The Great Era of Innovative Entrepreneurship

The Great Era of Innovative Entrepreneurship is a business book that solves all sorts of problems in the field of science and technology from the discovery of demand to the exploration of the future. It integrates the insights of first-class entrepreneurs and scholars in China. It is an entrepreneurial guide in the era of science and technology， incorporating new demands， models， technologies， and new explorations of future business. This book will be of great help to entrepreneurs of science and technology.

The Great Era of Innovative Entrepreneurship

Chen Wei， Li Hongkai

China Financial and Economic Publishing House （CFEPH）

May 2022

99.90 （CNY）

Chen Wei

Chen Wei is a professor of Management Practice and director of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center of Peking University HSBC Business School.

Li Hongkai

Li Hongkai is a member of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center of Peking University HSBC Business School， former founding partner and chief operating officer of SKT Education.

Learning to Do Business from a Violinist

About my stories in Shenzhen， I must start from 1980. At that time， I was in Guangzhou， as a clerk of the Guangdong Foreign Economic Relations and Trade Commission. I lived a regular life and always had a habit of going to the movies or concerts on weekends.

I first heard a concert in 1980， which included a violin concerto， Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai by Hong Kong performer Mr. Liu Yuansheng with the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra. In 1979， Teresa Teng’s songs had just become popular in Guangdong， which introduced me to music， so I was thrilled by their performance and rushed backstage to express my feelings to Mr. Liu Yuansheng， who gifted me a cassette after we had a short talk. That’s how we got to know each other.

In 1983， I went to Shenzhen to establish my own business. At that time， I didn’t know how to run a business. Although Mr. Liu Yuansheng had received excellent musical training as a teenager， he had to go into business because his family would not let him go to music school. As a result， he was not only very good at playing the violin but also well-versed in business. I thought， well， I’ve connected with this player through music， so I started to learn business from him， and he became my first tutor in business.

In the 1980s， Shenzhen was in the early stages of development， and despite the shortage of funds， the municipal government established the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra. As a listener， I had the opportunity to communicate with them and thus formed a close relationship with them. I took the videotape of Mozart given to me by Mr. Liu to the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra. And I talked about Mozart with Yao Guanrong， the then-director of the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra， and other performers. Mr. Liu inspired me in a classical symphony， and I remember that he had solemnly introduced Mahler to me. But I need help understanding Mahler even today. Mr. Liu was once the principal violinist of the Hong Kong Symphony Orchestra. In 1999， he founded the Hong Kong Love Symphony Orchestra， where he was both director and principal violinist， performing and raising funds for various charitable funds and foundations. Liu then said that he intended to play all of Mahler’s symphonies. And he made it， one by one， year by year， eventually playing all of Mahler’s compositions. You can see that Mr. Liu is a music lover with great expertise and a very honest and successful businessman.

What is the influence of all these on me？ Three years ago， I founded a charitable symphony orchestra in Shenzhen， the Shenzhen Peng Ai Symphony Orchestra， where “Peng” stands for Pengcheng， an alias for Shenzhen. The orchestra’s first performance was in Harbin， with the Harbin Symphony Orchestra， the first symphony orchestra in China. Still， our first official performance was at the Forbidden City in Beijing， making the Shenzhen Peng Ai Symphony Orchestra the first folk symphony orchestra to perform at the Forbidden City in over 600 years. Our orchestra began to perform in other cities， such as Kunming and Yangzhou for charity， and each performance was wonderful.

Through this story， your original desire determines how long you can persevere. My original intention in forming the Shenzhen Peng Ai Symphony Orchestra was to make more people feel the beauty created by ourselves and others. Especially for those immersed in entrepreneurship and pursuing wealth to slow down and look at life through music， they can notice how much of their world has been overlooked. I believe that music and culture can be combined with humanity and soul because these are the most beautiful forms of human expression regardless of group levels; this is a treasure that belongs to the nation and the country， which we are willing to put all our efforts into.

The Second 40 Years， the Emergence of Canal Culture

The year 2018 is the 40th year of reform and opening up. In the first 40 years， we crossed the river by feeling the stones， and sometimes when the stones were not so easy to feel， we tended to fall. I don’t think that in the second 40 years， we can still develop in that way， and it is necessary to plan and determine the next direction of our journey.

In interviews on different occasions， I indicated that the grip of my plan was the canal. Why didn’t I say the Grand Canal， but the canals in general？ The Chinese culture has two well-known symbols worldwide： the Great Wall and the canal.

The canals are different. The canals played a very important role in the development and construction of the Chinese nation into a huge country because， in a way， they promoted and maintained national unity. The canals that were first built in ancient China and the canals that are preserved now are different. The Grand Canal of the Sui Dynasty was centered on Luoyang. The canal also had a military function — transporting soldiers — but it was more for transporting goods or facilitating economic and cultural exchanges. In some ways， the canals had a much greater effect on the integration of China’s north and south， east and west， than the Great Wall. The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and the Roman Roads were built less than two or three hundred years apart， and after Emperor Qin Shi Huang connected segments of the Great Wall， China opened the Sui-Tang Grand Canal under Emperor Yang. But these two symbols are completely different. The canal is both a culture of the Chinese nation and a world phenomenon. Before the construction of railroads， the major transportation means in the world were waterways， and canals were the “highways” of the time.

The terrain of China is high in the west and low in the east， and under the influence of earth’s gravity， rivers all flow from west to east， except for the Grand Canal， which runs north-south. It connects the five east-west rivers， forming a net-like geography. Of course， we know that the importance of canals has declined since the beginning of industrial civilization， especially in China. Water transport declined after the emergence of sea transport and further declined after the emergence of railways. In addition， industrial sewage destroyed the environment， and the canals became a mess. Now in post-industrial civilization， if human beings continue to take such greedy demands on nature， nature will not be able to bear it anymore， which can cause troubles in our life. Obviously， it is time for us to rethink how to change our attitude toward nature and reform our already abandoned canals.

In the second 40 years of China’s reform and opening up， canal culture is emerging， so how can we do a better job of protecting the canal and natural environments？ As president of the World Wide Fund for Nature （WWF） in China， I am planning to set up a base in Yangzhou to protect the finless porpoise. At the same time， this is a good opportunity to regenerate and revitalize canal city. Simply put， we can rebuild the city in terms of history， archaeology， culture， education， ecology， and One Health. The Grand Canal has been successfully inscribed as a protected heritage site of the United Nations. For the application， Yangzhou held ten World Canal Cities Forum sessions. In order to revitalize canal culture on a large scale， I have proposed to hold a World Canal Cities Forum in Lyon， France. For the second 40 years， my entrepreneurial goal and plan is to promote canal culture. Where do future business opportunities lie？ Probably in the Grand Canal and in One Health. In promoting canal culture， I can also synthesize the experience， resources， and contacts I have accumulated in the first 40 years of reform and opening up to create a second brand.