A French Executive’s Exploration of Modern China and Finance with CUHK MBA

My journey to China commenced in 2017 when my wife received a job offer to work at a nuclear plant in Guangdong. To follow her, I quit my job with a pharmaceutical company in Lyon, France, leaving a company and a city where I have lived and worked for over 20 years. Initially, I planned to come over to China and learn the language, discover the country and its wonderful culture, also perhaps explore career opportunities. So, while my wife worked in Guangdong, I stayed in Guangzhou (a city about two hours away by car) to learn Chinese and to live in the city. Once in a while, I also organised some training for the French Chamber of Commerce in Guangzhou.

 

“It was sort of fate”

Before long, my curiosity about China intensified. As I have always wanted to deepen my understanding of finance, I began exploring MBA programmes on the mainland as well as in Hong Kong. As fate would have it, when I joined the Hong Kong Marathon, my wife’s colleague handed me a t-shirt of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). Some other runners associated with CUHK ended up recognising it! That was how I came to meet people from CUHK and began my relationship with the Business School.

After making a comparison between different programs, I decided that CUHK’s MBA was ideally suited for my goals and more importantly, my untypical profile – considering my age (on the higher side) and my professional seniority as compared to other business schools in Mainland China. Furthermore, the classes are taught by world-renowned professors in English and there are high-level students from diverse industries. Enrolling in CUHK then became the next logical step.

 

Good Things Come in Pairs

Soon after I started my MBA, I received a job offer from a French pharmaceutical company called Seqens. They invited me to be their operational excellence and project manager in Wuxi, overseeing a 200-person plant that manufactures active pharmaceutical ingredients. From that point onwards, I would spend four days a week in Wuxi for work, then fly back to Shenzhen and spend three days with my family; I would spend one of those days in Hong Kong to pursue my part-time MBA.

 

Knowledge Delights

I had financed myself to take the MBA as I had a quest for knowledge, so I put in a lot of hard work in my studies despite the new challenging schedule. I was delighted to acquire in-depth knowledge about finance, China’s role in the global economy, its relationship with the world, as well as an array of national initiatives such as Belt and Road and Made in China 2025. CUHK professors are highly dedicated to the students and they did their best to help me learn. In particular, I enjoyed the classes on corporate financial reporting, investment analysis and portfolio management, and valuation basis analysis. All of this knowledge has given me deeper insights into finance and helped me do my job better. I am also able to communicate with my company’s financial controller more efficaciously.

Even though I had been in leadership and management roles for many years, I have still gained new knowledge about leadership, emotional intelligence and decision-making through the MBA. My group projects with teammates from mainland China and Hong Kong also went a long way in helping me better understand the working cultures here. As one of two foreigners at my Wuxi plant, having this insight has helped me adapt my leadership to the current culture and staff and yield good results.

 

Becoming an Ambassador for CUHK

I am truly grateful to the CUHK Business School for this amazing educational experience, which is why I am continually seeking new opportunities to promote the school to as many people as possible. At the 16th Gobi Desert Challenge in May, for example, I joined the CUHK Business School Team and raced in the Gobi Desert in this demanding four-day, 121 km challenge. Together with current students and alumni of CUHK’s MBA and FMBA programmes, we were able to attain good results and raise awareness on CUHK.

 

Advice for Foreigners Considering China and CUHK MBA

For anyone overseas who wishes to enter China or seek an MBA, I have this advice for them: If you want to acquire and solidify knowledge in finance, understand China’s roles in the modern economy or experience and learn more about Chinese culture, CUHK is the best school to do that.

I have lived in Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Wuxi, cities of different sizes and backgrounds. It has been a pleasure to live in and explore all these places as the experience has been smooth, pleasant and transformative. One of the best things about living in China is that the cities are very welcoming to foreigners. As a matter of fact, I do not see any difference between living in Shenzhen and living in France or Hong Kong.

Despite the fact that I may soon return to Europe as my wife’s work at the nuclear plant is approaching its end, Guangzhou will always hold a special place in my heart. I love this city which offers a combination of rich traditionalism and technology-driven modernity. I shall always treasure my memories involving Guangzhou and the CUHK Business School.