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October 2011 GCC Insights Newsletter
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Letter from the President: GCC's Year, Our Year - Part One
Dear Global China Connection,
This is GCC's year, this is our year. Between now and September 2012, GCC makes the leap from student group into global institution. From San Diego to Beijing to Toronto to New York, every single event and new friendship we create is getting us there. But we can't do it individually. To make that leap successfully, GCC Management will become an effective leader for our chapters and members in the long term. This is the first of three letters in which I will outline our plan to do that this school year.
Quite simply, Management needs to do more concrete things that help our chapters and be totally transparent about those things. Starting today, we are. As we begin providing grants and scholarships, linking chapters through regional events, introducing members to alumni and partner organizations, and advising chapters around the world on holding big activities, our online forum GCC Ning is your window into all of it.
Ning shows you what Management is actually doing. GCC's officers now share our weekly meeting minutes, send a monthly internal newsletter to all members, and will produce an annual report with full financial statements every August.
Ning gives you a voice. Creating a profile means you've officially registered as an official GCC member and gives you access to opportunities, planning and brand resources, and the ability to speak up on discussion boards.
By following along on Ning, you can track our progress and speak up if you think something needs to change. If you have any questions about Ning or anything else, the first public Town Hall Meeting will be held online on Sunday November 20, 2011 at 11:00am Eastern Time. All eight GCC Officers will be there to tell you what they're working on, hear concerns, and answer questions. To register, send an email to inte...@gccglobal.org with your name.
This school year, we turn GCC into a true global institution. I could not ask for a more supportive and passionate group of GCCers to reach that goal, and I am looking forward to every minute of it.
Best,
Daniel
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Recent Conferences
October 1st Harvard Conference
On Saturday October 1st 2011, Harvard College GCC hosted its 2011 inaugural fall conference. Over 80 students from 35 universities in North America attended the day-long conference on microfinance, intellectual property, and energy and sustainability in China.
The day began with keynotes from Goodwin Procter Partner Charles Sanders, ACCION CDO Roy Jacobowitz, and Citigroup Global Head of Environmental Finance Michael Eckhart. Participants then engaged in meaningful case study discussions led by top industry and academic leaders within the three conference topics. Case study leaders included individuals from WilmerHale, Sidley Austin, Harvard Business School, and more. The conference ended with a China opportunities panel and a social networking session.
The conference gave participants a better understanding of the opportunities offered by GCC and perhaps even the relationships and inspiration to start powerful new initiatives of their own.
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October 22nd Cornell CONNECT Conference
Over the weekend of the 22nd, GCC-Cornell hosted CONNECT, a student lead initiative at Cornell University to examine the changing role of a liberal arts education in today's pre-professional oriented world.
CONNECT served to unite members of the Cornell community with visiting students and speakers from a variety of locations and a broad range of diverse industries, as well as to promote the study of global perspectives in business, entrepreneurship, the environment, education, and public policy.
Between 300 and 400 students attended the three-part event, which included a case competition with PwC, a forum, and a gala dinner for student leaders, alumni council members, and the speakers.
More more information on the conference, visit the CONNET website.
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The strength of GCC lies in its individual chapters and the energy, enthusiasm, and hard work that goes into producing the many events held year round by them. This section highlights some of the impressive and inspiring work being done by highly active GCC chapters.
GCC - Tufts
On October 26th, Tufts GCC hosted their first event of the year, a Roundtable Lecture on the Xinhai Revolution with professor Joshua Hill from the History Department. With solid attendance, and lively discussions, the event itself went far overtime.
With this as the first of many events, look forward to more activity from GCC Tufts in the near future.
Additionally, GCC-Tufts has recently reached an agreement with Tufts' Institute of Global Leadership to co-host the 2012 China-US Symposium in early March. Impressed by the extent of the Tufts chapter’s network and connections, GCC members will be acting in key leadership positions in the organizing committee.
The symposium -- its 5th year -- will discuss Sino-US relations from a policy/international relations/security perspective.
For more on their chapter and their events, see their Wordpress site here.
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GCC - Rice
We are very excited to introduce FUSION, GCC: Rice’s newest event geared toward bringing Chinese, Taiwanese, and American students together to promote mutual understanding and trust through a common interest. This year, the theme of FUSION is science, energy, and technology.
GCC-Rice will be partnering together with local and global businesses around Houston -- including the Rice Taiwanese Association and Harvard's iMuse -- to give international attendees a geuine taste of Houston.
If you want to learn more about the initiative, please don’t hesitate to contact p...@rice.edu or view the FUSION brochure here.
