On Apr. 12th, 2013, Prof. Yuan Zhigang, Dean of the School of Economics of Fudan University, attended the “China Supply Chain Summit 2013” and hosted one of the interaction sub-forums.

An annual event organized by the Shanghai Services Federation, “China Supply Chain Summit” aims to share views on the future trends in supply chain from a global perspective. The theme of this year’s summit was “SME’s Growing in the Change of Global Industry Chain”, attracting more than 1000 famous economists, industry leaders and corporate executives from all over the world including Mr. Long Yongtu, Chief Negotiator of China’s WTO accession, Ms. Charlene Barshefsky, former US trade representative, Mr. Zhu Xiaoming, President of China Europe International Business School and Mr. Wang Xinkui, Director of the Advisory Office of the Shanghai government.

The topic of the interaction sub-forum that Prof. Yuan hosted was “Financial Innovation as a Strong Engine to MSEs”. The discussants included Mr. Cui Jiakun, Vice President of China Merchants Bank Shanghai Branch, Mr. Zhang Zhihao, Vice President of Citi Bank China , Mr. Lu Dong from China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation, and Mr. Zhu Nongfei, CEO of Capgemini Consulting China.

According to Prof. Yuan, currently we are witnessing deepening globalization as multinational corporations pursue higher capital returns globally, and the result is the optimal allocation of production factors across the world. Due to this process, more and more goods are produced through cooperation of different countries, and the industrial chain is getting longer and longer. The local added value of various industries in China is improving significantly due to further industrial agglomeration, development of supply chains and technology. The question we face against this background is how we can provide more financial support to the MSEs and increase their competitiveness via innovation in finance and supply chain operations.

The discussants held a heated discussion on Prof. Yuan’s question and they all agreed that the global reconstruction of industry chains and value chains has provided the Chinese MSEs with great opportunities. Facing the international stage, Chinese MSEs should, with a view to going global, strengthen their own competitiveness by responding with proper strategies.