ChileExchange Program – “Conducting Business inChile”

On April 9th 2007, a delegation of 12 Tsinghua SEM students led by Prof. Chen Guoqing, the Executive Dean of Tsinghua SEM, Prof. Xudong Gao,Mr. David Pan, Director of Alumni and Development Office, Ms. Jodie You, the Associate Director of International Office, embarked on the first “Conducting Business in Chile” study exchange program to Santiago, Republic of Chile.

Prof. Chen Guoqing presenting gift to the president of Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

The 10-day study trip, organized by Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, was hosted and sponsored by Banco de Chile.The delegation consists of four first-year International MBA students, five first-year Full-time MBA students, and 3 Phd. students from Tsinghua SEM.During the 10-day stay, Banco de Chile and Universidad Católica de Chile arranged a series of lectures, company visits, and cultural immersions to educate and familiarize Tsinghua SEM students of business, cultural and economic environment inChile.Various topics were taught and discussed in the lecture series, including economic history, marketing, financial market, legal, entrepreneurship, and cultural comparison.The students also visited national corporations and operations such as Codelco, CCU Beverage Plant,Vi？aSan Pedro, Chilean Stock Exchange, and El Teniente Copper Mine.Students had a tremendous opportunity to meet scholars, professions and experts and energetically discuss current aspects in conducting business inChile.

Visit to El Teniente Copper Mine

Being the first student exchange delegation between Chinese and South American educational institutions, the group received ebullient reception from the locals and has attracted great attention from the press.

Media coverage about Tsinghua students’ visit

Media coverage about Tsinghua students’ visit

Later in the year, Chilean students will also come to Tsinghua SEM for a similar course exchange. Business and economic ties betweenLatin AmericaandChinaare growing at a rapid pace. Through this exchange program, Tsinghua SEM hopes to promote the sharing of experiences in education with Latin American and also encourages business and cultural exchanges between two countries.

The Stanford -Tsinghua Exchange Program(STEP) 2007

FromJanuary 27th to February 4th, Tsinghua team of the STEP( the Stanford -Tsinghua Exchange Program ), led by Professor Zhu Henyuan, associate Dean of Tsinghua SEM visited Stanford Graduate School of Business( GSB), with one week full schedule of business, social and academic activities.

During their visit to the Stanford campus inPalo Alto,California, Tsinghua STEP Team consisting of 20 2nd year MBA students were able to immerse themselves in the whole Stanford GSB experience. They mingled amongst GSB students in their regular classes and at their school social events--the FOAM party and LPF. Every day, Stanford GSB hosted a China-related special speaker series in which prominent business figures in theSilicon Valleyspent their lunch hour giving fascinating presentations.

During their stay, the Tsinghua team visited world-class companies such as Google, Yahoo, Ideo Design, Accel VC, Williams Sonoma, Levi Strauss, and Facebook, and enjoyed interesting speeches and Q&A sessions with their management teams. Tsinghua team also toured Stanford campuses, and the beautiful San Francisco city in day and night, trekked around Alcatraz Prison(where the movie ROCK was shot) learning about its colorful history while admiring the city view, and wine-tasted their way around Napa Valley---the home of Champaign in the US.

Students said the one week they spent in Stanford had been very enjoyable and impressive.

" I used to hold a misunderstanding that Chinese and non-Chinese people think very differently. However, I was quite surprised to find so many ideas, values, and approaches in common between our two programs, " said Bill Shen, member of the Tsinghua team, when asked about what was the most surprising about their Stanford tour.

While Naoki Kawamoto, another student of the team was impressed by the fact that many Stanford GSB professors have built their own very successful businesses. " I attended a group dinner with Andy Rachleff, a founder of Benchmark Capital. It was amazing", she said, "such close communication with successful business people was truly useful for us. I think this is still not common in Asian business schools."

Bill Lijun Shi said he felt the entrepreneurship in the Valley, "It seems like everybody wants to start own business".

The Stanford -Tsinghua Exchange Program(STEP), is between two premier business schools--one inChinaand one in theUnited States. STEP is part of Tsinghua's broader strategy to increase its international presence and provide its students with more global opportunities. The program's aim is to present Tsinghua MBA students with an opportunity to form a long lasting relationship with Stanford MBA students and provide a basis for greater understanding of doing business inChinaand theUSas well as the context ofChinaand theUSin the global economy.

From March 25th through April 1st, twenty Tsinghua MBA students along with Associate Dean Zhu Hengyuan hosted twenty Stanford GSB students for the second part of the STEP--a reciprocal visit by GSB students to Tsinghua inBeijing.

During Stanford’s visit to Tsinghua’s campus inBeijing, they were able to immerse themselves in the whole Tsinghua SEM experience. The Stanford GSB team mingled amongst SEM students in special lecture classes by Associate Dean Zhu Hengyuan on Market Growth Model and Strategic focus shifting in Emerging Market, Professor Li Dao Kui on Macroeconomics of China, and Professor Lucy Liu on Marketing in China, and Ning Tang of China Growth Capital on China's Venture Capital Industry and Entrepreneurship Development - Local Observations and Practices.

STEP members at CCB

Also, Tsinghua SEM organized visits to meet with high-ranking executives from world-class companies: Lisa Du—the Executive Director of Gome, Shawn Wang—CFO of Baidu, Jerome Ma—Director of Government Relations, Michael Yu- Founder ofNewOrientalSchool, Zhou Kui—Partner of Sequoia Capital, Wang Zhi- PR manager of CCB.

STEP membership at Great Wall

Of course, it was not all hard work! Together, the students from two schools toured theForbidden City,SummerPalace,TempleofHeaven, and Great Wall. Also, students enjoyed a fabulous Acrobatic Show! They enjoyed a variety of delicious Chinese cuisine, having dinners of Peking Duck, Hotpot, Imperial Cuisine, Dumplings, and Dim Sum. The Stanford students now have a greater, more colorful and personal understanding of the Chinese history, culture and future.