WBI Shenzhen, Mission Accomplished!

8 young motivated and open-minded management students travelled to Shenzhen for a week in order to represent 7 Walloon companies and meet with potential Chinese partners as well as Chinese management students. This mission was supported by WBI, Wallonie Bruxelles International.

The goal of this mission was twofold:

On the one hand, we wanted to build a bridge between Walloon and Chinese companies in order to allow them to develop their business further.
On the other hand, we wanted to strengthen the links between HEC and Shenzhen University.

In order to reach the first goal, our students worked on our local partner business cases.

THINGSPLAY, DISRUPTIVE DIGITAL- Studio, WOW Company International, Let’s Go City, Talenteo, Cabinet 109 and SIRRIS trusted them and empowered them to search information and represent their interests on the Chinese market. In Shenzhen, the students met with Chinese managers, visited the China High Tech Fair, collaborated with their colleagues from Shenzhen University, met with one HEC alumni working in China and participated in several networking events. They also had the opportunity to share some time and experience with all the members of the Belgian delegation attending the AWEX ICT Tour and attend a Startup Grind event.

The mission also included the visit of DJI, Tomtop, Royole and 3 Nod. This way, they discovered different companies with different cultures.

Collaborating on business cases with Chinese students also allowed the students to reach our second goal. Working together, Belgian and Chinese students were able to build relationships and learn from each other.

Moreover, the project also helped each participant to develop his or her knowledge of the country, its diversity and its culture. As they implemented the project, students were also able to practice and develop their personal management skills such as project planning, multicultural relationship management, communication, networking and negotiation.

What is the next step now that the students are back in Belgium?

Their task is now to analyze the collected data and write a report that they will communicate and present to their business partners.

Later, in September 2018, we will welcome in Liège our 26 new friends from Shenzhen University. They will spend one full academic year with us at HEC.

Finally, we believe that this WBI Shenzhen project is beneficial not only for students, Belgian or Chinese, but also for local businesses on both sides and for our academic partners in Liège and in Shenzhen.

Anne-Christine Cadiat
accadiat@uliege.be

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