Tsinghua SEM Advisory Board Granted Audience with Xi Jinping: MBA News

By QS Contributor Updated Dec 04, 2019

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Introduction
Chinese president welcomes the board’s advice

Tsinghua SEM Advisory Board Granted Audience with Xi Jinping: MBA News main image

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Chinese president, Xi Jinping, met with the advisory board at Tsinghua University’s School of Economics & Management (Tsinghua SEM) at the end of October.

Tsinghua SEM’s board, according to Chinese-language newspaper Want Daily, comprises 61 influential figures including multinational CEOs, politicians as well as the heads of leading business schools around the world.

One recent addition to the board’s number is Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. He joins Nokia Corporation chairman and PepisCo. CEO, Risto Siilasmaa and Indra K. Nooyi respectively, as prime examples of the kind of illustrious business leaders that Tsinghua SEM counts among its advisors.

The board has met with government leaders on numerous occasions in the past, but this is the first time they have been given an audience with a serving Chinese president.

Chinese president welcomes the board’s advice

“Being world-renowned entrepreneurs, you have penetrating views on the world economic situation and China's economic development, so I would like to hear your advice”, said Xi Jinping in a press release, adding that he greatly valued the Tsinghua SEM board’s contribution to China's economic and management education.

In return for the board’s thoughts on the present world economic situation and an update on their current work, Xi Jinping gave the advisors an insight into China's economic development and reform agenda, explaining that the country’s GDP growth and principal economic indicators were all within his government’s expectations.

Zhu Rongji was the founding dean of Tsinghua SEM in 1984. Rongji later became China’s premier from 1998 to 2003. During that time, he established the schools’ advisory board which is understood to meet annually to offer advice on the development of Tsinghua SEM, one of China’s, and indeed, Asia’s leading business schools.

In addition, the school was one of the first business schools to offer MBA degrees in China and earlier this year announced the launch of a new global MBA program in conjunction with MIT Sloan School of Management.

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