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GCC - Swarthmore
GCC Swarthmore kicked off the new school year with their annual Mid-Autumn Festival celebration, featuring a wide selection of mooncakes, melon and pineapple cakes, and aloe drinks.
The event, with over fifty attendees -- including both students and professors -- included posters about mooncakes, the festival, and the legend behind the tradition, allowing people to not only enjoy the food but learn about the culture behind it as well. The strong showing at the event will serve as a strong foundation from which to launch future GCC activities at Swarthmore.
For more on the Swarthmore chapter, see their Wordpress site here.
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GCC - Columbia
The Columbia Chapter has already held several events, including an information session that drew over fifty students and a GCC bake sale that raised funds for the chapter.
In addition to all that, they are breaking out of the standard model for event planning and instead working toward collaboration with groups on campus. Ideas include a panel discussion on digital consumerism in China, collaboration with a Pakistani student group to discuss the history and current state of Sino-Pakistan affairs, and collaboration with a Korean students group for an event on China's relationship with South Korea.
GCCs - USC, Harvard, Tufts, and MIT
On October 29th, local Boston GCC chapters, including Harvard, Tufts, and MIT, welcomed a 15-person delegation all the way from the University of Southern California chapter for a list of events, including a dinner and mixer. The USC chapter was in Boston to attend a conference on the 1911 Xinhai Revolution held at Harvard.
The delegation and Boston-wide chapter cooperation is a phenomenal example of the trend of increasing chapter integration that the GCC network is currently experiencing.
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GCC Shanghai Committee -- Powerhouse
GCC's Shanghai Committee has big plans this year. They are holding five internal team-building events this fall alone, preparing for international delegations, planning a corporate visit to Ernst & Young, a volunteering event, a networking cocktail, and even a Christmas Party.
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Upcoming 2012 Intercollegiate US-China Healthcare Conference at UPenn's Wharton
Toward the end of March, multiple GCC chapters – including the University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins University, and Carleton College – will be hosting the 2012 Intercollegiate US-China Healthcare Conference at UPenn's Wharton school with the theme, “A Global Insight into the Future of Chinese Healthcare.”
The day-long conference will explore issues regarding the increasing globalization of healthcare, especially between the US and China. By bringing together influential speakers, experts, and representatives from diverse backgrounds – including medicine, public health, biotechnology, venture capitalism, and management – the event will provide the national collegiate community with an opportunity to examine the health care framework of both countries in various contexts and from multiple perspectives.
In addition to keynote speeches, the conference will include discussions, debates, and workshops to promote interaction and the exchange of ideas between speakers and participants.
The event is a collaboration between GCC and the Penn Biotech Group, a cross-disciplinary student-run organization at the University of Pennsylvania that focuses on the issues currently facing the biotechnology industry.
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China Reshuffles Top Leadership at Financial Regulators
China reshuffled the leadership of three of its financial regulatory agencies on Saturday, one of the first steps in what is expected to be a major leadership change at the top of the Communist Party next year.
With a new generation of leaders set to take control of the country in 2012, the Communist Party was widely expected to replace its top banking and financial regulators as several of them neared retirement age.
Several of those changes, which were announced Saturday, come at a time of strong economic growth in China but continuing worries about soaring inflation, a depressed stock market and concerns that heavy lending by China’s biggest banks following the 2008 financial crisis is likely to lead to a huge number of nonperforming loans over the next three to five years.
To strengthen its controls, the Communist Party on Saturday appointed Shang Fulin, 60, as the new chairman of the powerful China Banking Regulatory Commission, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.
To continue reading, click here.
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Beijing on Foreigners, Pension Payments: ‘Trust China’
China passed a law this summer requiring foreign workers and their employers to contribute to a social security fund. The result has been confusion among business and bureaucrats alike about how it will work.
Underscoring the uncertainty, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security said in a press briefing Friday that it doesn’t quite have the plan all in place. Many of the details of the law are still being ironed out, said Xu Yanjun, the deputy director of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.
Still, the details offered Friday represent the best information yet on the burden employers – particularly foreign companies – will face as China moves to create the sort of social safety net commonly found in other countries and long demanded by its population.
The lack of clarity has caused a stir among China watchers and foreign residents in the country as the social security plan–which covers pension, medical expenses, unemployment, work-related injuries, and maternity–will have a significant financial effect on businesses with foreign staff.
To continue reading, click here.
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©2011 Global China Connection | 116 E. 55th St. | New York, NY | 10022
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