{"id":6406,"date":"2019-06-11T13:11:25","date_gmt":"2019-06-11T11:11:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.zhaw.ch\/sml-international\/?p=6406"},"modified":"2025-07-25T11:52:43","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T09:52:43","slug":"sml-study-trip-2019-china-and-vietnam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.zhaw.ch\/sml-international\/sml-study-trip-2019-china-and-vietnam\/","title":{"rendered":"SML Study Trip 2019: China and Vietnam"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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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 1.4 billion people live in China. In 1949, the Communist Party of China established the People’s Republic of China. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to its reform and opening-up policy in 1978, China has become\nstronger and stronger in economy, science and technology. The nation’s economy\nhas been growing rapidly. China\u2019s economy is gradually shifting from a merely\nproduction-oriented to an innovation-led economy. Thus, the Chinese markets\nwill continue to open up and Chinese companies will internationalize as Western\ncompanies will explore China as a future market and supply source to an even\ngreater extent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China is the world’s largest manufacturing economy and exporter of\ngoods. It is also the world’s fastest-growing consumer market and\nsecond-largest importer of goods. China is a net importer of services products.\nIt is the largest trading nation in the world and plays a prominent role in\ninternational trade and has increasingly engaged in trade organizations and\ntreaties in recent years. China became a member of the World Trade Organization\nin 2001. Major projects such as the Belt and Road Initiative are testimonial to\nChina\u2019s long-range plan to play a pivotal role on the geo-political world\nstage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vietnam <\/strong>is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula<\/a> in Southeast Asia<\/a> and is bordered by China<\/a> to the north. 96 million people live in Vietnam. Its capital city is Hanoi<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vietnam was part of Imperial China<\/a> for over a millennium, from 111 BC to AD 939. An independent Vietnamese\nstate was formed in 939.The nation expanded geographically and politically into\nSoutheast 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\ndivided politically into two rival states, North and South Vietnam. Conflict\nbetween 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\n\n\n

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

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