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Program Overview
Asia Start is a 5-day immersive program that takes you through a field learning journey in Beijing, Shenzhen and Hong Kong. It offers you a new perspective on scaling your business by focusing on the digital innovation, Asia’s economic disruption model, and market opportunities in Asia. Asia is home to some of the world’s most innovative companies and forward-thinking industries, with its digital economy is projected to reach US $1.2 trillion by 2025. This offers tremendous learning opportunities for western entrepreneurs and executives.
During this intensive program, you will gain exclusive insights into the disruptive innovations and unique business models that drive Asia’s most successful companies, such as JD.com, BYD and Tencent. You will have the opportunity to go behind the scenes and explore the strategies, technologies, and ecosystems that have propelled these businesses to the forefront of their industries.
Asia Start offers a unique opportunity to connect to influential players in Asia’s business ecosystem, including executives, entrepreneurs and investors enabling you to build valuable relationships and unlock exponential business growth in the region.
Program Details
Program Dates
24-28 March 2025
Location
Beijing, Shenzhen, Hong Kong
Language
English
Program Fee
$8,000
Program Benefits
In-depth Digital Insights
Gain a comprehensive understanding of the digital landscape in Asia, focusing on the trends and the latest cases driving economic disruption and growth in China and the wider region. Learn from a team of experienced faculty members with deep industry expertise.
Exclusive Tech Company Visits
Learn from behind-the-scenes dialogues with Asia’s top tech giants and digital ecosystems, including JD.com, Tencent, TOJOY, BYD and the unicorn SenseTime residing at the Hong Kong Science Park (home of 13 unicorns and 2,000+ tech enterprises), learning first-hand how they are shaping the future of the creator and shared economy, global e-commerce, AI, and electric vehicles.
Pitching to Potential Ecosystem Stakeholders
Present your business to leading venture capitalists, private equities, seasoned advisors, corporate executives, and active angel investors in Asia. This opportunity connects you with influential ecosystem players to access to new customer bases, manufacturers, distributors, and strategic partnerships.
Strategic Partnership Opportunities
Identify and establish key partnerships with leading companies, customers, suppliers, manufacturers and digital ecosystems across Asia to expand your global footprint.
Networking with Successful Entrepreneurs and Executives
Build valuable relationships with Asia’s disruptive innovators, gaining insights into their strategies for scaling businesses in a rapidly changing digital economy. Join Asia’s influential and increasingly globally connected business community.
Get exclusive insights from 6 thought-provoking lectures by world- renowned faculty
- Economic Disruption, Digital Economy, and Market Expansion Strategies in/with Asia - TAO Zhigang, Professor of Strategy and Economics and Associate Dean for Europe, CKGSB; PhD, Princeton University
- Cross-Cultural Management: How to Turn Differences into Advantages - JI Bo, Chief Rep. for Europe, CKGSB
- Web 3.0 and the Omni-Channel Shift: The Future of Digital Retail - (Case Studies: Alibaba, Jd.com, TikTok, Temu, etc.) - LI Yang; Associate Professor of Marketing, Executive Academic Director of EMBA Program, CKGSB; PhD, Columbia Business School
- Data-Driven Success: Digital-enabled Business Model - SUN Tianshu, Dean’s Distinguished Chair Professor of Information Systems, Executive Academic Director for Business Scholars Program and Director of the Center for Digital Transformation,; Senior Advisor to Alibaba CEO, CKGSB
- Unicorn or Dragon? How to tap into Asia Market for Growth. - JI Bo, Chief Rep for Europe, CKGSB
- Smart Manufacturing & End-to-End Supply Chain Integration: Harnessing AI, Cloud, and Big Data - ZHU Yang, Professor of Operations Management, CKGSB; PhD, University of Florida
Gain unparalleled access to 8+ industry- leading innovators shaping tomorrow
- JD.com - Leading e-commerce giant, renowned for its extensive product range and efficient logistics network and with net revenue of US$152.8 billion for 2023.
- TOJOY - Global business accelerator that connects enterprises with investment opportunities and resources to foster rapid growth. TOJOY’s BOSS Cloud digital ecosystem has 4.5 Million Users.
- Tencent - Technology conglomerate known for its innovative digital services, including social media, gaming, and financial technology. The company operates popular platforms like WeChat, which boasts over 1.2 billion monthly active users.
