To promote college students’ understanding and inheritance of Cantonese merchants spirit, deepen students’ systematic understanding of the business culture in the Greater Bay Area, and enhance their sense of pride and mission in inheriting the business culture in the new era, from June 25 to July 1, 2023, SoB of GDUFS and other universities in Hong Kong and Macao jointly launched the Training Camp of Experiencing the Cantonese Merchants Spirit and Conducting Innovative Practice (hereinafter referred to as the Cantonese Merchants Spirit Training Camp) and the New Look of Old Ports: Training Camp of Inheriting the Greater Bay Area Business Culture (hereinafter referred to as the New Look of Old Ports Training Camp). Through online theme lectures, offline field visits and enterprise research, the projects have attracted about 60 students from the colleges and universities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area.

The Opening Ceremony

On June 26, 2023, the joint opening ceremony of the Cantonese Merchants Spirit Training Camp and the New Look of Old Ports Training Camp was held online. It was attended by YUAN Denghua (the person in charge), Associate Dean of SoB, XU Yiqing, Vice Minister of the Office of International Exchange and Cooperation, DING Hao, Vice Dean of SoB, XIE Jun, Dean of Human Resources Division, and projects trainees. The opening ceremony was presided over by DING Hao.

Group photo in the opening ceremony

YUAN Denghua introduced the historical evolution, the goals of talents training, the current situation of development, and the characteristics of innovation, entrepreneurship and education of SoB. XU Yiqing introduced the background and international features of GDUFS, affirmed the organization of the event, and wished for the students’ success in their training. Professor XIE Jun hoped that students would think about and apply what they have learned, and encouraged students to actively participate in the construction of the Greater Bay area, contributing to the realization of the common goals.

Online Teaching

Through theme lectures, the Cantonese Merchants Spirit Training Camp provides students with a broad learning platform and communication opportunities. Exploring the true essence of Cantonese merchants spirit with experts, the trainees are guided to find the profound connotation of Cantonese merchants spirit. YUAN Denghua expounded the staff organization structure and management model of Cantonese enterprises with the theme of Corporate Governance and Performance Improvement of Cantonese Enterprises. He emphasized the goals of sustainable profitability, social responsibility and employee growth, which inspired students to think about the importance of achieving these goals for enterprises to become bigger, stronger, and improve their life length and performance. ZHAO Zile, Associate Professor of the School of International Relations of Jinan University, gave a lecture on the theme of Development Model of Cantonese Business. He introduced the unity, cohesion and the business model of Cantonese businessmen, and pointed out that the maintenance of developed clan organizations and ethnic ties plays a vital role in the development of Cantonese business. This enabled students to think and feel the wisdom of Cantonese businessmen from a new perspective and it also gave a window for students to witness how the development model of Cantonese business integrated into the latest wave of the times. With the theme of 500 years of Business Culture of the Greater Bay Area and Its Inheritance in the New Era, DING Hao led the students to experience the modern business culture with a review of the history in the past 500 years. He pointed out that with the changes of the times and the rapid development of China’s economy, Cantonese merchants are facing new challenges which are conducive to the inheritance and future development of the business culture. It inspired students to think about the importance and feasibility of inheriting the rich history and culture of Cantonese business in the new era. ZHU Wenzhong, a professor of SoB, GDUFS, taught on the theme of Cantonese Business Culture and Corporate Social Responsibility. He pointed out that Cantonese business culture is essentially one of the representatives of Confucian business culture, including cultural values such as filial piety, respect and loyalty. The students were exposed to the specific cases of Cantonese enterprises undertaking their social responsibility, which highlighted that those Cantonese enterprises cared for their employees, pursued harmonious employee relations, and emphasized their responsibility on the family and country. LIANG Haiguang, co-founder and CEO of Stars Youth Development Center (hereafter STARS), gave a lecture on the theme of Innovation and Management of Non-profit Organizations in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area. He introduced in detail the STARS, a local non-profit organization, and also emphasized the value and importance of innovation of non-profit organizations, which inspired students to consider how non-profit organizations can achieve their mission more efficiently through innovation, adapt to the needs of society and environment, and realize their sustainable development under the background of the deeply integrated development of the Greater Bay Area. The theme of XIE Jun’s lecture is Cantonese Merchants Spirit and Private Enterprise Innovation. He pointed out that Cantonese merchants spirit, the precious fortune of Cantonese private enterprises, consist of the entrepreneurial spirit of being modest, practical, innovative and hard-working, and the business ethics of honesty, law-abiding, mutual benefits and win-win cooperation. Students are deeply aware that only by continuously inheriting and carrying forward the spirit of Cantonese merchants spirit can private enterprises obtain strong support for sustainable development.

