The Stanford Program on Regions of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SPRIE) is pleased to announce its third annual China 2.0 conference, set to take place on September 28, 2012 at Knight Management Center of the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Focused on the theme of “Fostering Innovation Beyond Boundaries”, the event will bring together thought leaders from China and the US to discuss the driving forces of the rapid growth of China’s internet industry and its global implications in communications, commerce and content.   Already home to two of the world’s top five internet firms by market capitalization, China is a launchpad for both innovative start-ups and global powerhouses. These firms are increasingly shaping the global digital economy.

2012 Keynote Speakers

Image  Robin Li  Co-founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Baidu	Image Jon M. Huntsman, Jr. Former US Ambassador to China and Governor of Utah
Li has led Baidu to become China’s largest search engine, with over 80% market share and a market capitalization of $40 billion. A pioneer and leader of China’s internet industry, he was named by Time magazine in 2010 as one of the “World’s Most Influential People” and in 2012 he topped Forbes China’s list of best CEOs.	Huntsman served as US Ambassador to China through April 2011 when he stepped down to run for the 2012 Republican nomination for President.  Twice elected as Governor of Utah, he also has served as Deputy Secretary of Commerce for Asia, US Ambassador to Singapore, and Deputy US Trade Representative.

Other featured speakers will be internet industry pioneers and leading executives, investors and entrepreneurs from both sides of the Pacific.  Stanford faculty, researchers, students and alumni from the business and engineering schools will also actively participate.  By convening at Stanford long-time experts and next generation leaders from business, policy, and academia, the conference offers a unique opportunity to hear insights and interact with those who are driving the rise of China 2.0 and digital innovation in the US and China.

Planned panels will focus on key issues such as:

• How are China's internet players expanding into new markets both at home and overseas?
• How are Silicon Valley firms shaping their global strategies for China, to tap opportunities there both as a market and a source of ideas and talent?
• How are new partnerships among US and China companies fostering new engines for innovation?
• What are the latest trends in China’s domestic and foreign venture capital and private equity investment landscape? Which sectors are over-funded and in which sectors will the next wave of entrepreneur-led market disruption emerge?
• With the challenges facing firms such as Facebook, Zynga and Groupon in the US, are China's immune from a downturn due to differences in business models?
• What innovations from hot sectors, such as mobile gaming, are on the horizon?

China 2.0 is a research and education initiative of the Stanford Program on Regions of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SPRIE) at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. China 2.0 focuses on the drivers, dynamics and global implications of the rise of China’s internet industry. The mission is to contribute to world-class education based on groundbreaking research and best practices, facilitating stronger links between internet industry pioneers, venture investors, academics and students on both sides of the Pacific.

Last year’s China 2.0 conference attendance reached a full capacity of 600 at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.   The event attracted international broadcast, print and online media coverage, including from All Things Digital, Bloomberg West, NBC, Reuters, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Sina.com, San Jose Mercury News, and others. 

To register for the China 2.0 2012 conference at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, please visit our Event Registration page.

For information on how to join the circle of support for the China 2.0 research and education initiative at the Stanford Program on Regions of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SPRIE) at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, please contact Yan Mei at mei_yan@gsb.stanford.edu or 650.725.1885.

For media inquiries about the China 2.0 conference on September 28th, 2012, please contact Barbara Buell at buell_barbara@gsb.stanford.edu or 650 723-1771.

The Stanford Program on Regions of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SPRIE) at the Stanford Graduate School of Business is dedicated to improving the understanding and practice of innovation and entrepreneurship in the global economy. Through international and interdisciplinary research, publications, education, conferences and a platform for global thought leadership, SPRIE impacts the arenas of academia, policy and business.  

Countries throughout the world increasingly share similar health policy challenges such as healthcare and insurance reform, rapid demographic change, and high rates of chronic diseases like diabetes. The Asia-Health Policy Program (AHPP) is one of several Stanford organizations seeking solutions to major global health issues through a comparative study of the health policies of different countries. Visiting fellows and scholars from Asia play an integral part in AHPP’s research, publishing, and outreach activities.

Since AHPP’s founding in 2007, the program has hosted 10 visitors from Asia, including Cambodia, China, and Korea, and, in the coming academic year, it will welcome three new visitors, from Japan, Mongolia, and the Philippines. In just five years AHPP has established strong postdoctoral and developing Asia fellowship programs, in addition to the visiting scholars it hosts. Lasting ties have been established, resulting in numerous publications as well as research and outreach projects in Asia.

Even now we still keep in touch and collaborate on certain research areas.
-Yan Wang, 2009–10 Visiting Scholar

Three former AHPP visitors recently spoke about their experience with the program and about the work they have been doing since their time at Stanford.

Young Kyung Do, AHPP’s inaugural postdoctoral fellow (2008–09), conducted research on the social and economic implications of population aging in Asia. Focusing on education and diabetes care, Do also examined the impact of socioeconomic disparities on the health and health care of elderly citizens. AHPP helped define his future research agenda, and also provided him with publishing opportunities, including collaborating on a chapter on diabetes in the edited volume Aging Asia (2010). Do is now an assistant professor with the Duke-National University of Singapore Graduate Medical School, where he studies health economics and policy issues related to population aging and noncommunicable diseases in Southeast and East Asia.

Byongho Tchoe served as a visiting scholar during the 2008–09 academic year, researching and writing about health care reform in South Korea. Tchoe enjoyed conducting research in Stanford’s peaceful campus environment, and taking part in seminars offered by the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center and other Stanford organizations. He contributed the chapter “Old-Age Pension Reform in South Korea” to Aging Asia, and published a working paper and article on the impact of population aging on medical costs in South Korea. Tchoe is now the president of the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs in Seoul.

Yan Wang (former), an AHPP visiting scholar from 2009 to 2010, is currently deputy director of the Division of Disease Control in the Health Department of China’s Shandong Province. At AHPP, Wang studied how private health care providers, in conjunction with government-run health services, can help improve the overall primary care available in China’s cities. She also collaborated with Stanford’s Asian Liver Center to develop an online program to provide better hepatitis B education to health professionals in Shandong. Wang appreciated attending AHPP seminars and learning about health reform around the world, and still remains in touch with some of the scholars she connected with during her time at Stanford.

AHPP looks forward to continuing to welcome and collaborate with visiting fellows and scholars in the coming years, and to expanding its postdoctoral and developing Asia fellowship programs.