The 8th International Forum on Chinese Entrepreneurs took place between July 10 and 12, 2017 in Kunshan, a frontier open city rich in traditional Chinese culture. It was a communication platform for academic, business and political circles as well as an influential international brand of Chinese entrepreneur studies. Well-known experts and scholars and overseas Chinese entrepreneurs from countries in five continents, including the U.S., Canada, Australia, France, Spain, South Africa, Japan, South Korea and Singapore, got together and discussed cutting-edge topics, which not only included the entrepreneurship spirit, the history of Chinese entrepreneurs and new development amid economic globalization, but also involved cross-border entrepreneurship and innovation trends, particularly those by returned overseas Chinese.
The Forum opened on the morning of July 11, and Ms. Kang Xiaoping, Vice Chairman of the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, delivered a speech at the invitation of the organizer. Chen Liyan, member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Kunshan Municipal Committee as well as chief of the municipal organization department and united front work department, gave a welcome address. Zhang Chunwang, Director of the China Institute of Overseas Chinese History, Zhao Jian, Vice President of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Cadre School under the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council, Prof. Liu Ying, Deputy Director of the CCES at Tsinghua University, Prof. Zhou Jianbo from the School of Economics at Peking University and Xie Quanlin, Director of the Kunshan Overseas Chinese Affairs Office, presided over the meeting and discussions.
During keynote speeches, Prof. Long Denggao, Director of the CCES at Tsinghua University, with years of experience in the Chinese entrepreneur studies, gave a speech themed “The spirit of Chinese entrepreneurs: comparative studies”, while Prof. Zhou Min, Director of the UCLA Asia Pacific Center, delivered a speech with the theme of “ethnic economy, social mobility and community construction”, discussing the sociological significance of the entrepreneurship among immigrant groups from the experience of Chinese immigrant entrepreneurs in the U.S.
Prof. Howard Lin, Director of the Canada-China Institute for Business & Development, expounded his new discovery in the relations between transnational migration and trade based on big data. Scholars, including Prof. Li Wei from Arizona State University, Prof. You Junhao, Director of the Chinese Heritage Centre in Singapore, and Prof. Li Minghuan from Xiamen University and Jinan University, introduced the latest achievements in the development of Chinese entrepreneurs in the U.S., Russia, Japan and Southeast Asia.
Prof. Li Zhengxi from the Academy of Chinese Studies at Incheon National University, Prof. Liao Chiyang South Korea and Musashino Art University, Japan, Prof. Pierre van der Eng from Australian National University, and Prof. Zhang Yaguang, Vice President of the School of Economics at Peking University, exchanged views on the growth of overseas Chinese in South Korea, Japan, Indonesia and other regions in history and its historical enlightenment.
Dr. Cai Linhai, Dr. Ma Zhiwei and GM Zheng Ping, representatives of new Chinese entrepreneurs, shared their harvest and perception in homecoming entrepreneurship and multinational innovation based on their practice and personal experience. Deng Xunming, Zhou Zhendong and other guests introduced their entrepreneurship, experience and the investment environment in Kunshan.
The 8th International Forum on Chinese Entrepreneurs was jointly hosted by the CCES of Tsinghua University, the China Institute of Overseas Chinese History and the Chinese Heritage Centre of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. The event also received support from the Canada-China Institute for Business & Development (Ryerson University) and was arranged by the Kunshan Returned Overseas Chinese Federation and the Kunshan Overseas Chinese Affairs Office. During the forum, the 2017 China (Kunshan) Entrepreneurship Week & the Kunshan Stop of the Suzhou International Elite Entrepreneurship Week, the launch event for a book about the innovation and entrepreneurship path of overseas Chinese entrepreneurs, and a roundtable meeting for cross-border entrepreneurship and innovation of Chinese entrepreneurs also took place. On July 12, representatives surveyed cutting-edge national industrial parks and the traditional Zhouzhuang Ancient Town.
(Contributor: Zhang Jiao, postdoctoral student at the CCES of Tsinghua University; photographer: Li Yiwei, doctoral student at Tsinghua University)