- BYD (EV) - A global leader in electric vehicles and batteries, producing over 1 million EVs annually and driving innovation in sustainable transportation and energy solutions.
- Hua Qiang Bei - World's largest electronics market.
- Invest Hong Kong - The government department dedicated to facilitating foreign direct investment into the hub of Asia Pacific-Hong Kong.
- Hong Kong Science Park - Innovation and technology hub, home of 13 unicorns and 2,000+ tech enterprises and companies from 26 countries.
- SenseTime - Leading artificial intelligence unicorn company, developing scalable and affordable AI software platform.
Showcase your business with 3 exclusive pitch opportunities
Pitch in front of the most influential ecosystem players to access to new funds, customer bases, manufacturers, distributors, and strategic partnerships. You will be prepared during 3i Pitch Workshop with the skills, strategies, and confidence needed to deliver compelling pitches and maximize their impact on this critical audience.
Faculty

TAO Zhigang
Professor of Strategy and Economics, Associate Dean for Europe, CKGSB

LI Yang
Associate Professor of Marketing, Executive Academic Director for MBA, EMBA and Executive Education Programs, CKGSB

SUN Tianshu
Dean’s Distinguished Chair Professor of Information Systems, Executive Academic Director for Business Scholars Program, Director of the Center for Digital Transformation, CKGSB

ZHU Yang
Professor of Operations Management, CKGSB
Program Schedule
Taichi
9:00-9:15
Orientation
9:15-10:00
3i Pitch workshop
JI Bo, Chief Rep for Europe, CKGSB
10:15-12:00
Economic Disruption, Digital
Economy, and Market Expansion
Strategies in/with Asia
TAO Zhigang, Professor of Strategy and
Economics and Associate Dean for
Europe, CKGSB
12:00-13:00 Lunch Break
13:00-14:00
Cross-Cultural Management: How
to Turn Differences into
Advantages
JI Bo, Chief Rep. for Europe, CKGSB
15:00-16:30
Company Visit: JD.com (B2C)
Understanding China's largest online
retailer by revenue. JD.com's net
revenue for 2023 was $152.8 billion,
which is a 3.7% increase from 2022.
JD.com is China's largest retailer by
revenue and is ranked 52 on the
Fortune Global 500.
17:30-18:30
Pitch
Closed door pitch for customers,
suppliers, distributors, investors)
18:30-20:30
Networking Dinner with Chinese
Chairman/CEOs (CKGSB Alumni)
Taichi
9:00-12:00
Orientation
9:15-10:00
Web 3.0 and the Omni-Channel
Shift: The Future of Digital
Retail
(Case Studies: Alibaba,
Jd.com, TikTok, Temu, etc.)
LI Yang; Associate Professor of Marketing, Executive Academic Director of EMBA Program, CKGSB
12:00-13:00 Lunch Break
14:00-15:30
Company Visit: TOJOY (B2B)
Empowering SMEs through TOJOY’s
BOSS Cloud digital ecosystem with
4.5 Million business owners)
15:30-16:30
Pitch
(Live streaming to 5.4 million TOJOY
entrepreneurs)
18:00-21:00
Flight to Shenzhen
Taichi
9:00-12:00
Data-Driven Success:
Digital-enabled Business Model
SUN Tianshu, Visiting Professor of Information Systems CKGSB; Senior Advisor to Alibaba CEO, CKGSB
12:00-13:00 Lunch Break
14:00-15:30
Company Visit: Tencent
Connecting win-win Ecosystems for
everyone: from connecting people,
services and devices, to connecting
enterprises and future technologies.
15:30-16:00
Unicorn or Dragon? How to tap
into Asia Market for Growth.
JI Bo, Chief Rep for Europe, CKGSB
16:30-17:30
Pitch: Future Science City Hardware
Accelerator
18:00 – 20:00
Networking Dinner with Chinese
Chairman/CEOs (CKGSB Alumni)
Taichi
9:00-12:00
Smart Manufacturing & End-
to-End Supply Chain
Integration: Harnessing AI,
Cloud, and Big Data
ZHU Yang, Professor of Operations Management, CKGSB
12:00-13:00 Lunch Break
14:00-15:30
Company Visit: BYD (EV) - Sustainability in Action: How
BYD Transformed the EV
Landscape and Clean Energy
Industry
16:00-17:30
Visit Hua Qiang Bei: widely
regarded as world's largest
electronics market
18:00-19:00
Transfer from SZ to HK (Train)
Taichi
9:00-12:00
Company Visit: Invest Hong
Kong
Learn all of the advantages and details around establishing your business in the hub of Asia Pacific such as: easy access to major markets, free trade policies, ease of business setup, and government incentives.
