3 WEEKS IN BEIJING (A SHORT RECAP)
It has been 3 weeks since I arrived in Beijing and with it, comes a lot of new experiences and knowledge earned in this short period.
The course aimed to comprehensively cover good governance by using the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as a case study. We dissected and analyzed the government on three frontiers, its foreign policy framework, economic policy and its political direction since the inception of the PRC in 1949 until present. The course is structured as a series of lectures in the morning coupled with a dialogue session in the afternoon to discuss and debate about what we had learned during the lectures. To further give us an understanding, we also go out on trips to relevant sites and agencies relevant to the course.
As a major component of the PRC’s foreign and economic policy, we frequently discuss about the One Belt One Road initiative, its benefits and implications and the concerns surrounding the project for domestic and international stakeholders.
We had the opportunity to travel to Hangzhou over the previous weekend to visit Alibaba group headquarters. The representatives demonstrated us their seamless integration of technology with our lifestyle. An example of this is their flagship grocery store where a customer can select fresh produce and it will be delivered to their home. Payment can then be made through a facial scan at the checkout counter. They also expanded upon their global e-commerce training program where they partnered with Sunway University and UiTM in equipping the next generation of students to prepare them for a fully digital marketplace.
After Hangzhou, we visited its neighboring province, Shanghai to learn about how Shanghai became an economic powerhouse for China. Interestingly, Shanghai was designated to become a financial hub in the 1990s through President Deng Xiaoping’s vision to establish Shanghai in the global scene. In less than 30 years, rapid development has enabled Pudong, a city in Shanghai, to achieve a 1 trillion Yuan (145 billion USD) GDP alone, an astonishing feat in such a short time given that 30 years ago, the area was very poor.
In Shanghai, we visited SIASUN, a robotics company spearheading the country’s innovation in robotics technology where they showed us their products they supply to their customers globally. We also visited the Yangshan Deep Water Port, China’s largest shipping cargo port in the world. Boasting at about 42 million containers coming through the port per annum, it serves as major player in the global trade industry.
In the upcoming weeks, several visits to their respective ministries are scheduled and will be updated soon.
# The Workshop on Governance Dongfang Scholarships Program enables emerging global leaders to study in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) equipping them with the theoretical and practical knowledge to serve their respective nation. The program consists of 39 delegates from 32 different countries from various backgrounds ranging from ministers, diplomats, professors and young leaders.
