The third annual WHU Alumni Forum opened on November 26th in the WHU Student Center. Executive President Feng Youmei, Vice President Zhou Yezhong, Chief Accountant Ying Weiwei, WHU Outstanding Alumni and members of WHU trustees attended this event. Alumni Chen Dongsheng et al. delivered speeches on the theme of this forum, “the spirit of the craftsman”. Additionally, a donation ceremony and cooperation agreement signing ceremony were carried out during this forum.
Chair of the University Council, Han Jin who was visiting German sent his regards to the alumni by video. Han also reminded the alumni and audience that the WHU 123th anniversary was coming. After that, Executive President Feng Youmei delivered a speech on “the spirit of the craftsman”, and reviewed the accomplishments that WHU alumni and students have made in innovation and entrepreneurial fields in recent years.
Chair of the University Council, Professor Han Jin giving his regards and welcome to alumni by video
Executive President Feng Youmei’s address at the opening ceremony
Alumni’s definition of “the spirit of the craftsman”
Distinguished alumni Chen Dongsheng, Luo Qiuping, Ruan Liping, Liu Jincheng and Zhao Huafeng were invited to deliver speeches successively. These alumni are both specialists and successful entrepreneurs in their fields. What they have in common is the quality of perseverance. They devoted decades to their domain and focused on specific disciplines instead of jumping from one thing to another. They are the best representatives of “WHU’s spirit of the craftsman”.Chen Dongshen, graduated from the School of Economics in 1983, was awarded Outstanding Alumni in 2003. Mr. Chen is the founder and CEO of Taikang Life Insurance Stock Company Ltd. and the founder of Guardian Auctions. He is regarded as one of the most influential business leaders in China, also known as the “big brother” of WHU alumni.
Mr. Chen Dongsheng delivering the keynote speech
Mr. Chen’s definition of “the spirit of the craftsman” is spending 20 years on one enterprise. He said he has focused on the insurance industry since the 1990s, and especially on life insurance. This concentration has distinguished him from others, and would make his company top in the life insurance market. Meanwhile Mr. Chen also mentioned that he never stops learning and studying new things; he watches CCTV news and reads the newspaper every day. Thus he advised the audience to keep an eye on the fast-changing world while in college.
Mr. Luo Qiuping sharing his story
Luo Qiuping, graduated from the Chemistry Department in 1984, CEO of the Blue Moon (China) Company Ltd., is recognized as a Chinese detergent giant. He has focused on liquid laundry detergent for almost ten years, and his company Blue Moon is now a leading brand in China, whose main products sells more than the sum of P&G, Unilever and SC Johnson.
Mr. Luo introduced the history, category and usage of detergent from start to finish. He was so into it that the anchor had to remind him that time was up. The audience was blown away by Mr. Luo’s persistence to his enterprise, because they finally understood what the anchor said before Mr. Luo’s speech: “an excellent entrepreneur never stops talking about his precious enterprise.”
Ruan Liping giving his speech
Ruan Liping graduated from the former Wuhan Hydraulic and Electric Engineering Institute, is now the CEO of Bull International Electric Group. His company is the largest socket producer in China presently, providing high quality products.
Mr. Ruan had been an unsuccessful strawberry planter and meat retailer before he found his way into the socket market. During the rapid growing period of China’s socket industry, defective products and imperfections were everywhere. As a former engineer, Mr. Ruan took advantage of his knowledge and skills, and established the Bull Group, focusing only on sockets. Although his products were usually more expensive than others’, their good quality and well-designed appearance won him a big market.
Liu Jincheng telling his story, “the striving battery maker”
Liu Jincheng obtained his master’s degree from WHU in 1993, and is now the chairman of EVE Energy. He has spent more than 30 years in lithium battery development. EVE Energy has become a leading company in lithium battery and related fields.
Among the founders of first 28 companies listed in the Growth Enterprise Market (GEM), Mr. Liu is one the few that have a doctorate degree. From the development of the AAA/AA/D battery in 1990s, to having a complete lithium battery product line, Mr. Liu spent his golden age in this field. He perfectly combined his knowledge capital with financial capital, which could partly explain his success. Mr. Liu called himself a “striving battery maker”, and he believes that hard work and focus always bring you the applause you deserve.
Zhao Huafeng’s speech, “what is entrepreneurship?”.
Zhao Huafeng, graduated from the School of Economics and Management in 2004. Born in the 1980s, Mr. Zhao is one of the youngest WHU trustees. He established the Hangzhou Mistong Education Company., Ltd. He has focused on online education for more than ten years, ever since his school days.
Young and promising, Mr. Zhao has gained success in his career. From his perspective, the environment is most influential to “the spirit of the craftsman” among other factors. The environment, he said, is something that cannot be changed but can be chosen. A positive environment inspires and encourages people while a negative one would easily let you down, "so choosing an environment like WHU and alumni like us is kind of your guarantee to success.”
Celebrating the achievements we made and looking forward to a new chapter
Besides these fantastic speeches shared by alumni, there were four other important parts to this forum, which are the awarding ceremony to winners of the 2016 China College Students’ Entrepreneurship Competition, the launching ceremony of 18 commonweal projects planned by WHU students, the cooperation agreement signing ceremony between the Luojia Innovation Angel Funds and the Yangtze River Economic Belt Industry Funds, and an alumni donation ceremony.
Secretary general of the WHU Alumni Association Mr. Jian Hong and secretary of the Youth League of WHU Mr. Nie Lei signed cooperation agreements for the Luojia Student Venture Capital. The alumni association donated 500,000 RMB to this fund in order to give financial support to student entrepreneurs and commonweal projects.
WHU alumni have long been concerned with the entrepreneurship and practice of innovation by WHU students. They have been providing students with technological and financial support, and have set up advisor group to conduct students.
Six WHU teams won a total of 4 gold and 2 silver awards in the 2016 China College Students’ Entrepreneurship Competition, the widely recognized national entrepreneur contest, which is the best result WHU has ever got in this competition. The awarded teams received prizes ranging from 20000 to 70000 RMB from the WHU alumni association.
The awarding ceremony to winners of the 2016 China College Students’ Entrepreneurship Competition
The Luojia Caritas Program is a program initiated by Wuhan University in order to promote students’ commonweal by the chance of the WHU 123th anniversary. The committee selected 18 projects from over one hundred applications, and these 18 projects would be launched at this forum as well. Fundraising access on Weibo would be available.
These projects include volunteer teaching in mountainous Guizhou，a hospice care program，enlightenment education for children from rural areas, a garbage classification program, first-aid knowledge promotion, a public umbrella program, etc. Vice President Professor Zhou Yezhong and the lovely ambassador Mr. Yu Zhonglian jointly launched these projects.
The launching ceremony of 18 commonweal projects designed and launched by WHU students
According to statistics, by 2016, Wuhan University has received over 1.2 billion RMB in donations from alumni, which ranks 3rd among China’s universities. The WHU alumni are always generous when it comes to their alma mater. At the ending of the forum, two alumni Mr. Chen Ya and Mr. Luo Qiuping signed donation agreements respectively.
This annual gathering of WHU alumni was initiated in 2013. The first alumni forum was held on November 29th 2014 in response to Mr. Chen Dongsheng’s proposal, and was organized by the WHU Entrepreneur Club The second alumni forum was held on November 10th 2015, during which the Luojia Innovation Angel Funds was initiated through joint investment between the WHU Entrepreneur Club, Wuchang District Government and Wuhan University.
Photo by Jin Xin/Li Hao/Guo Shuiyao/Chen Ziyao
Edited by Tang Yedan, Edmund Wai Man Lai & Hu Sijia