Theme lectures on Cantonese Merchants Spirit

The lectures of the New Look of Old Ports Training Camp are divided into five chapters, covering the knowledge of traditional Cantonese business culture and its inheritance in the new era. It aims to help students have a clearer and deeper understanding of the history, the present and the future of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area. DING Hao gave a lecture of From Maritime Silk Road to the Linkage of Two Port Cities: Guangdong and Macao during the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1553-1840). This lecture, with two themes of carrying on the past and opening up the future, and keeping right and innovative, explored the evolution and pattern of the commercial culture in the Greater Bay area from two directions, two princes, two port cities and two prosperous times. Professor WANG Chao, director of the Research Center of XI Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era of the Party School of the Guangzhou Committee of CPC, gave a lecture on Inheriting the Red Gene of Guangzhou, the Heroic City, making the students understand the twists and turns during the historical development of Guangzhou since the Opium War. It fully displayed the spirit of the historical heroes which includes staying true to the mission and daring to be the first. Professor LI Qing, Secretary General of the Guangdong Institute for International Strategies, gave a detailed introduction to the concept, development basis and development opportunities of the Greater Bay Area in the lecture of From the first trial to the Construction of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area, which made the students feel deeply the great development potential of the Greater Bay Area. XIA Linfeng, a senior manager of the Financial and Accounting Department of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, presented a lecture Hong Kong’s Financial Evolution and Its Development in the NDew Era, which enriched the students’ financial knowledge and exposed students to another aspect of Hong Kong as a financial city. SHANG Xuejiao, head of the Portuguese Department of the Faculty of European Languages and Cultures, gave a lecture on Educational and Cultural Cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries. By introducing the basic knowledge of Portuguese, the current situation of educational cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries, and cultural exchanges between China and Portugal, it broadened students’ horizons and guided students to think on the cultural communication and national image, cultural diplomacy, and joint training of talents. In the lecture of Business Culture and Corporate Social Responsibility in the Greater Bay Area in the New Era, ZHU Wenzhong started his talking from the concepts of “the new era and the Great Bay Area” and “corporate social responsibility”, leading students to think about Confucian culture and modern corporate social responsibility, Cantonese business cultural values and Cantonese business corporate social responsibility, thus making students realize the important role the corporate social responsibility plays in the contemporary business.

Theme lectures on the New Look of Old Ports

Offline Practice

During the two-day offline field visit, the students visited the headquarters industrial park and museum of the Pearl River, a beer company, and attended the theme sharing meeting of Pearl River Enterprise Culture and Career Management. Through the sharing, the students had an in-depth understanding of the development history, production technology, business model and financial management of the Pearl River. The trainees also visited the final assembly workshop and the exhibition hall in the comprehensive building of GAC MOTOR. They entered GAC MOTOR’s advanced production line to know about the process technology, and experienced the latest trend of intelligence, automation and sustainable development in the automobile manufacturing industry. After that, the students went to visit the Canton Customs Museum, listening to the wonderful and in-depth illustration given by the museum guide. Finally, the students went to Yongqingfang, the historical and cultural district of Xiguan. On July 1, 2023, CAO Tingting, Director of the Teaching and Research Department of the School of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education, led the students to visit the national innovation and entrepreneurship education practice base and introduced the functional zones and the offices of the innovation and entrepreneurship teams. Besides, students were also organized to have in-depth exchanges with Mumu Technology, an innovation and entrepreneurship team.

Field visits

Through offline visits, students personally experienced the inheritance and innovation of the Cantonese commercial culture in the Greater Bay Area. The students gained an in-depth understanding of the corporate culture and management model of representative traditional Cantonese businesses and the representative innovative local manufacturing enterprises in the Greater Bay Area, which enriched their understanding of business development in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area. The students understood the historical status of Guangzhou as an important customs city and its development of foreign trade. They felt the unique charm of the combination of traditional architecture and modern commercial culture, and experienced the rich historical and cultural atmosphere and cultural heritage of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area.

Graduation Ceremony

The graduation ceremony was divided into two parts: achievement presentation and graduation summary. DING Hao, Vice Dean of SoB, and XIE Jun, Dean of the Department of Human Resources Division, attended the ceremony and delivered speeches. The graduation ceremony was presided over by LIAO Xiaojun, Party and Government Office of SoB.

