University of Gothenburg, School of Business, Economics and Law – 18th August 2011.

During the 22nd and 23rd August the School of Business, Economics and Law will be visited by a delegation of entrepreneurs and officials from Hangzhou in Eastern China. The group will be visiting the School to learn about innovations from a Swedish  perspective and to discuss collaboration concerning management education, science parks and corporate development. In addition to lectures held at the School, there are other meetings planned with, amongst others, the City of Gothenburg, Volvo Cars and Lindholmen Science Park.

Half of the Chinese delegation comprises of entrepreneurs and corporate managers from small and medium-sized businesses, whilst the other visitors work on corporate development for Hangzhou City. Hangzhou is famed for its exuberant corporate climate with the largest share of entrepreneurs to be found in China. The City is also home to the Geely corporation, the new owners of Volvo Cars, which is one of the reasons for the Chinese’ strong interest in Gothenburg.

Chinese investment in expertise upgrading

“In China there is currently a large emphasis on the development of small and medium sized companies”, says Per-Olof Larsson, CEO for the School of Executive Education. According to Per-Olof Larsson it is a prioritised area for the Central Government to develop these types of companies. There is at present extreme competition between the companies, with many wrestling with weak profitability. The Government’s efforts are directed at upgrading the companies’ expertise and to manufacture more advanced products in order to increase profitability. And China is huge – in Hangzhou alone there are 60 000 small and medium-sized companies. A unique aspect of this visit according to Per-Olof Larsson is that the delegation consists of representatives from both the private and public sectors.

The School of Business, Economics and Law involved in several education projects in China

The School of Business, Economics and Law has been involved in strategic collaboration with Zhejiang University in Hangzhou for more than a year, which is ranked as number three in China. This collaboration comprises of exchanges within research and development as well as executive education for both Swedish and Chinese managers.

“There’s a big call for management education in China. Through our collaboration with Zhejiang University we are able to deliver programmes that integrate Chinese and western perspectives concerning corporate management. We are now discussing such programmes with several cities in China – Kunming and Guangzhou as well as Hangzhou”, explains Per-Olof Larsson.

After its visit to Gothenburg the delegation will continue to Stockholm, Helsinki and Moscow.

Facts about the City of Hangzhou

Hangzhou lies just under 200 km south-west of Shanghai, has a population of 9 million and is the main city in the Zhejiang province with 55 million inhabitants. Besides being an area of natural beauty, the West Lake is one of China’s most popular tourist destinations.

For further information: Per-Olof Larsson, tel 031-786 5381, 0708- 98 16 00, per-olof.larsson@handels.gu.se

About the School of Executive Education at the School of Business, Economics and Law at the University of Gothenburg

School of Executive Education is a provider of university-based management development programmes, founded in 2008 as a carve-out of the executive education practice of the School of Business, Economics and Law at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. School of Executive Education delivers customized programmes for the private and public sector and one Executive MBA programme. The clients are spread out across the globe and programmes are delivered i.e. in Finland, USA, India, China and Singapore. The School of Executive Education designs programmes that combine academic weight with practical relevance, which helps the customers to implement strategies through the development of key employees.