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 in International Business Administration and MBA Corporate Management as well as the business-integrated degree program in Business Administration, led by Prof. Rainer Busch, Dr. Alexander Unger, Eva Nefen and Christian May, visited Gua-ngdong Province, China. This trip is the fourth visit of an MBA group to our network partners in China after 2012, 2014 and 2016. The region around the 11 million strong city of Guangzhou is an important industrial and trade 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 specifics 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 space management system) from Guangdong were 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 as well as social media formed the basis for discussions here. The visit also included formal discussions with entrepreneurs from the furniture industry about marketing opportunities in Europe, but also the challenges in the environmental field, but also joint (informal) dinners (with all their "culture-led challenges"). Final stops of the trip were Macau as well as Hong Kong. 
An impression from Felix Stauder, who is currently enrolled in the MBA distance learning program in International Business Administration: "The networking trip to China was an absolute highlight for me as part of my MBA program. Meeting Chinese start-ups as well as already established companies gave a formative insight into Chinese business culture. At the evening  business dinner with  the entrepreneurs, the conversations could be continued in a relaxed atmosphere. The discussion rounds with Chinese students on topics such as globalization, trade wars and environmental protection were very informative. Fascinating  was also getting to know Chinese culture, especially on Lantau Island, as well as the dynamic life in Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Macau. The strong organization and great togetherness 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. This is the third visit of an MBA group to our long-standing partner in China after 2012 and 2014, 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 of 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), which is located in the southeast of China. Fujian is also the partner province of Rhineland-Palatinate. The students from Ludwigshafen had the opportunity to get to know Fuzhou better during 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) program, who are currently in Fuzhou to complete their year abroad. In addition to numerous cultural activities, the program included the following lectures (together with Chinese MBA students) and company visits: 

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

Andrej Jackzentis, Executive MBA graduate/general management:
" Result: "Yes have" - all in all a specialized study journey to China in its organization and execution extremely successfully was and from the impressions as well as insights long its equal looks. At this point again a completely special thank you to Mrs. Eva Nefen as an organizer and Professor Dr. Rainer Busch as a leader of the group. In my opinion, a first-class transfer of knowledge in the areas of people, culture, companies and country with an incalculable potential could be made possible here with great commitment and foresight. I wish that many students will have this experience and participate in the following trips." Read the complete feedback here.

Susanne Walter:
" The international study trip  to China (Fuzhou/Xiamen) gave us MBA students a good insight into Chinese culture. The program on site was equipped with multifaceted contents. On the one hand, we visited various companies, e.g. Trodat or TPV, on the other hand, we also did some classic sightseeing. The car-free island of Gulangyu in Xiamen deserves special mention. I can only recommend the international study trip. The manifold impressions will not fly away so quickly. Many thanks to Prof. Dr. Busch and Mrs. Nefen for the very good organization of the trip."