Invited speakers

Prof. dr. Ilan ALON, University of Agder

Ilan Alon is Professor of International Business at the University of Agder (UiA, Norway). Previously, he was a visiting scholar at the Copenhagen Business School (CBS, Denmark), University of International Business and Economics (UIBE, China), Higher School of Economics (HSE, Russia), Harvard University (USA), Georgetown University (USA), and Cornell Professor of International Business and Founding Director of The China Center at Rollins (USA). Prof. Alon is Editor-in-Chief of International Journal of Emerging Markets and the European Journal of International Management. Ilan Alon’s research appeared in prestigious academic journals, such as the Harvard Business Review, Journal of International Marketing, International Marketing Review, Management International Review, Corporate Governance: An International Journal, and others. Among Ilan Alon’s research books on China are: Huawei: Made in China for the World (Palgrave, forthcoming 2020), Belt and Road Intiative (Palgrave, 2018), Chinese International Investments (Palgrave, 2012), China Rules: Globalization and Political Transformation (Palgrave, 2009), The Globalization of Chinese Enterprises (Palgrave, 2008). Ilan Alon is President of the Chinese Globalization Association (running an annual conference on China goes Global www.chinagoesglobal.org, and is serving on the governing boards of the European International Business Academy (EIBA).

Prof. dr. Zhang Lihua, Research Center for China- EU Relations at Tsinghua University

Ms. Zhang Lihua, pursued her Ph. D. from the Department of International Politics at Beijing University, is currently a Professor at the Department of International Relations and director of Research Center for China-EU Relations of the School of Social Science Tsinghua University. Since 1997 she has been visiting scholar at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in US, and guest researcher at the Social Development and Policy Research Institute of Seoul National University. She visited and gave lectures at several European universities. Her main research areas are contemporary Mainstream of political thoughts in Western countries, China-EU relations, Contemporary Chinese politics and diplomacy. She published more than 60 academic papers as well as several academic books such as “Research on Western Mainstream Political Thoughts, “The Road to Democracy and Rule of Law in China”, “A Study of Market Economy and Democratic Politics”, “A Study of the Yugoslavian Self-Government Socialist Theory”. She is also the editor in chief for the collected works “A Study of China-EU Relations”, “Chinese Culture and Diplomacy”, “The European Sovereign Debt Crisis and China-EU Relations”, “The Cultural Diplomacy between China-EU and Its Influence”, and “A study on the soft power of Chinese, American and European cultures”.

Dr. Matevž Rašković: Victoria University of Wellington

Matevž Rasković is a Senior lecturer in international business at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand and a guest professor at Zhejiang School of Management in China. He co-authored with Howard Davies “Understanding a Changing China: Key Implications for Business” (Routledge, 2017) and has published in Journal of Business Research, Multinational Business Review, Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing and European Journal of International Management. He is on the Editorial Review Board of Multinational Business Review and International Journal of Emerging Markets, and is a Senior Editor at European Journal of International Management. His research on China focuses on consumer culture theory of Chinese millennials.

Dr. Howard DAVIES, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Professor Davies is currently a part-time Professor at Beijing Jiaotong University, helping them with the international accreditation process. He worked at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University from 1990 until 2015, as a Professor, Dean, Associate Dean, Acting Dean and Advisor to the Dean. He has published more than 50 research papers in books and journals, including Strategic Management Journal, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Management Studies, Organization Studies and Design Studies.He has also published two textbooks on Managerial Economics. He wrote and edited a book on China Business in 1995, and his latest book is Understanding a Changing China, co-authored with Matevz Raskovic, published in September 2017. Professor Davies has also been extensively involved in curriculum development, including the ‘outcome-based approach to education’, the introduction of Design Thinking to the business curriculum, and a novel approach to the Executive Master’s degree.