Jason Wong: A little BC in a whole lot of Beijing!"

So, for today I was the daily leader! My formal duties as leader began at 10:30 sharp today, which I arrived for, just on time. I began with my presentation about the BC Trade and Investment Office. I went over some basic facts such as general background, what they do, and how they do it. After my presentation, we made our way towards the office via subway. On our final stop, we met up with a friend of Yvonne’s who was definitely an intriguing fellow. He started school at Capilano, transferred to UBC, worked for KPMG and finally found his way into Beijing. For me personally, it was a satiating feeling, being able to see someone who was at one point on the same path I am currently on (transfer from Capilano to UBC) to be as successful as he is.

Anyways, he walked us to the BC Trade and Investment office where we met Kevin Tsui, the managing director of the North China district, and as well as the East China district now. He gave us a presentation on a more in-depth look at what he and the office does, which was at times highly compelling, and other times, dry. He also presented to us some case studies of some of the more successful groups that have been involved with the BC Trade and Investment office. He did mention of some failures but understandably, did not go into details of those. Some very good insights he provided was the etiquette and formality of approaching potential business partners and higher-ups at the dinner table, which supplemented  what we had learned in class. At the end of his presentation, we had about an hour for questions to ask of him. His answer to one of our questions about the crackdown on corruption was quite interesting. He said that the current government investigations on corruption, although with long term benefits, is in fact quite damaging to the economy in the short run due to  business activities among the business elite having slowed due to these investigations. Further topics touched upon include power of women in the upper echelons of business, current projects, power distance, and more. The one thing that I learned that is of the greatest interest to me personally is that to do business in China, it is greatly important to know how to speak the language and not nearly as much when it comes to written language.

After this, the itinerary was altered so that we also went to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City as well as an optional activity in going to the pagoda behind the Forbidden City and also going to the Yashow Market, both of which I, and a number of people attended also. The evening was free for us and everyone went off to do their own things.

Jason is a second year Bachelor of Business Administration student.  This is Jason's third time in China.