CKGSB's 20 years in business education

CKGSB signed an MoU with Fortune Korea on knowledge sharing and customized leadership programs.It was in light of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and South Korea.

CKGSB and Yonsei School of Business signed a MoU in July 2022, allowing the two leading business schools to establish a partnership for academic exchanges and collaboration in educational programs. The two schools will launch a joint MBA program with degrees offered by both parties.

CKGSB expanded its global footprint to the Gulf region with the signing of an MoU with Dubai Executive Council (DEC) in March 2022. The two organizations will jointly establish an ecosystem and platform to foster the development of economic disruption with a particular focus on unicorn companies in GCC, Central Asia and India.

CKGSB EMBA program launched a practice-based course, Social Innovation and Business for Good, coaching over 800 EMBA students to incorporate ESG into their businesses.

CKGSB and RED CLUB x Cartier collaborated on the inaugural Young Leader Award to empower young entrepreneurial leaders and provide award winners with the necessary financial, mentoring, and social support they need to succeed in the future.

CKGSB EMBA program launched a practice-based course, Social Innovation and Business for Good, coaching over 800+ EMBA students to incorporate ESG into their businesses.

On the 65^th anniversary of the start of the diplomatic relations between China and major African nations, CKGSB and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) signed an MoU to empower African government officials, young entrepreneurs and female leaders.

CKGSB and Johns Hopkins Carey Business School announced a dual-degree MBA program. The two-year, part-time, hybrid program confers both a Master of Science in Finance from Carey Business School and a Master of Business Administration from CKGSB.

With the COVID-19 pandemic accelerating digital transformations across industries, CKGSB partnered with Emeritus, an online executive education provider, to offer the timely COVID19-Driven Digitalization in Asia (CDDA) Program, designed to help business leaders stay ahead of the curve of digitalization.

CKGSB was awarded the 2019 China Social Impact Award in “Poverty Alleviation” by the United Nations and the British Chamber of Commerce in China. The award was a recognition of the school’s consistent efforts in reducing poverty in Ji’an since 2017 and other sustainable development campaigns.

Building on its global footprint CKGSB, along with its Australia and New Zealand Alumni Association and the Victorian State Government of Australia, hosted the China-Australia Business Forum in Melbourne in May 2019.

The China-Australia Business Forum was part of CKGSB’s partnership with Australia’s Victorian Government, announced in 2018, aimed at enhancing ties and understanding between Chinese and Australian businesses.

Building on its global footprint CKGSB, along with its Australia and New Zealand Alumni Association and the Victorian State Government of Australia, hosted the China-Australia Business Forum in Melbourne in May 2019.

CKGSB launched the ASEAN New Economy Leadership Program. It served the growing needs from Chinese and ASEAN business and government leaders to know about the business intricacies in the region.

CKGSB announced a partnership with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) to build entrepreneurial networks at the 5th China Economic symposium in London.

Co-hosted by CKGSB and the Institute of Directors (IoD), the symposium drew 300 distinguished guests and high-profile speakers for an in-depth discussion around Sino-European trade, Brexit and business opportunities with China.

Co-hosted by CKGSB and the Institute of Directors (IoD), the China Economic Symposium drew 300 distinguished guests and high-profile speakers for an in-depth discussion around Sino-European trade, Brexit and business opportunities with China.

Going beyond the traditional boundaries of business schools, CKGSB began advocating for social innovation.

The school defines social innovation as the collaboration among businesses, governments, multilateral institutions, non-profit organizations and civil society to develop and deploy effective and innovative solutions to humanity’s most challenging issues. All degree program students need to complete community services to graduate since 2017. CKGSB began offering social innovation as an elective module for EMBA and MBA students in 2016, which became a required module for EMBA students since 2018 and for all degree program students since 2022.

As part of its social innovation efforts, CKGSB initiated a three-project campaign in 2017 to alleviate poverty in Ji’an, an impoverished city in Jiangxi, China, using its core business – education and business management – to alleviate poverty by empowering local start-ups, developing talents and improving local living conditions.

In light of global transformation and technological disruption, CKGSB hosted the 2017 Global Innovation Forum and 8th Young Investors’ Forum in Shenzhen.

