Testimonial Faouzi Ouled Belgacem:
"It was a great opportunity to meet people from all over the world, what made it special is the fact that it came after the COVID lockdown and related uncertainty. Students as well as teachers have had an equal passion to exchange ideas and information about different topics. It was a very rich experience where we got to know the culture, traditions, and habits of each other's.

The warm welcome by the SAMK team and the university as well as the city tour were of great value to all the participants. Thanks to the good organization, we were able to visit two medium sized companies, where we have met their senior management, got to know their field of applications, their solutions, and the challenges they are encountering whether routinely or due to the global events (pandemic, war) and the severe consequences it had on their respective businesses."

From September 28 to October 8, 2018, a group of MBA students from the MBA distance learning programs International Business Administration and MBA Corporate Management as well as the integrated business administration program led by Prof. Rainer Busch, Dr. Alexander Unger, Eva Nefen and Christian May visited Gua-ngdong Province, China. After 2012, 2014 and 2016, this is the fourth visit of an MBA group to our network partners in China. The region around Guangzhou, a city of 11 million people, is an important industrial and commercial location ("factory of the world") in the Pearl River Delta, which also includes the major cities of Hong Kong, Shenzen, Dongguan, Foshan, Jiangmen, Huizhou, Zhongshan and Zhuzai. Over 100 million people live in an area the size of Baden-Württemberg. With 104.30 million inhabitants, Guangdong is the most populous province in China. During a visit to the MBA Business School of the Guangdong University of Economics and Finance, the students from Ludwigshafen discussed with their fellow students, for example, the consequences of globalization in the context of the trade dispute between China, the USA and Europe and the special features of building relationships in China. The representative of the AHK in Guangdong, Mark Piesberger, reported on the serious changes in the institutional environment that German companies have to face in this province of Canton. The founders of the start-up "Airparking" (developer of a parking management system) from Guangdong were once again available as very interesting discussion partners during this visit. Another highlight of our group's stay was the visit to the Chinese internet giant Tencent (WeChat, QQ); numerous developments in the field of technology and social media formed the basis for discussions here. The visit also focused on formal discussions with entrepreneurs from the furniture industry about marketing opportunities in Europe, but also the challenges in the environmental sector, as well as joint (informal) dinners (with all their "culture-led challenges"). The final stops on the trip were Macau and Hong Kong. 
An impression from Felix Stauder, who is currently studying for an MBA in International Business Administration: "The networking trip to China was an absolute highlight for me as part of my MBA program. The meetings with Chinese start-ups and established companies gave me a formative insight into Chinese corporate culture. At the evening  business dinner with  the entrepreneurs, we were able to continue our discussions in a relaxed atmosphere. The discussions with Chinese students on topics such as globalization, trade wars and environmental protection were very informative. It was also fascinating  to get to know Chinese culture, particularly on Lantau Island, as well as the dynamic life in Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Macau. The strong organization and the great cooperation within the travel group made China an incredibly impressive experience."
 

From December 3 to 11, 2016, a group of MBA students led by Rainer Busch, Eva Nefen and Christian May visited Fuzhou University in Fuzhou, China. After 2012 and 2014, this is the third visit of an MBA group to our long-standing partner in China, which was again comprehensively prepared on the Chinese side by Alan Lu (Head of the Office for International Exchange and Cooperation at the School of Economics and Management at Fuzhou University) and Anja Feege (Director of the Rhineland-Palatinate Academy). 

Fuzhou  (6.5 million inhabitants) is the capital of Fujian Province (36 million inhabitants) in south-eastern China. Fujian is also a partner province of Rhineland-Palatinate. The students from Ludwigshafen had the opportunity to get to know Fuzhou better over the course of several days and numerous discussions with fellow students and professors, as well as by visiting cultural sights. The group of visitors from HWG-LU was complemented by four students from the International Business Management (IBM) degree programs, who are currently in Fuzhou to complete their year abroad. In addition to numerous cultural activities, the following lectures (together with Chinese MBA students) and company visits were on the program: 

Markus Brahmann:
"The study trip to China, which was part of the interdisciplinary "MBA Corporate Management" program, proved to be a special added value for me as a participating student. The events at Fuzhou University, the exchange with the participating companies and especially the people and their culture left me with unique impressions.
On the one hand, I was able to gain good initial impressions about building business networks in China, and on the other, I had an excellent opportunity to talk to company representatives and managers. The experience of experiencing one's own, partly externally determined, perception of a country, its culture and business practices in a new way rounded off this trip.
I can highly recommend participation in such events to every student."

Andrej Jackzentis, Executive MBA graduate/ General Management:
"Conclusion: "Yes have" - All in all, a specialist study trip to China that was extremely successful in its organization and execution and is unparalleled in terms of impressions and insights. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mrs. Eva Nefen as the organizer and Prof. Dr. Rainer Busch as the group leader. In my opinion, with great commitment and foresight, it was possible to provide first-class knowledge transfer in the areas of people, culture, companies and the country with unimaginable potential. I hope that many students will have this experience and take part in future trips." You can read the full feedback here.

Susanne Walter:
"The international study trip  to China (Fuzhou/Xiamen) gave us MBA students a good insight into Chinese culture. The local program offered a wide range of content. On the one hand, we visited various companies, such as Trodat and TPV, and on the other, we also went sightseeing. The car-free island of Gulangyu in Xiamen deserves a special mention here. I can only recommend this international study trip. The diverse impressions will not fade so quickly. Many thanks to Prof. Dr. Busch and Ms. Nefen for the excellent organization of the trip."