In the presentation and exchange of learning achievements at the graduation ceremony, the students shared their learning achievements in groups, with topics including “Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area -- Win-win Cooperation and Regional Development”, “Three Points Doomed, Seven Points by Hard Work -- about Chaozhou Merchants”, which fully showed the students’ thinking and application of what they have learned.

Presentations of group achievements

As the person in charge of the training camp and the representative of the teachers, XIE Jun delivered his speech, expressing his appreciation for the efforts and achievements of the students and encouraging them to continue to maintain positive in exploration in their future learning and career development.

DING Hao concluded the event. He thanked the teachers and students who participated in the activity, and made a concluding speech around five words: “time”, “space”, “heart”, “brain” and “hand”. Students were encouraged to explore and innovate bravely in their future development, so as to live up to their youth.

Graduation summary

This event is the fifth “Ten-thousand Talents Plan” successfully held by SoB, and it is the first time that it has been carried out in a combination of online and offline mode. Through theme lectures, field visits, group discussions and examinations, students from Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao experienced the rich and colorful business culture of the Greater Bay Area, and improved their sense of identity and pride in the integrated development of the Greater Bay Area. The friendship of students from the three regions were enhanced there. In the future, SoB will further strengthen the cooperation with universities in Hong Kong and Macao, actively integrate into the development of the “Greater Bay Area Campus”, and speed up the construction of a high-level business school with international characteristics.

Group photo of graduation ceremony

Feelings of some students

ZHANG Huiqing, Hong Kong Baptist University

What impressed me most was the two-day offline activity. We visited the exhibition hall and headquarters of the Pearl River. From the introduction of foreign equipment to integrated innovation to independent innovation, from the first can of pure draft beer to the related enterprise culture, all of these are the integrated embodiment of technology, management and staff quality. The second day, we visited the general assembly line in GAC MOTOR, Ganton Customs Museum and Yonglefang. Thanks to the organizers of the event, I not only learned knowledge, but also met the mainland, Macao and Hong Kong students. Exchanges and communication make people grow!

PENG Weixuan, Macao Polytechnic University

It is my great honor to participate in the “New Look of Old Ports” event organized by Guangdong University of Foreign Studies as a student from Macao. Several days before the event, we attended a series of lectures online to learn about the history and business background of Guangdong, and the relationship between some heroic historical persons and Guangzhou. With the rapid development of reform and opening up, the concept of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area is deeply rooted in the hearts of the public. Nine cities and 2 districts make trade exchanges with each other, contributing to the fourth largest bay area in the world, and becoming a feature of China!

PENG Zishan, Macao University of Science and Technology

My experience in the training camp not only deepened my understanding of business and innovation, but also made me understand that success requires hard work and continuous learning. I will cherish this rare opportunity to apply the knowledge and experience I have learned into practice so as to lay a solid foundation for my future. At the same time, I also hope to pass on this Cantonese business spirit and contribute to the development of society.

WANG Haishi, South China Normal University

In this era of win-win cooperation, unity and mutual assistance is the theme of today’s society. It is very lucky to work with people of different cultural backgrounds, especially as students like us. This training camp not only taught students to learn how to communicate and cooperate with others, but also broadened our horizons and knowledge, raised our awareness of teamwork, and stimulated my enthusiasm and motivation for cross-cultural communication. This camp has greatly expanded my thinking in communication and is of enlightening significance to my future work and study. I believe that we can make better use of this cultural exchange experience and make greater breakthroughs in our future study.

ZENG Weiye, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies

Through this event, I deeply understand that as a young person living in Guangdong, we should take the initiative to learn the cultural knowledge of Cantonese business, understand the essence and core of the spirit of Cantonese businessmen, and inherit the noble qualities they have which include being modest and practical, daring to be the first, being open and inclusive, and benefiting all places and the world. I firmly believe that with the development of the times, business exchanges will become more frequent, Cantonese business culture will gradually take root in the hearts of the public, and the spirit of Cantonese businessmen will be carried forward!

YIN Changyu, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies

Through this camp, I not only learned about the business culture of the Greater Bay Area, but also met excellent students with different backgrounds. The communication and discussion with them benefited me a lot, broadened my horizons and stimulated my interest in the study of business culture. At the same time, I also developed my teamwork and communication skills. In the group discussion and practice, my companions and I solved problems together and thought together, cultivating the ability of mutual understanding and cooperation. This will have a positive impact both on my future career development and interpersonal communication.