One of the most impactful ways to boost your brand is to create opportunities for potential customers to experience your product or service first-hand. One way to create these opportunities, while engaging with your audience, is by staging an in-person event.

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How will China’s economic recovery play out beyond the Two Sessions?

Brand: China Europe International Business School (CEIBS)

In early-2023, following the end of China’s zero-COVID policy, CEIBS sought to reconnect with the foreign business community in China. One way we did this was by hosting a special half-day forum in Beijing. The event was staged for both branding and student recruitment purposes.

Note: It is, of course, impossible to stage a large-scale event without the collective efforts of many people. In the case study presented below, I was responsible for steering the event described, including taking all of the key decisions.

Organizers

We co-organized the event with the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China (EUCCC). The EUCCC was selected because of its shared interest in bridging the Chinese and international business communities and because its membership is largely comprised of foreign professionals (i.e. our target audience).

Timing

The event was scheduled for March 2023 to coincide with the first post-COVID Two Sessions meetings of the Chinese government. The Two Sessions are the highest level of political meetings in China, during which the government announces new policies for the coming year.

Location

We hosted the forum in Beijing, as it is a major hub for the foreign business community in China and a key market for CEIBS’ student recruitment efforts.

Theme

The theme for the event was How will China’s economic recovery play out beyond the Two Sessions? The event provided insights into China’s growth prospects in light of new government policies with an emphasis on the challenges and opportunities for foreign businesses in the country.

Event Promotion

We set a goal of 200 participants for the forum (the actual number of show-ups exceeded this target).

The event was promoted via numerous channels, including LinkedIn, WeChat, EDMs and partner organizations, as well as the school’s student and alumni network beginning one month prior to the forum. View the event listing here.

Format & Agenda

The forum included a series of keynote speeches and a panel discussion followed by a networking event and MBA and GEMBA program info-sessions.

Language

In addition, the event was English only (with no interpretation provided). This created a barrier to non-English speakers, filtering out people who didn’t fit our target audience.

Offline or hybrid? Open or closed door?

Importantly, we wanted to provide a high-quality experience for those in attendance. However, China is a very politically sensitive environment. Hence, in order to ensure open dialogue and create the best space in which to showcase CEIBS, we opted to make the event wholly offline (as opposed to a hybrid event which could have been livestreamed to a larger audience). The event was also closed to journalists and the panel discussion portion of the event was conducted under Chatham House rule.

Despite the decision to make the forum closed door, we used our time in Beijing to meet in person with various media, including AFP, Reuters, Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal. SCMP and ARD also met with CEIBS faculty on the sidelines of the event.

Keynote Speakers

The forum featured speeches from Professor of Economics Zhu Tian and former World Trade Organization Director General Pascal Lamy, who spoke about the future of the Chinese economy and China’s place on the global stage.

Panelists

We also presented a panel of business leaders who discussed the opportunities and challenges facing their organizations as China emerged from COVID.

Post-event

The post-event press release focused on the main points of the discussion under the headline Trade, climate and geopolitics will dictate China’s path to economic recovery. Read it here.

In response to audience demand, we also released a recording of Zhu Tian’s talk online. Watch it here.

Finally, we created a dedicated WeChat group for participants to share related content and ensure on-going engagement with our audience.