U.S.-China Business Cooperation Conference

Indiana University and several of its research centers and schools in business, law and international studies are coming together to host an ambitious conference on U.S.-China business cooperation that is designed to assist entrepreneurs and promote the prosperity of both countries.

More than 50 speakers from China and the United States are participating in the free conference, "U.S.-China Business Cooperation in the 21st Century: Opportunities and Challenges for Entrepreneurs."

The first day of the program will take place 15 April in downtown Indianapolis; the conference will then move to the IU Bloomington campus for 16 and April.

Presenters will include Michael Barbalas, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in China; IU President Michael A. McRobbie; Vincent Mo, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of SouFun Holdings Ltd.; Daniel Wright, senior vice president of Stonebridge International and former managing director of U.S.-China Strategic Economic Dialogue; and Ling Lanfang, chairman of the board of the Silk Road Group, a diversified, 2,000-employee company based in Zhejiang Province.

Also participating will be Stephen Akard, director of international development for the Indiana Economic Development Corp.; Stephen Sterrett, chief financial officer of Simon Property Group; and scholars from IU's Kelley School of Business, Maurer School of Law, College of Arts and Sciences; Zhejiang University, the Thunderbird School of Global Management; Arizona State University and Peking University. The mayors of Indianapolis and Columbus, Ind., will offer their perspectives on economic development, as will other participants from Cummins Corp., Eli Lilly & Co., NICO Corp. and Baker & Daniels.

There is no cost to attend the conference, but registration is required. Complete information is available online. This program is part of the Initiative in Entrepreneurship and U.S.-China Business Cooperation, undertaken by IU's Research Center for Chinese Politics & Business.

The second day, which will be from 8:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. in Alumni Hall of the Indiana Memorial Union, 900 East Seventh Street, Bloomington, will tackle entrepreneurship issues. Panels will discuss regional entrepreneurship patterns, business innovation in China, challenges presented by the issues of globalization and protectionism and the legal and political environment.

On the third day, the Elmore Entrepreneurship Law Clinic in the IU Maurer School of Law and Kelley School of Business will present a morning-long workshop about legal services available to startups in both countries. For some, there also will be a tour of leading companies in central Indiana. In the afternoon, Vincent Mo, leader of China's largest online real estate market resource and an IU economics alumnus, will give a presentation and meet with students and others interested in China.

The conference's primary organizers are the Research Center for Chinese Politics & Business and the IU Office of the President. They are being supported by the IU Center for International Business Education and Research in the Kelley School, the College of Arts and Sciences, the IU Maurer School of Law and the offices of the vice president for international affairs and for engagement.

UPDATE (14 April 2009):
Indiana University announced that Huang Ping, consul general for the People's Republic of China in Chicago, will visit Indianapolis to participate in the conference. Also, China's deputy consul general in Chicago, Maoming Chu, will join more than 50 other speakers from the two countries at the conference.

The university also announced that the first day of the conference will be available for live viewing on the internet, from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Huang Ping will be part of an opening panel that also will include Yang Wei, president of Zhejiang University; Gregory Ballard, mayor of Indianapolis; Michael McRobbie, IU's president; Mat Orrego, president and chief executive officer of Cornerstone Information Systems; Barbara Flynn, director of the Center for International Business Education and Research in IU's Kelley School of Business; and Scott Kennedy, director of the Research Center for Chinese Politics and Business and conference organizer.

Huang has been the consul general of the People's Republic of China in Chicago since 2007. He previously served in several top positions in the Chinese government: deputy director general of the Consular Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2004-2007); vice mayor of Shaoxing in Zhejiang Province (2002-2004); counselor and consul general of the Chinese Embassy to Canada (1999-2002); division chief, Consular Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1990-1997); and attaché and then third secretary of the Chinese Embassy to the U.S. (1988-1990). Born in 1963 in Anhui Province, Huang Ping graduated from East China Normal University. Before assuming his current position as deputy consul general in Chicago, Maoming Chu was councilor for press affairs at the Chinese Embassy to the U.S. He also has worked at the Department of Press Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Chinese Embassy to Barbados and the Chinese Embassy to St. Lucia.

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