It convened renowned innovation-driven academics, tech investors and business leaders leading tech-driven transformation, reflecting CKGSB’s consistent commitment to cultivating a new generation of business leaders who are prepared for what is next.

Expanding its interdisciplinary offerings, CKGSB and Columbia Engineering – a rare blend of a business school and an engineering school – announced their partnership to jointly launch the Cheung Kong Innovation Institute, a unique hub for training and educating a new breed of industry and business professionals in the innovation and entrepreneur space.

In 2016, CKGSB founded the Cheung Kong Education Development Foundation (CKEDF) to support the school’s campus development, academic research and charitable projects as well as student finance and funding, which was graded as an AAAA social organization by the Civil Affairs Bureau of Shenzhen Municipality in 2021.

CKGSB signed an MoU with New York University Shanghai (NYUSH), outlining a strategic cooperation to launch a joint teaching and research center, share educational resources and together recruit professors. It combines the two schools’ strengths to better serve business executives and society.

CKGSB launched the Chuang Community, an ecosystem for economic disruptors who lead unicorn or soon-to-be unicorn companies and are seeking training and funding.

The first Chuang program partnered with Tencent, targeting entrepreneurs with start-up companies after Series A of financing to foster economic disruption in China through the development of unicorn and unicorn-to-be companies. Since then, CKGSB has partnered with Alibaba, Amazon, Bytedance, Baidu, JD.com, Microsoft (China), SenseTime, and leading venture capitals to develop more than 1,000 founders and co-founders, including 38 unicorn companies listed on CB Insights (2017-2022).

CKGSB strengthened its presence in South Korea with its Korean EMBA (K-EMBA) program conducted in partnership with Seoul School of Integrated Sciences and Technologies. The inaugural program attracted over 60 business leaders and entrepreneurs in Korea across various industries, such as entertainment, consulting and education.

CKGSB and Harvard Kennedy School signed a collaboration agreement, committed to conducting research, forums and executive education programs to create knowledge and disseminate it for the betterment of global communities.

CKGSB established the CKGSB Philanthropy Awards.

It celebrated and applauded impactful and meaningful ESG projects. Highly engaged with the CKGSB alumni community, the awards have received more than 1,400,000 online votes by 2022.

CKGSB launched the first dual-degree EMBA program with the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in April.

This 20-month program recruited students from both China and Europe with the aim of equipping them with the knowledge and network needed to succeed in doing business between the East and the West.

CKGSB hosted the first Women in Leadership Forum in Beijing, featuring Meta’s then COO Sheryl Sandberg.

In her speech, Sandberg called for a global push to address the stereotypes that hold women back, for changes in corporate polices to be more accommodating to women, and for more equality and work-sharing between men and women in the home. Since 2013, CKGSB’s Women in Leadership Forum has become a flagship event, for which four editions were co-hosted with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women). By 2022 close to 90 speakers from 12 countries and over 2 million viewers have tuned in to this impactful forum.

Ushering in its second decade, CKGSB launched its flagship Business Scholars Program.

An elite program committed to developing business thinkers and management scholars with a global vision and resourceful minds, the Business Scholars Program offers a PhD track in partnership with Singapore Management University. Over 40% of the program’s students run listed companies.

2012 marked CKGSB’s 10th anniversary.

4000 alumni, students, professors, staff and friends of the school from China and abroad attended the ceremony held in Beijing.

Present at the ceremony were distinguished figures from CKGSB’s history, including Li Ka-shing, Founder of Cheung Kong Industries and Chairman of Li Ka Shing Foundation, and Liu Chuanzhi, Founder of Lenovo.

Shenzhen, China

CKGSB established its Shenzhen campus.

London, UK

The school launched CKGSB Europe, with a representative office in London along with a European Advisory Board.

The school launched CKGSB Europe, with a representative office in London along with a European Advisory Board.

CKGSB and Columbia Business School jointly launched an Executive Education program, Global Business Strategy: China.

More than 30 executives from the headquarters of multinational companies, such as Estee Lauder, Siemens, Becton Dickinson, RHODIA and Hasbro, participated in the program in New York.

Starting in 2010, CKGSB required all of its EMBA students to complete 48 hours of community service as a prerequisite to graduation.

