On April 18, 2018, Dr. Jean-Marc F. Blanchard, Executive Director of the Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations (Wong MNC Center), will speak at the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) conference on "Fostering Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development (ISID) in the New Silk Road Economic Belt: Leveraging potentials of Industrial parks, Zones, and Cities." Dr. Blanchard will participate on a panel entitled "Belt and Road Initiative" (BRI) that will cover the BRI, regional economic dynamics, UNIDO's inclusive and sustainable industrial development and strategic and operational framework, salient Asian Development Bank programs, and other themes. Dr. Blanchard also will moderate the panel.
Wong MNC Center News
April 13th, 2018
January 16th, 2018
On January 13, 2018, Dr. Jean-Marc F. Blanchard, Executive Director of the Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations (Wong MNC Center) gave a keynote speech at the 2nd Silicon Valley-Beijing Internet of Things Summit & Investment and Financing Competition on a panel entitled “Design for Manufacturing.” The title of Dr. Blanchard’s speech was “The Political Environment Surrounding Chinese Expansion in Silicon Valley.” In his remarks, Dr. Blanchard discussed political and normative issues at the national, subnational, and societal level that Chinese firms contemplating investing or operating in Silicon Valley must consider. He emphasized companies cannot just focus on Silicon Valley, but also must be aware of actors and the situation in Washington including the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.
December 27th, 2017
Dr. Louis Brennan, FTCD, has joined the Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations as a Senior Research Fellow. Dr. Brennan is a Fellow of Trinity College Dublin and Professor with the Trinity Business School (Ireland), and an authority on Chinese Investment in Europe. For more information, please see http://www.mnccenter.org/research-fellows.
November 22nd, 2017
On November 18 and 19, 2017, the "Political Economy of China's Maritime Silk Road Initiative (MSRI), Africa, and the Middle East" conference was held in Shanghai, China. The conference, orchestrated and co-sponsored by the Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations (Wong MNC Center) and hosted and co-sponsored by the School of Advanced International and Area Studies (SAIAS) at East China Normal University (ECNU), attracted scholars and attendees from more than a dozen countries including China, Iran, Kenya, Netherlands, the US, the UK, Russia, Ukraine, Singapore, and Turkey. Opening speeches were given by Dr. Jean-Marc F. Blanchard, Executive Director of the Wong MNC Center, ECNU SAIAS Dean LIU Jun, and ECNU Office of International Exchange Director Dr. Zhou Yunxuan. The conference keynote speech was given by Dr.
November 7th, 2017
China's Maritime Silk Road Initiative, Africa, and the Middle East: Unpacking Political and Economic Dynamics at a time of Global Transitions
October 30th, 2017
Peter J. Buckley, Ph.D. has joined the Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations as an Advisory Board member. Dr. Buckley is a world renowned international business scholar with a specialization in Chinese business. He is Professor, Founder and Director of the Business Confucius Institute, and Founder and Director of the Centre for International Business, all at the University of Leeds (UK). He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2012 and is an elected Fellow of the British Academy. He earned his Ph.D. in Economics from Lancaster University (UK).
October 30th, 2017
In mid-October, Dr. Jean-Marc F. Blanchard, Executive Director of the Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations gave an invited talk at the National University of Singapore Institute of South Asian Studies “Revisiting Globalization: Comparing Country Experiences from South Asia and the World” Workshop. The title of Dr. Blanchard’s talk was “China and Economic Globalization: Powerful Profit indeed, Potential Prophet Indeed.” In his talk, Dr. Blanchard discussed, among other things, China’s economic globalization especially in regard to inward and outward foreign direct investment (FDI), the gains and pains associated with both as well as the advantages and disadvantages of China’s strategy for managing inward and outward FDI, and China’s potential to lead economic globalization in the future given current changes.
August 30th, 2017
South China Morning Post reporter Frank Tang interviewed Dr. Jean-Marc F. Blanchard, Executive Director of the Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations, for a story relating to the 10th anniversary of the China Investment Corporation (CIC), China's massive sovereign wealth fund. Dr. Blanchard shared his insights about the CIC's objectives, investment portfolio, and investment performance. Dr. Blanchard noted that the CIC remained heavily oriented internally, remained quite cautious in its investment activities due to a fear of consequences for poor investment performance, and that this conservative investment stance was producing rather mediocre investment performance. Dr. Blanchard also offered some thoughts about how the US government might react to CIC investment.
August 1st, 2017
Mr. Jason Lo, Senior Director of Strategy, Honeywell (China) Co., Ltd., has joined the Advisory Board of the Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations. He heads Honeywell’s China strategy, covering the company’s diversified portfolio. In 2016, he was honored with Honeywell’s Premier Achievement Award, one of eight recipients in the entire company. He has held a number of regional leadership roles since joining Honeywell in 2005. He holds a Masters degree in Electrical Engineering and a Bachelor degree in Computer Engineering, both from the University of Waterloo in Canada, and is a Certified Energy Manager (CEM) and member of the Association of Energy Engineers (AEE).
July 25th, 2017
Dr. Jorge Heine, Ambassador of Chile to the People's Republic of China, has joined the Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations. Ambassador Heine previously was CIGI Professor of Global Governance at the Balsillie School of International Affairs and a Professor at Wilfrid Laurier University. He previously served as Ambassador of Chile to India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka and has held other high government posts. He has consulted for numerous public and private entities and governments, is the author, co-author, or editor of fifteen books including, recently, Reaching Across the Pacific (2014), and is the author of some one hundred academic articles.
