Organizer: Center for Chinese Business Studies(CCBS)

The University of Kitakyushu

New Year Special Seminar 2023

Theme：Sustainable Development of East Asian Companies and International Strategic Cooperation

Date &  Time：Wednesday, March 15th　13:30-18:30

Format：Online（via Teams, Express in Chinese ）

　On Marth 15th,2023, the New Year Special Seminar 2023 was successfully held. This was the 7th in a series of East Asia Forums. It was hosted by the CCBS of The University of Kitakyushu. Due to the recent outbreak of COVID-19 infection, this expert conference was conducted remotely using Teams as in the previous two years.

  The seminar consisted of 11 panelists, including 9 external scholars and experts from Japan and other countries’ institutions which our university has concluded academic exchange agreements, and was divided into two sessions, each focusing on different topics for speeches and general discussions. The opening speech was given by Tagashi MATSUO, President of The University of Kitakyushu on behalf of the organizer. The first session was moderated by Prof. Peili ZHANG from the Research Center of China’s Private Enterprises, Renmin University of China. The second session was moderated by Research Fellow Lijun PENG from CCBS.

  The COVID-19 pandemic, Russia-Ukraine war, and intensified competition between the United States and China leading to sluggish consumer demand, high inflation, and worsening disruptions in international supply chains have further fueled the rise of anti-globalization forces. These have had a huge impact on the world economy. As we are facing these challenges, the seminar discussed how the East Asian region can establish and maintain new win-win relationships to develop high value-added industries by leveraging the successful experience of former regional industrial cooperation. In addition, the panelists also shared their knowledges and insights on the factors that contribute to the sustainable development of longevity companies in the region.

  In the first session, under the theme of “Strategic cooperation among Asian Companies”, Prof. Hong LIU, Dean of the Nanyang Center for Public Administration, Vice President of Nanyang Technological University of Singapore, gave a speech entitled ” Singapore’s Chinese Community and Transnational Business Networks”; Prof. Tomoyuki FUKUMOTO, Faculty of Economics, Osaka University of Economics , gave a speech entitled “A Study of the opening of China’s Financial Market and Foreign Investment in China’s Securities Market”; Prof. Shin-Horng CHEN, Director of the International Economic Research Institute, vice president of Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER), gave a speech entitled” Rethinking Taiwan-Japan Cooperation Relationship from Geopolitical Impact on Technology Industry”; Prof. Ku-ho LIN, Director of Cornerstone Center for Academia-Industry Research, Vice Dean of College of Management, National Chung Hsing University, gave a speech entitled “Comparison of Taiwan and Japan’s ESG Policies and Corresponding Strategies of companies”; and Prof. Peili ZHANG, gave a speech entitled “Transformation and Development of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises(SMEs) under Changing Consumer Demands”.

  The second session, under the theme of “Exploring Corporate Longevity Genes”, based on the results of the research project “Management Comparison of Japanese and Chinese Longevity Companies” led by CCBS in the past, aimed to share awareness of the issues and preliminary results of the ongoing research. Focusing on local companies from the Greater China Region perspective, Prof. Taiyan HUANG, Director of China Institute for Vitalizing Border Areas and Enriching the People (VBEP), Director of the Research Center of China’s Private Enterprises, Renmin University of China gave a speech entitled “The current situation and development of China’sTime-honored Brands (Chinese: Zhonghua lao zihao)”; Prof. Hsi-Mei CHUNG, College of Management, I-SHOU University gave a speech entitled “Family business identity of longevity companies”; Mr. Ping WANG, Vice President of Hong Kong China Review News, Senior Research Fellow of China Review Think Tank Foundation(CRTT) gave a speech entitled ” Fostering and promotion of longevity companies: China’s mainland can use the clan mentality”. On the other hand, focusing on Japanese companies from the comparative business management perspective, Miss Shigemi FURUTA, President of Hong Kong Japan Business Study Center (HKJBSC), gave a speech entitled “The Internationalization of Japanese longevity companies”;Director & Prof. Xiaoping WANG, and Research Fellow Lijun PENG of the CCBS of the University of Kitakyushu, gave a speech entitled “An analysis of the inheritance strategy of Japanese longevity companies”.

　In the panel discussions for each session, moderators and experts exchanged views on the future of the Chinese consumer market, including the rapidly expanding luxury goods market and new energy vehicle market, as well as on the competition and future development patterns of different countries in the semiconductor industry, and on the definition of longevity companies and family businesses, their relationships, differences in research methodology, and characteristics of management styles. Lastly, Prof. Xiaoping WANG summed up the seminar on behalf of the organizer. Overall, it was a dynamic and productive seminar that exceeded the scheduled time, demonstrated a high level of engagement and enthusiasm among those in attendance.