Since then, all degree students at CKGSB are required to participate in community service in order to graduate, with a total of 165,000+ hours served to date so far.

Building on the success of its full-time MBA program, CKGSB enriched its portfolio of degree programs with a part-time MBA program with an emphasis on finance.

The Finance MBA aimed to cultivate financial professionals with a global perspective and the ability to master the know-hows to navigate China’s financial industry.

Continuing its international cooperation, CKGSB worked with the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and Ashridge Business School (currently Hult International Business School) to offer the first overseas program for its EMBA students and alumni with a first cohort of 40 senior Chinese executives studying in the UK on a week-long, intensive program.

CKGSB also began engaging with the Japanese market, while maintaining the school’s top-of-the-pyramid approach. In December, CKGSB held its first China-Japan CEO Roundtable in Beijing, hosting more than 90 CEOs from some of the most prominent Chinese and Japanese companies, including Asahi Breweries Ltd, TCL Corp, Accenture and Shanshan Group.

When the devastating earthquake struck Sichuan province in China, CKGSB sent groups of volunteers to provide support onsite.

The school also organized fundraising, which resulted in CKGSB alumni and staff donations accounting for 7% of all Chinese corporate donations to the earthquake relief.

Since 2007, CKGSB has been working with the China National MBA Education Supervisory Committee on an annual training for MBA professors from universities based in lesser developed areas of Western China to narrow the gap in management education between Eastern and Western China.

By 2022, CKGSB has trained more than 400 MBA professors from over 50 universities across 20 underdeveloped provinces in China.

CKGSB continued to expand its global reach.
In March, CKGSB launched an Executive Management training program with IE Business School in Spain.
In May, the school kicked off its first South Korea CEO Program with a total of 35 Korean CEOs.
In June, CKGSB partnered with INSEAD on the inaugural China-India CEO Program in Beijing.

CKGSB expanded its impact to the Americas, Europe and Asia via global partnerships with top universities such as Wharton and INSEAD.

The school established its flagship CKGSB CEO Program, in partnership with the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and INSEAD.

Thirty-five students, including Jack Ma, Founder of Alibaba and Fu Chengyu, then Chairman and CEO of CNOOC and Chairman of SINOPEC, participated in four modules of classes taught in Hong Kong, France, the US and Beijing, respectively.

In September, the first Graduation Ceremony was held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, with over 300 EMBA and MBA students graduating from the school.

CKGSB also pioneered the integration of the humanities into management education to givestudents a holistic view of business.

The first Graduation Ceremony was held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, with over 300 EMBA and MBA students graduating from the school.

CKGSB opened its Shanghai campus.

Six additional full-time professors joined the school from leading universities.

The very next year after its establishment, CKGSB launched its full-time English-language MBA program, with an astonishing average GMAT score of its first cohort at 680.

CKGSB Launched its MBA Program.

The very next year after its establishment, CKGSB started to operate at full speed ahead. It launched its full-time English-language MBA program, with an astonishing average GMAT score of its first cohort at 680.

CKGSB also launched its Case Center to support professors in teaching and research, which today offers more than 500 case studies and reports on both China-specific and global business issues.

For a new business school independent of a parent university nor set up by the government, the first step is certainly the hardest. To get itself off the ground, almost every professor helped with recruiting students for its nascent Executive MBA program. In the end, they recruited the first batch of 105 EMBA students, including Lin Zuoming, a CPPCC candidate and Chairman of Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) and Lin Yang, CEO of Digital China.

As China joined the World Trade Organization, Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (CKGSB) Founding Dean Xiang Bing – a seasoned professor and pioneer of management education at top business schools – quickly realized that China was in need of world-class business education for a growing number of business leaders. So when Mr. Li Ka-shing offered him the opportunity to establish CKGSB, Dean Xiang leapt at the chance.

Xiang Bing, Lode Li, Qi Daqing, Xue Yunkui, Yan Aimin, Zeng Ming and Zheng Yusheng, the seven founding professors, met at Oriental Plaza – located in the heart of Beijing and now CKGSB’s campus – in late 2001 to discuss the possibility of establishing a new-generation business school, forming the basis of CKGSB.