December12,2017:AbullettrainrunsthroughKunshan,JiangsuProvince.ICAstrollthroughTianfuEcologicalParkonaweekendisarelaxingactivityforfamiliesinKunshan,acityineasternChina’sJiangsuProvince.Butwhilewalkingthroughtheseeminglyvirginforest,onemayheartheroarofapassingbullettrain.Thisisnotacoincidence—theparkwasbuiltrightonagravelpitleftbyconstructionofhigh-speedrails.
SituatedattheYangtzeRiverDelta,KunshanservesastheeasterngatetoJiangsuProvincefromSuzhoutothewestandisborderedbyShanghaitotheeast.Thecounty-levelcityhasmanagedtorealizefastdevelopmentwhilepreservingitsenvironmentatthesametime,whichawedinternationalstudentsfromBeijingNormalUniversitywhentheyvisitedinApril.
“Thisplaceiswonderful,”exclaimedMahgoubFahmiAhmedAbdelraheam,astudentintheMBAprogramoftheEmergingMarketInstituteofBeijingNormalUniversity.HewasabankerinSudan.“ItsGDPrankshigh,ithasgrovesoftreeseverywhereandtheairisreallyclean.Iwantmywholefamilytovisitthiscityinthefuture.”
MiraculousTransformation
“In2017,KunshanbecameChina’sfirstcounty-levelcitywithGDPover300billionyuanandfinancialrevenueover30billionyuan,”saidZhangYuelin,deputysecretaryoftheKunshanMunicipalCommitteeoftheCommunistPartyofChina(CPC)whilebriefingthestudentsonthecity’sdevelopment.“IttoppedthelistofChina’ssmallandmedium-sizedcitiesintermsofcomprehensivestrength,investmentpotential,qualityofnewurbanization,innovationandentrepreneurship.”
In1983,Kunshan’sGDPfromindustryfirstsurpassedthatofagriculture,amilestoneinitstransformationfromanagriculturalsocietytoanindustrialone,whichwasthefirstofthesixmajortransformationsthetownhasachievedsinceChina’sreformandopening-uppolicywaslaunchedfourdecadesago.
Sincethen,Kunshanhaswitnessedthetransformationsfromanagriculturaltowntoanindustrialhub,fromcloseddevelopmenttoopendevelopment,fromatownwithscatteredfactoriestoacityoforderlyindustrialparks.Allofthesetrans-formationscontributedtoKunshan’smiraculousgrowth,whichhasleftthecitywithaGDPlargerthanmanydevelopingcountries.JinxiTown,partofKunshan,isfamousforitsenvironment.IC“IthinkthetransformationsthatKunshanhasundergonewereverysignificantandthatweshouldlearnfromitstechnologicalinnovation,”saidPhilipMapakMakerMakoi,anotherstudentfromBeijingNormalUniversityandonceateachingassistantfromtheUniversityofBahrElGhazalinSouthSudan.
Kunshancreatedamoderneconomysupportedbyemergingandhi-techindustries,advancedmanufacturing,amodernservicesectorandurbanagriculture.
“Generally,unlessithasextremelygoodconditionsforagriculturaldevelopment,thefirstmissionforadevelopingcountryistodevelopindustry,”opinedHuBiliang,deanoftheEmergingMarketInstitute.“Kunshan’sGDPisdoubleortriplethatofsomeofthestudents’homecountries.Itsexperienceintransformationscanbeusedbydevelopingcountriesfortheirowngrowth.”
SmartandGreenDevelopment
TianfuEcologicalPark,builtin2013overagravelpit,hasdevelopedintoanationalwetlandpark,whichevidencesthecity’spersistenteffortsinprotectingtheenvironmentduringitsfasteconomicgrowth.
Asoneofthecountry’sfewwetlandparkswithapermanentricefield,theparkalsoplacesspecialattentiononbalancingthericefieldandthewetland.
Inthe“IntelligentKunshan”specialclass,studentsbecomeacquaintedwiththecity’ssmartsystemthatmonitorstraffic,riverconditions,networkconnection,security,governmentadministrationandmorethroughoutthecityinareal-timemanner.Screenswilldisplaytheinformationofacarthathasjustbeeninanaccident,facilitatingthehandlingoftrafficaccidents.
“Kunshan’sendeavorstodevelopasmartcityareagreatexampleofusingbigdatatoenhancepublicservices,”saidBeksultanMametibraimovfromKyrgyzstan.“Datacansometimesopenadoortothefutureandenableforecastingsoyoucanmoveforwardmoreconfidently.Awarenessaboutpatternsofthetrafficcongestionandcriminalactivitieswillhelpthegovernmentdevelopmoreeffectivepolicies.OneofthereasonsIchosethisMBAprogramwasdataanalysis,whichispartofmyjob.Itisquiteimpressivehowtheyhaveusedthedata.”StudentsfromtheEmergingMarketInstituteofBeijingNormalUniversityposeforagroupphotoinZhouzhuang,anancienttowninKunshan,JiangsuProvince.byZhouXin
StudentsfromtheEmergingMarketInstituteofBeijingNormalUniversityvisitadistributioncenterofZARAinKunshan,JiangsuProvince.byZhouXinASpecialMBAProgram
IncontrasttotraditionalMBAprograms,thisprogramoffersindepthteachingaboutChina’sexperienceineconomicandsocialdevelopmentinadditiontohigh-qualitylecturesdeliveredbycelebratedeconomistsandpoliticians.
“I’mgoingtotelleveryonebackhometouseWeChat,”saidMahgoub.“Theywouldconsideritcrazytopayforsomethingbyscanningwithyourphone.”
Certainly,thisMBAprogramislikenoother.“WeteachthingsthatcannotbelearnedatHarvard,”declaredHu.“OfcourseuniversitiesinothercountriesaregoingtointroducecurriculumaboutChina,buttheChinesepeopleknowChinathebest.ForeignstudentslearnedhowsomeruralareasinChinaeliminatedpovertyduringavisittoShaanxiProvince.InKunshan,theyhavegotanideaofhowChinagotrich.”
Huwasinspiredbyamaster’sprograminwhichheenrolledin1989inGermanyalongside45otherstudentsfrom43developingcountriesinAsiaandAfrica.Thatprogramlaidasolidfoundationforhissubsequentstudyandcareer.
ThisispartofthereasonHuissoenthusiasticaboutthisprogram.“I’mexcitedtotakethebaton,”hesaid.“Thesestudentswilldefinitelyreapbig-timebenefits.”