1. The 12th Five-Year plan for the Development of Shanghai’s Conference & Exhibition Industry and Refelction on its Future
On the evening of May 16th, Dr. Luo Zhisong, director of Shanghai Conference & Exhibition Industry Development Center and part-time supervisor for professional degree students of the School of Economics, was invited to deliver a lecture entitled “The 12th Five-Year Plan for the development of Shanghai’s Conference & Exhibition Industry and Reflection on its Future” at Rm. 805 of the School of Economics.
Dr. Luo received his PhD from the Institute of World Economy at Fudan University. As former deputy commissioner of the Foreign Trade Department of Shanghai Business Commission, he was appointed in 2009 as the director of Shanghai Conference & Exhibition Industry Development Center before the World Expo and is the chief planner for the 12th Five-Year Plan for the development of Shanghai’s conference & exhibition industry.
The conference & exhibition industry: weathercock and barometer of the economy
After briefly introducing the definition and major fields of the conference & exhibition industry, Dr. Luo pointed out the significance of the industry to a country’s economy. Firstly, as a sunrise industry, it has great potential and can serve as a weathercock and a barometer for a country’s economy. In addition, the industry can promote the economy significantly. Obviously it strengthens the local tourism, the food industry, the printing industry and so on and potentially it also contributes to the expansion of domestic and foreign trade and the restructuring of a country’s economy.
The conference & exhibition industry: opportunities and challenges
Dr. Luo explained in detail the opportunities and challenges our conference & exhibition industry is facing. As for opportunities, the post-expo effect, including a collection of well-equipped venues and professional talents the Expo has left behind, is gathering momentum. Additionally, the development strategy for the Yangtze River Delta and the construction of Shanghai as four centers have provided unparalleled advantages for Shanghai to become an international conference and exhibition center. In terms of challenges, we are faced with the contradiction of rapid development and relatively inadequate management, a shortage of venues and facilities in Shanghai and excessive supply in inland cities, and the insufficient supply of talents on conference & exhibition, particularly planning.
The future of Shanghai’s conference & exhibition industry
Dr. Luo also introduced the goals of Shanghai’s conference & exhibition industry as well as the supporting policies and measures. He pointed out that Shanghai’s conference & exhibition industry should aim to become an international, professional, market-based center of conferences and exhibitions that has a highly recognized brand of its own.
2. Negotiation and Communication
On the afternoon of May 21st, 2013, Ms. Tang Wenjing, alumna of Fudan University, director for brand development and strategic cooperation at Yum Brands and part-time supervisor for professional-degree master students majoring in international business, gave a lecture on Negotiation and Communication and taught students the key skills needed in the negotiation process.
Ms. Tang firstly gave negotiation a rough definition, that is, the integration of judging, deciding and communicating, a perfect combination of science and art, and something that we face everyday. As one of the ways to achieve goals, and compared with other approaches such as communication, procrastination, ingratiation, negotiation takes place between two or several parties that have different preferences and yet believe the goal cannot be reached without the other side, and more importantly a consensus can be reached. Through negotiation, the parties can keep in constant touch, contributing to the establishment of a great interpersonal relationship.
After that, Ms. Tang illustrated how to make a successful negotiation with a simple graph. For example, it is important to find out the bottom line of the other party and the room for bargaining. Undoubtedly, it requires thorough market research before the negotiation and flexible adjustment to our own bottom line. Ms. Tang also cautioned students against the failure resulting from centering too much on one’s own ideal while ignoring the bottom line of the other side. Besides, timing is important for all negotiators. The probability of success will be reduced if both sides lose their patience due to prolonged process.
Ms. Tang emphasized the importance of preparation before negotiation. A successful negotiation calls for exquisite preparation in which all possibilities are considered and the probability of accidents is minimized. As regards to skills, Ms. Tang advised against too much use of them. On the contrary, respect remains the cornerstone for successful negotiations and a friendly and harmonious atmosphere is conducive to the success of the negotiation.
Ms. Tang’s lecture not only made students realize the importance of details in the negotiation process, but also will serve as a guidebook for students to foster their communication skills when they face the job market.
3. Influence of the Change in China’s Labor Market on Labor Cost
On the morning of May 28th, Dr. Zhang Wenlang, senior economist and senior director of the economic research division of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, and part-time supervisor for our professional-degree students, shared his latest research findings on China’s labor market with the students majoring in international business. The lecture was entitled “Influence of the Change in China’s Labor Market on Labor Cost.”
During the lecture, Dr. Zhang focused on 3 questions: To what extent has the change in labor market influenced wages? How much pressure has the labor force exerted on the employment and wages in the eastern coastal areas? What are the implications the research findings suggest?
Dr. Zhang firstly described the development of China’s labor market. He pointed out that the growth of China’s labor force has been declining since the 1990s and will turn negative in the years to come while the young labor force is already on the trend of decreasing; Some coastal areas are experiencing a shortage of labor supply; The minimum wages keep rising and the wages for migrant workers increased 21.2% in 2011. Given this situation, some scholars and investors think the shortage of labor supply has put considerable pressure on wages and worry that the pressure on wages will greatly push up inflation in China.
Is there really a shortage in labor supply and how much will it influence wages? Dr. Zhang explained his opinion. By analyzing the current elastic coefficient which measures the elasticity of wages towards labor market, he concluded that generally speaking in the short term change in the supply and demand does not affect wages greatly. While some private firms and Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau firms are sensitive to the change, state-owned and foreign enterprises are not. In the long term, the elasticity of private firms and Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau firms in the eastern areas is larger than that in the short term, but it is still a small figure.
Based on the above analysis, Dr. Zhang does not think that the change in labor market has put pressure on wages as a whole, but it has affected some areas, especially private firms and Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau firms in the eastern areas. This may mean that as a whole China has not yet experienced a shortage of labor supply, but there are structural labor shortage and mismatch between the supply and demand. Reasons for the phenomenon vary from segmentation in labor market, segregation in labor market between rural and urban areas, institutional restrictions on the transferring of rural labor to urban areas and educational problem reflected in the rapid development of higher education and the stagnancy in vocational education.
Dr. Zhang believes that if the structural problem of labor supply continues to develop, pressure to increase wages in some industries may intensify, thus impeding China’s competitiveness in export. As regards to alleviating structural wage pressure, he put forward several strategies as follows: Firstly, producers may consider moving to inland areas to reduce producing costs as elasticity of inter-regional labor substitution is high. Secondly, the segregation in labor market between rural and urban areas should be removed and vocational and technical education encouraged. Thirdly, from the perspective of employment, industrial restructuring should be accelerated. While we take care of the low-end industries, we should take advantage of high technology and higher learning to promote high-end industries. After the lecture, Dr. Zhang engaged himself in discussions with the students.
Translated by Chen Siyu
