Chang Li
Chang Li

I grew up in Sichuan Province in Mainland China. After graduating from high school, I went to Japan to pursue my bachelor degree and majored in accounting. I joined one of the four biggest life insurers in Japan as the first foreigner, after graduating from college. I soon set my long-term career goal which is to lead the overseas business of my company.

To reach my career goal, I got assigned, as I had hoped, to the Investment Investigation department, the cross-border M&A team in New York, and the Profit Management department. In my 5-year career, I have gained the necessary expertise which involves financial analysis ability, logical thinking ability, negotiation skills, and an understanding of business culture both in Japan and the U.S.

However, I needed advanced financial knowledge, legal knowledge, human resource management knowledge related to M&A, and global strategy capability. That is why I decided to study at a business school. With this clear objective, I wanted to study practically; something I can really apply. So I decided to learn in Asia, where the cases we studied would be more Asian oriented, and where the professors and classmates would also understand more about Asian business. Therefore, HKU was my first choice. Its courses meet my needs and hold a high academic reputation. Its partner school programme allows access to the academic resources of another top-level business school, and the chance to establish a valuable, worldwide network is always helpful in such a globalised environment.

My HKU MBA journey so far has been dynamic and inspiring with distinguished classmates from diversified backgrounds. I am trying to link the knowledge from courses to the real problems in my company, and the professors are helpful in discussing those questions with me even after the class. CDO helped me to start doing part-time internship in a PE firm, as I wanted, as well. I can learn how to evaluate different companies and strategies so as to operate companies in a real job, which is extremely valuable to me.