Mr. Isla also underlined that none of Zara or Inditex’s current success in the world would be possible without the quality of its people and teams. As an example, Mr. Isla shared that Inditex entered China 10 years ago with the first Zara store in Shanghai, and many of our store managers and people have been here since then, helping the company grow to more than 550 stores across China’s key cities today.

Mr. Pablo Isla, Inditex Chairman and CEO, delivers a keynote speech at Tsinghua Eminent Entrepreneurs Lectures

Mr. Isla also spoke of his confidence in the market in China, he said, “China is the number one priority for Inditex, we have confidence it will outgrow our domestic market in Spain. Chinese people love fashion and we continue to listen and learn about what they like. I have no doubt that our focus on our integrated model of online and offline business in China will help us grow in this market.”

Group photo

Mr. Isla also provided business management tips to the students, he said, “Work as a team, don’t have an independent agenda, and feel for the company as your own. What you do every day is important, therefore excellence is not an act, but a habit.” Finally he also highlighted the importance of ethics in business and shared Inditex’s key social and sustainability projects that are direct results of the Group’s belief in creating value beyond profits. In China, through a collaboration with the China Environmental Protection Foundation (CEPF), Inditex has also started a “Second Life” closed-loop recycling project where customers can drop off their old clothing at more than 30 pilot Zara stores in Beijing and Shanghai, where CEPF will sort the clothing and manage them for reuse, upcycling and downcycling.