On January 26, 2022, CCBC hosted a members-only, education-themed roundtable highlighting the recently released Canada-China Business Survey 2020/2021 and China’s Economic Impact on Canada reports.

CCBC Executive Director & COO Sarah Kutulakos was joined by Walid Hejazi, Associate Professor of International Business with the Rotman School of Business, and Jia WANG, Interim Director of the China Institute at the University of Alberta. They provided a deeper dive into the data released in the two reports, more specifically as it relates to the education sector. An open Q&A session with attendees followed the presentation.

This session was free of charge, and open to CCBC members in good standing only.

Sponsored by: 

The link to the video presentation is available upon request. Please contact your regional Chapter Director to request access:

• Atlantic: Sarah Kutulakos
• Quebec: Philippe Jeanneau
• Ontario: Jeff Zhang
• Prairies: Philippe Jeanneau
• BC: Philippe Jeanneau

• Beijing: Noah Fraser

• Shanghai: Edward Dai

About the Speakers:

Walid Hejazi
Professor, Rotman School of Management
University of Toronto

Walid Hejazi is the Associate Professor of Economic Analysis and Policy & Fellow of the Michael Lee-Chin Family Institute for Corporate Citizenship, at the Rotman School of Management. He has researched and published extensively on topics related to international trade and foreign investment. He has advised the Canadian and foreign governments extensively and testified many times before parliamentary and senate committees on global competitiveness. He is currently working on a series of studies with the Canadian government which shed light on the competitiveness and productivity of Canadian firms. He teaches Macroeconomics and Global Strategy in Rotman’s MBA, EMBA and custom executive programs and has delivered lectures in over 30 countries. He has traveled extensively to China over the past two decades and has worked with several companies and many executives on deploying global strategies, particularly as it relates to the evolution of China into an innovation-based economy.

Sarah Kutulakos
Executive Director & COO
CCBC

Sarah Kutulakos, Executive Director for the Canada China Business Council, has extensive experience in China Prior to joining CCBC, Sarah worked for 11 years in marketing, product development, and management with a major multinational corporation, where she had multiple assignments involving China. Sarah managed worldwide product businesses that marketed to China and used China-based sources of supply. She was also involved in several projects requiring cooperation with the Chinese government. Sarah has led both established and start-up businesses within the context of a global corporation and has broad emerging market business experience, and has been involved in the Greater China region since the late 1980s when she lived and worked in Taiwan. There, she was the first non-Chinese employee of a local high-tech start-up firm, where she gained a deep understanding of Chinese business practices.

A fluent Mandarin speaker, Sarah’s interest in China began at the University of Wisconsin, where she studied Chinese, marketing, and international business. She holds an MBA in finance and operations from the Simon School of Business at the University of Rochester. She frequently speaks on China issues, including marketing, trade, investment, and Canada-China relations.

Jia WANG
Interim Director, the China Institute
University of Alberta

Jia WANG is currently the Interim Director of the China Institute at the University of Alberta, where she manages research, programs, and government and media relations since 2011. Jia has over 15 years of direct management experience focusing on the economic and political dimensions of contemporary China and Canada-China relations in various capacities. At the China Institute, in addition to overseeing the operations, she leads policy research initiatives examining Canada’s diplomatic, trade, investment and energy linkages with China. Jia also provides strategic and policy advice on China to University senior leaders as well as executives at public and private sector organizations. She is a frequent media commentator, speaker and moderator at community, national and international events.

Before joining the China Institute, Jia worked as a television news reporter, anchor and producer covering major political, business and cultural affairs for OMNI TV network from 2008 to early 2011. She also served as a business consultant for Enbridge Pipelines Inc. and as a conference interpreter for various business, government and higher education institutions at executive-level meetings and major conferences.

Jia holds a Bachelor of Laws (first class honours) from Peking University and pursued doctoral studies at the University of Toronto. She has written columns for the largest Chinese newspaper and taught business communication and cultural etiquette in Canada.

Born and raised in Beijing and lived for nearly two decades in Canada, Jia is fully bilingual (Chinese and English) and bicultural. She serves on the Board of Directors for Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and Winspear Centre for Music and is an Advisory Board Member for the Canada China Forum. An avid animal and nature lover, she supports animal rescue and nature conservation efforts around the world and enjoys hiking in the Canadian Rockies every summer.