12:00-13:00 Break
14:00-17:00
Company Visit: Hong Kong
Science Park (Home of 13
unicorns and 2,000+ tech
companies from 26 countries)
Visit SenseTime - leading artificial intelligence unicorn company, developing scalable and affordable AI software platform
Visit of UK and European companies residing at HKSP
17:00-18:00
Closing Ceremony and
Certificate Award
CKGSB Differentiations
Unrivalled China Insights
Our faculty members – most of whom are Chinese by heritage – have an innate understanding of Chinese business and culture. This, combined with the school’s in-depth research and access to China’s most influential alumni, allows CKGSB to offer unsurpassed insight into China’s transformation and its global implications.
RCEP and Asia’s Perspective
We provide increasingly sought-after and on-the-ground knowledge and the necessary ecosystem for you to leverage Asia’s opportunities to boost intra-regional trade and investment, and business growth, particularly amidst global uncertainties and a slowing global economy.
Unparalleled Alumni Network
CKGSB offers a life-long learning platform with access to an elite business network of:
- 22,000+ alumni, more than half of whom are at the CEO or chairman level and, collectively, lead one-fifth of China’s most valuable brands
- 1,188 founders of unicorn and soon-to-be-unicorn companies
- 4,000+ global senior executives at multinational companies
“Top-of-the-Pyramid” Approach
Since its establishment, CKGSB has focused on companies’ top decision-makers, such as chairmen and CEOs of the most influential companies and iconic entrepreneurs, which few other educational institutions have been able to serve. Companies’ leaders need to understand and navigate through the global complexities brought by technological disruptions and geopolitical instability.
Social Purpose and Social Innovation
Going beyond the boundaries of business schools, CKGSB strives to inspire business leaders not only to learn how to better compete and collaborate, but also to focus on why they do business and what to do with their wealth for the greater public and global good. We do so by integrating the humanities into business curricula, introducing mandatory community work and incorporating a prerequisite social innovation module across all degree programs
Global Unicorn Programs
Understanding how unicorns reach success and how their lessons can be applied to other enterprises is particularly important for founders and decision- makers of start-ups and large businesses alike, who are looking to build new revenue, bolster resiliency, and find growth opportunities.
CKGSB is the first business school, since 2015, to offer specialized programs tailored for unicorn and soon-to-be- unicorn founders.
We aim to build a global ecosystem that fosters a new generation of unicorns with a renewed and enhanced emphasis on global responsibility, social purpose and long-term perspective.
A Global Unicorn Ecosystem
In collaboration with esteemed institutions, such as Columbia Engineering, UC San Diego, Stanford, and SDA Bocconi, we are spearheading initiatives in AI, digital transformation, sustainability, healthcare and technology innovation, to offer founders of growth-stage startups the knowledge, network and strategies that they need to scale up.
1,188
founders of companies with at least Series A funding studied at CKGSB
151
founders of unicorn companies
41
unicorn companies listed on CB Insights (2017-2022)
70%
founders gained series A financing upon joining the program
Since 2015, we have been partnering with some of the most prominent Chinese and Global Fortune 500 companies, like Alibaba, Amazon, Baidu, ByteDance, JD.com, SenseTime, Tencent, Microsoft (China), and leading venture capitals, to develop unicorn and soon-to-be- unicorn companies.
Who Should Attend?
Designed for founders, CEOs, corporate executives, and investors, this program is ideal for those seeking the latest insights into Asia’s digital economy and economic shifts, expanding into new markets, adopting disruptive technologies, and advancing digital transformation strategies to achieve long-term, sustainable growth.
Typical profiles include:
Founder/Co-founder, CEO, Investors, Digital Transformation Leader, CTO, CDO, VP, Head of Strategy, BD Director, Director of Sales, General Manager, Advisor & Chief AI Officer