Source: Lingnan (University) College
Written by: Daniel Sisgoreo
Edited by: Wang Dongmei

On the morning of November 14, 2015, the Lingnan (University) College International Advisory Board held its annual meeting in the South Campus of Sun Yat-sen University.
Prof. Carl P. Zeithaml, the dean of the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia, chaired the meeting, which included a presentation on the state of China’s economy by Prof. LIU Mingkang, honorary dean of Lingnan, and an overview of recent developments in Lingnan by Prof. XU Xinzhong. Following the presentations, the other members of Lingnan’s International Advisory Board asked questions and offered comments and suggestions on ways Lingnan could continue to differentiate itself from other business schools and compete both domestically and internationally.

In discussing Lingnan’s major milestones of the past year, Prof. XU announced that the size of the college’s faculty has increased from 95 to 97 professors, and he added that recruiting top faculty from around the world remains a high priority for Lingnan. Additionally, Prof. XU pointed out that the college is among the top seven business schools in Mainland China for publications in the top 24 journals. The Lingnan faculty’s publication rate of six to eight articles per year places it among top business schools such as those at Peking University and Tsinghua University, while the rates of publication of the next best schools after Lingnan are significantly lower.

Prof. XU also discussed Lingnan’s new Masters in International Management, in which 20 students from Lingnan (University) College will join 20 students from the McIntire School of Commerce and 20 students from ESADE in Spain to participate in a combined degree program involving courses at each of the three institutions. Following a question by Advisory Board member Philip Chen, the Managing Director of Hang Lung Group and Hang Lung Properties, Prof. XU explained that Lingnan’s international program offerings, including both the new Masters degree and existing exchange programs with organizations like the Yale-China Association, push students from different backgrounds to work together and develop strong cross-cultural competence skills.

During his presentation on the Chinese economy, Prof. LIU described several major challenges facing the nation, including severe deflation, tepid consumption, sluggish investment, and weak import and export. He pointed to the One Belt, One Road initiative as a possible solution to China’s economic difficulties.
Attendees asked many questions about how Lingnan is responding to the One Belt, One Road initiative. Franny Yao, a partner and leader for key accounts and government relations at Ernst & Young, suggested that Lingnan courses address implementation issues surrounding the initiative, as such issues will become increasingly important in the coming years. Justin Kwok Leung Ting, an executive vice president at HSBC Bank (China), recommended that Lingnan focus on recruiting students from Belt and Road countries, such as those in Southeast Asia, and Prof. ZHANG Yanmei, Associate Dean of Lingnan, pointed out that Lingnan has already succeeded in attracting MBA students from Indonesia, Malaysia and other Belt and Road countries.

Following the discussions, the attendees agreed to hold next year’s meeting in Sun Yat-sen University’s new Shenzhen campus.


IAB Member Attendees:
(in alphabetical order by surname)

Philip Chen
Managing Director, Hang Lung Group and Hang Lung Properties Limited

Raymond K.F. Ch’ien
Chairman, MTR Corporation Limited and Hang Seng Bank Limited

Jake Cohen (on behalf of David Schmittlein, Dean of MIT Sloan School of Management)
Senior Lecturer in Accounting and Law; Senior Associate Dean for Undergraduate and Master’s Programs, MIT Sloan School of Management

Neo Poh Kiat (on behalf of Koh Beng Seng, Chief Executive Officer of Octagon Advisors Pte Ltd)
Managing Director, Octagon Advisors (Shanghai) Co Ltd

Robert Ng
Chairman, Sino Group

Albert Ng (on behalf of Mark Weinberger, Global Chairman and CEO of EY)
Chairman, China; Managing Partner, Greater China; Member of the Global Executive, EY

Neville Power
Chief Executive Officer, Fortescue Metals Group Ltd

Ana Wang (on behalf of Antony Hung, Chief Executive Officer, Asia Pacific of Grupo Santander)
Director of International Expansion, Santander Universities, Madrid

Annie Wu
Standing Committee Member, the National Committee of Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference
Honorary Chairman, Beijing Air Catering Company Limited

Marjorie Yang
Chairman, Esquel Group

Carl P. Zeithaml
Dean, F.S. Cornell Professor in Free Enterprise
McIntire School of Commerce, University of Virginia