The training course in China was divided into two modules, four days in Shanghai and four days in Hangzhou, where the Executive MBA participants combined visits to Chinese and multinational companies with studies in Chinese Business and Supply Chain Management at Zhejiang University and Shanghai Jiao Tong University, said the statement.

The Executive MBA participants are managers with diverse backgrounds from different business sectors, often with global roles in companies such as AstraZeneca, Husqvarna, SKF and Volvo.

The participants were given the opportunity to visit companies like Geely, Sunwin Bus, Transfar and Shanghai Harbour.

“During this week I learned about the modern business model of China and I understood the importance of seeing China as a market instead of a factory of the world,” Suzana Dereban, one of the Executive MBA participants, was quoted as saying in the statement.

To provide a better understanding of the Chinese economy and business culture, roundtable seminars and networking meetings were also organized with executives working in China for companies like SKF and Business Sweden.

“The company visits in particular helped me understand the Chinese management practice and the Chinese wisdom in translating the language of science into the language of business,” Dereban added, describing the trip as an “eye-opener about China in all aspects”.

The Gothenburg Executive MBA programme, which runs part-time over two years, focuses on emerging markets in Asia and aims to strengthen the participants’ skills on how to do business in east Asian countries.

The School of Executive Education at the School of Business, Economics and Law, University of Gothenburg offers the AMBA-accredited Executive MBA Programme in Sweden as well as tailor-made programmes for internationally oriented companies in the Nordic market.

This article was produced by China’s state-controlled news agency Xinhua.