On Monday, 12th June, and Tuesday, 13th June, 2017, the International Business Cohort visited famous enterprises in Guangzhou, including: the Guangdong Plastics Exchange, Vipshop Holdings Limited, the Guangdong Elderly-Care Services Association, the Guangdong Zhonghao Investment Group Ltd. and Guangdong Gosun Telecommunications Co. Ltd. Accompanying them were the Programme Coordinator, Prof. Priscilla Roberts, and Assistant Professor Irene Ho. The visit aimed to allow them to study actual business operations.
When they visited the Guangdong Plastics Exchange, Mr. Eson Li, the Administrative Center Manager, and other company representatives gave FOB teachers and students an introduction to the history and development of Hongda Xingye Co. Ltd. The Guangdong Plastics Exchange, the first platform to provide exchange, logistics and information services for South China, cooperates closely with banks to maintain the exchange on a 24-hour basis. The teachers and students also paid a visit to the China Soils Museum, which has a wide range of interactive exhibits demonstrating the characteristics and research results on a wide range of soils from across China and the world. They also viewed various plant tests under way in the greenhouses. Ms. Xie Xiaoling, the supervisor of the Museum, and other staff members introduced the soil displays and explained how these helped to promote environmental protection. FOB teachers and students had an extremely interesting and informative discussion with the company representatives. They then visited Vipshop, one of the top three e-commerce corporation in China, where they attended a symposium organized by Vipshop, on the recent status of e-commerce in China, and were able to make comparisons among the different corporations. They ended the day with a visit to the Guangdong Elderly-Care Services Association, where they met Dr. Yang Bo, President of the Association, Mr. Dong Keyi, Secretary-general of the Association, and Ms. Lin Danchun, Minister of the Association. All these association representatives shared information on the contemporary development of elderly-care services in Chinese society and drew on their professional expertise to give full and informative answers to students’ questions.
On Tuesday, 13th June, International Business Cohort visited the Zhonghao Investment Group Ltd., which conducts business throughout China, and cooperates with numerous hospitals and universities to research, develop, and produce Chinese medicine. The company introduced its main products, including: the herb garden, medical soap, aquilaria trees, and numerous others. Lastly, FOB teachers and students visited the Gosun Telecommunication Co. Ltd. The Group has develops a major business with police, bank, railway bureau and other corporations to establish electronic safety and security systems. Its main products included recording machines, patrolling monitor management platforms, electronic car tracking systems, face recognition and other hardware and software. It also makes some very interesting robots. In an introductory session, FOB teachers and students learnt about the concept of the smart city and related technological developments from Ms. Carol Lee, Associate Director of Gosun, who also shared her experiences in the fields of branding, marketing, and product promotion.
The enterprise visits allowed the International Business Cohort students to learn about different operating models. They acquired a great deal of practical knowledge about management, and were extremely grateful to all the companies and staff members who assisted with this visit.