SME Students Win First and Second Prize in 16th OVAL
The finals of the 16th Our Vision for Asian Leaders International Business Contest just came to an end. This is the third time The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen has participated in this contest. After seven days of intense competition in OVAL China, including rounds of presentations, students from the School of Management and Economics of CUHK-Shenzhen stood out, and a total of eleven of them reached the international finals, accounting for one-third of the total 30 Chinese finalists. SME students won the appreciation of the judges for their outstanding performance in the finals with a gratifying record. The list of students who represented CUHK-Shenzhen in the international finals is as follows: Zhang Ke (Class 2019, Shaw College), Bai Chujie (Class 2019, Shaw College), Zhang Qi (Class 2019, Diligentia College), Xia Xinwei (Class 2019, Diligentia College), Liang Yue (Class 2019, Diligentia College), Peng Siyu ( Class 2019, Diligentia College), Zhang Yu (Class 2019, Diligentia College), Ma Siyi (Class 2019, Diligentia College), Huang Xinyi (Class 2020, Shaw College), Li Guanle (Class 2020, Shaw College), Chen Kan (Class 2020, Muse College). (*random list order)
In the end, Li Guanle (Global Business Management), an SME junior from Shaw College, won the international championship and Ma Siyi (Marketing and Communication), an SME senior student from Diligentia College, who won the first place in OVAL China, got the second prize in the international finals.
The OVAL international finals are followed by rounds of competitions in China, Korea and Japan. OVAL China are divided into three parts: preliminary, quarter-final and OVAL China final. In addition to The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, participating universities also include Peking University, Tsinghua University, Renmin University of China, University of International Business and Economics, Nanjing University, Zhejiang University, and Beijing Foreign Studies University. Contestants who have achieved outstanding results in OVAL China are eligible for the International Finals in Tokyo, and students from top universities in Japan and Korea including the University of Tokyo, Waseda University, Keio University, Seoul National University, Yonsei University, Ewha Womans University, etc. will compete against each other on the same stage. The 90 Chinese, Japanese and Korean college students who participated in the finals will be divided into 30 groups, each consisting of students from all the three countries.
Competitors from China, Japan and Korea with staff members
Competition Introduction
OVAL stands for Our Vision for Asian Leadership. It is an organization voluntarily formed by Korean, Chinese, and Japanese university students willing to broaden their scopes from East Asia to the whole globe as young leaders. It is established to provide a global platform where potential partners from each three country can actively interact and share brilliant ideas. The contest has been held for the 16th year since 2005. Due to its professionalism and the speciality of the judges and contestants from China, Japan and Korea, it has been widely recognized among college students. The contests over the years have also received the support and high attention of the official organizations such as the UNESCO (UNESCO Beijing Office), the Japan/Korea Embassy in China, and the China-Japan-Korea Cooperation Secretariat.
Words of Winners
Li Guanle (third from right) with the 1st prize team
Li Guanle, OVAL Champion team member
Class 2020, SME, Shaw College
Global Business Management
This OVAL International Finals require us to finish a retail business plan for Japanese residents within a week, featuring two Experts Consulting and one Field Work. Each team randomly assigned three members from China, Japan and Korea, so how to cross cultural and communication barriers became the biggest and most special challenge for us. We need to understand the way of thinking of the contestants from other countries in a short time and accurately express ourselves. To this end, the organizers also specially invited professors to give us lectures about Team Building. After repeated discussion with Japanese and Korean friends, I got a deeper understanding of these two neighboring countries. As a Management major student, I need take the initiative to lead the team. Through this competition, I also learned how to get along with unfamiliar teammates. It's not easy to come up with a special business model in the retail industry that already has the ultimate model case of Amazon GO. Fortunately, the special team forming approach allows us to make good use of the strengths of each member and stand on the shoulders of three countries.
Ma Siyi (second from right) and members of the runner-up team
Ma Siyi OVAL Runner-up team member
Class of 2019, SME, Diligentia College
Marketing and Communication
From the four contests from April to August, from the first place of OVAL China to the second place in the international finals, I have experienced countless exhaustion and irritability, especially in the preliminary and finals of OVAL China, which happened to hit the examination week of our university when I spent many nights with my classmates to complete the tasks before the deadlines.
During the contests, we need to work with students from other Chinese universities (OVAL China) and foreign universities (international finals), and there are too many uncertain factors. Not only do I need to rack my brains to complete our business plan, but I also need to communicate and reach consensus with them. This is not a simple task. We have had countless controversies and encountered many problems caused by different backgrounds. Fortunately, we have overcome them through our efforts. Although the process is difficult, but the cooperation with friends from different countries has brought us unique benefits, which is also a new and wonderful experience for me.
When I was abroad to attend the competition, I also understand that I still need to rely on myself at the crucial moment, because you can never predict the strength of teammates and opponents. In many cases, you need to solve the problems encountered by yourself. I am very grateful that I have learned a lot of professional knowledge at CUHK-Shenzhen in the past three years, which I can apply to the contest to solve one practical problem after another.
Previous Contests
In 2016, the 14th OVAL International Business Contest was held in Beijing. Ten students from SME, CUHK-Shenzhen teamed up with 60 Korean and Japanese students to compete against many outstanding students from famous universities, including Tsinghua University, Fudan University, Renmin University of China, Sun Yat-Sen University, Nanjing University and Nankai University. The list of students who have advanced to the International Finals on behalf of CUHK-Shenzhen is as follows: Tang Lu (Class 2018, Shaw College), Wan Wei (Class 2018, Diligentia College), Huang Junyi (Class 2018, Diligentia College), Lan Yilan (Class 2018, Diligentia College) ) Li Zhixuan (Class 2018, Diligentia College), Liu Chicheng (2015, Shaw College), Gan Hanlei (2015, Shaw College), Ying Haoran (2015, Diligentia College), Xie Binhe (2015, Diligentia College) and Wang Zhidan (2015, Diligentia College). In the end, the team led by Tang Lu from SME & Shaw College won the third place in the international finals, and Wang Zhidan from SME & Diligentia College won the title of the Best Contestant.
In 2017, 7 SME students advanced to the 15th OVAL International Business Contest International Finals in Seoul. The list of students who have advanced to the international finals on behalf of CUHK-Shenzhen is as follows: Wu Dingjian (Class of 2019, Shaw College), Yang Qihang (Class of 2019, Diligentia College), Zhang Su (Class of 2019, Diligentia College), Bi Jiayi (Class of 2019, Diligentia College), Shui Wen (Class of 2020, Shaw College), Gao Xiaona (Class of 2020, Shaw College), and Pan Yuanyi (Class of 2020, Muse College). In the end, Wu Dingjian from SME & Shaw College won the sixth place in the international finals, and other students also achieved good results.（*random list order）