{"id":5860,"date":"2018-05-22T20:42:00","date_gmt":"2018-05-22T18:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.zhaw.ch\/sml-international\/?p=5860"},"modified":"2018-05-22T20:47:06","modified_gmt":"2018-05-22T18:47:06","slug":"sml-study-trip-2018-china-and-vietnam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.zhaw.ch\/sml-international\/sml-study-trip-2018-china-and-vietnam\/","title":{"rendered":"SML Study Trip 2018: China and Vietnam"},"content":{"rendered":"

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China<\/strong> is situated in Eastern Asia on the Western shore of the Pacific Ocean and encompasses an area of 9.6 million square kilometers. China’s continental coastline extends along 18,000 kilometers, and its vast sea surface is studded with more than 5,000 islands. More than 1.2 billion people live in China.<\/p>\n

Thanks to its reform and opening-up policy, China has become stronger and stronger in economy, science and technology. The nation’s\u00a0economy has been growing rapidly, with the GDP dramatically increasing year by year. President Xi Jinping closing remark of the meanwhile famous speech at last years\u2019 Davos WEF summit is leading the way: “We Chinese know only too well what it takes to achieve prosperity, so we applaud the achievements of others and we wish them a better future. We are not jealous of others’ success and we will not complain about the others who have benefited. We will welcome them aboard the express train of Chinese development.” China\u2019s economy is gradually shifting from a merely production-oriented to an innovation-led economy. Thus, the Chinese markets will continue to open up and Chinese companies will internationalize as Western companies will explore China as a future market and supply source to an even greater extent.<\/p>\n

Vietnam <\/strong>is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula<\/a> in Southeast Asia<\/a>. With an estimated 90.5 million inhabitants as of 2014. Vietnam is bordered by China<\/a> to the north. Its capital city has been Hanoi<\/a> since the reunification of North<\/a> and South Vietnam<\/a> in 1975.<\/p>\n

Vietnam was part of Imperial China<\/a> for over a millennium, from 111 BC to AD 939. An independent Vietnamese state was formed in 939.The nation expanded geographically and politically into Southeast Asia, until the Indochina Peninsula was colonized by the French<\/a> in the mid-19th century. Following a Japanese occupation<\/a> in the 1940s, the Vietnamese fought French rule in the First Indochina War<\/a>, eventually expelling the French in 1954. Thereafter, Vietnam was divided politically into two rival states, North and South Vietnam. Conflict between the two sides intensified in what is known as the Vietnam War<\/a>. The war ended with a North Vietnamese victory in 1975.<\/p>\n

Vietnam was then unified under a communist<\/a> government but remained impoverished and politically isolated. In 1986, the government initiated a series of economic and political reforms<\/a> which began Vietnam’s path towards integration into the world economy. By 2000, it had established diplomatic relations with all nations. Since 2000, Vietnam’s economic growth rate has been among the highest in the world. Its successful economic reforms resulted in its joining the World Trade Organization<\/a> in 2007.<\/p>\n

Sixteen students in their final semester at the ZHAW School of Management and Law (SML) embark on this study trip to China and Vietnam following attendance of the seminar \u201cDoing business in Emerging Markets\u201d. The objectives of this study trip are:<\/p>\n