China-India CEO Program Brings Top CEOs to Beijing

Beijing, June 11, 2007 - The China-India CEO Program successfully brought together 22 top CEOs from China and India for two days of learning in Beijing from June 4 to June 5. Jointly organized by the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, the Confederation of Indian Industry, and INSEAD, the China-India CEO Program will continue with a module focused on action to be hosted next year in Delhi.

Indian CEOs including Tata International President Ram Balasubramaniam, TCE Consulting Engineers CEO A.P. Mull, Dr Reddy¡¯s Laboratories Board Director Ravi Bhoothalingam, and Reliance Industries China Country Head S.S Naik represented industries covering engineering, consulting, pharmaceutical, media, energy, technology, training, chemicals, and airlines.

Attending China CEOs represented China's leading private companies, including Midea CEO Fang Hongbo, Focus Media Board Chairman Feng Yu, Mengniu Dairy Board Chairman Niu Gensheng, and China International Energy Group President Liu Ruyin.

"The world economy is in a new stage of development driven by India and China," explained Cheung Kong Strategy Professor Zeng Ming. "The two countries are adding 1 billion people to the global labor force and 1 billion new consumers, resulting in both the creation of wealth and the re-distribution of wealth."

Throughout the dialogue, participants emphasized differences in present development, while recognizing commonalities in respective historical traditions. Indian CEOs worked to understand what underpins China's continued ability to deliver manufactured goods at low cost, while China CEOs expressed admiration for the ability of indigenous Indian entrepreneurs such as Ratan Tata and Lakshmi Mittal to establish true global scale.

The first day of the Program featured Cheung Kong GSB Dean Xiang Bing speaking on the coming renaissance for corporations in emerging markets, stressing that both Chinese and Indian CEOs need to integrate resources worldwide through ¡°bold and daring¡± innovation, an ¡°all win¡± mentality, and ¡°harmony but not uniformity¡±.

Celebrated Confucian scholar Tu Weiming noted the significance of dialogue among civilizations, and the growing awareness that global citizenship requires universal ethics in corporate decision making. Professor Leslie Young demonstrated how China and India's contrasting historical experience and thought have previously hindered modernization, but now ensures both countries dominant roles in the global economy.

On Day Two of the Program, Professor Zeng facilitated a wide-ranging discussion that tied into three key points underpinning China's continued cost innovation: an ¡°infinite¡± supply of low-cost labor, assets efficiently transferred to the market in the transition from State-owned to private enterprise, and China¡¯s huge economies of scale both domestically and globally with the flattening of the world economy.

Participation from some of the most prominent business leaders from the most powerful emerging regions in the world - China and India - is a further testament to the ways in which Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business is breaking new ground and providing an invaluable platform for dialogue concerning global business and China.

About the China-India CEO Program
Launched jointly by Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, the Confederation of Indian Industry and INSEAD in 2007, the path-breaking China-India CEO Program brings Chinese and Indian CEOs together for courses and discussions. The first module, hosted by Cheung Kong GSB and taught by Cheung Kong faculty in Beijing will be followed by a second module focused on action to be hosted in Delhi by the Confederation of Indian Industry with instruction from INSEAD professors.

About Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business
Founded in Beijing in November 2002 with backing from the Foundation of global top-10 billionaire Mr. Li Ka-shing, Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business generates world-class insight on management theory and practice, and develops world-class business leaders for China and beyond. Headquartered in Beijing with campuses in Shanghai and Guangzhou, CKGSB offers MBA, EMBA, and Executive Development (EDP) Programs.


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