FMS-Delhi Students Return from China after Successful 10-Day Trip under Exchange Program

FMS-Delhi Students Return from China after Successful 10-Day Trip under Exchange Program

As the world wakes up to the rising strengths of the Chinese and Indian economies, a pressing need has arisen to further bolster the relationships among the youth of the two countries and promote a better understanding of the two cultures and societies.

In an attempt to achieve this objective, the government of the two countries has initiated a novel way of increasing such interaction. As per the mutual decision taken by the Chinese President and Indian Prime Minister, 500 youth would be a part of the exchange program over the next 5 years. The first such 100-member delegation comprising of youth in the age group of 13-35 and from fields as varied as sports, Chinese language students, social workers, panchayati raj workers, students of performing arts, Ph.D. students, engineers from IITs and youth with special abilities recently visited China on a 10-day trip. Prominent among the group were two management students, Viral Nagar and Ankita Mehta from the Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi.

The trip was an enriching experience for the two as they made an attempt to understand the different facets of Chinese culture and society. More importantly, they found a whole new perspective to the manner in which businesses are run in China and the management education scenario there. As Viral says, "Everywhere you go, there is a conscious attempt to brand China. As the country seeks to establish itself globally and attracts more foreign investors and tourists, the need is felt to shed off its Asian image and don a brand new cosmopolitan look. I have not seen or heard of a branding exercise of this magnitude earlier." "The upcoming preparation for the 2008 Olympics is proof of the mammoth strides the country is taking towards becoming an even larger superpower and a force to reckon with. They have an excellent state of preparedness for Olympic Games. These can be replicated in India for the upcoming Commonwealth Games in 2010," agrees Ankita.

Viral and Ankita also studied the industry in China and witnessed first hand the leaps it has taken in order to develop as the manufacturing hub of the world. The management education perspective is a little different in the country though. "e-MBA is a rage there. People learn to manage their work lives, family lives and their managerial education as well. This automatically makes them better managers," remarks Ankita. The youth were also warm and affectionate and both of them are back with a good learning of the Mandarin language. During the course of the visit, they had a chance to meet the Foreign Minister of China, Dai Bingguo and the Vice President and Administrator of Sports, Duan Shijie, along with the First Secretary of the Secretariat, Hu Chunhua.

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Contributed by -
Abhishek Sipani,
Secretary, Media Relations,
Faculty of Management Studies (FMS),
University of Delhi, Delhi.

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