Harvard Center Shanghai
The Harvard Business School (HBS) learning experience is a product not only of expert faculty and highly relevant, transformative programs, but also of physical surroundings that are thoughtfully designed to accelerate learning, encourage engagement, and promote dynamic and productive exchange among people from China and around the world.
HBS Executive Education programs in China will primarily be held at Harvard Center Shanghai, a state-of-the-art meeting facility. At the Harvard Center Shanghai, HBS is able to provide programs in partnership with Chinese universities and companies, while continuing to offer the same seamless, integrated HBS learning experience that characterizes our Boston programs.
The Center occupies an entire floor of one of the newly constructed skyscrapers in Shanghai's Pudong district. At the heart of the facility is a presentation space equipped with amphitheater seating, videoconferencing, and simultaneous interpretation equipment. With this capability, faculty can present in either Chinese or English, while participants can listen and learn in either language. To facilitate small group sessions and networking, the Center also includes a breakout lounge, meeting rooms, and offices.
The exciting Pudong district of Shanghai, located on the east side of the Huangpu River, is China's commercial and financial epicenter and is home to the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Well served by public transportation, the Harvard Center Shanghai is just 40 kilometers from the Shanghai Pudong International Airport. Visitors attending the Center's programs stay at a nearby five-star hotel.
For many years, HBS has worked with businesses in China and around the world to further the practice of management and drive global economic development
Why HBS in China?
Harvard Business School in China: Learning, Teaching, Contributing
China will shape the global economy of the 21st century. As China's economy grows, Harvard Business School (HBS) is growing its presence in the region, expanding its ability to learn about the business environment and best practices in China, to share its time-honored teaching methods with new audiences, and to bring its global research to bear on the challenges facing executives doing business in China. These efforts are fostering a worldwide exchange of knowledge that will drive further economic growth—in China and around the world.
A Long History of Engagement with China
Connections between HBS and China go back to the early 20th century, when the second MBA class at HBS welcomed two students from Shanghai. As China and the United States have long shared a passion for education and educational exchange, it was only natural that HBS would play a role in helping the two countries understand each other's cultures and business practices.
In the late 1990s, as part of a global initiative, HBS founded the Asia Pacific Research Center in Hong Kong—the first of seven HBS global research centers. HBS also began working with Tsinghua University, teaching its faculty how to conduct executive education. Over the years, this partnership has yielded a wide range of specialized management and leadership programs.
Recently, HBS began offering Executive Education programs and other events at the state-of-the-art Harvard Center Shanghai. This year, the Center will host 15 weeks of programs in conjunction with leading universities, such as Tsinghua University, China Europe International Business School, Beijing University, and Fudan University. These offerings are helping executives to mine opportunities in China's developing economy, adopt best practices essential to cross-border growth, and gain a deeper understanding of China's unique business environment
Part of a Broader Mission
Harvard University is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Founded in 1636, the University has grown from nine students with a single teacher to an enrollment of more than 20,000 degree candidates, including undergraduates and students in 10 graduate and professional schools, among them Harvard Business School.
HBS's efforts in China contribute to a broader Harvard mission to build a truly global university, and are only a small part of Harvard's engagement in China. At the center of Harvard's China initiatives is the Harvard China Fund, a university-wide resource that supports interdisciplinary research and teaching about and in greater China, including the People's Republic, Hong Kong, and Taiwan; focuses Harvard on challenges that face China; and fosters communication and collaboration with Chinese scholars and institutions.