2015 MBA To Watch: Zhongyuan Li

Zhongyuan Li

CEIBS

Zhongyuan Li perfectly melded the academic and social benefits of business school. An Excellence Scholarship recipient who made the top 10 percentile of the school’s Dean’s List, Li also served as president of the Student Committee. In fact, Li was so respected that his 192 classmates elected him to win the Student Leader Award. After graduation, Li will start work as the senior vice president of the international investment division at Anbang Insurance.

Age: 32

Hometown: Jiangmen, China

Undergraduate School: University of Groningen

Undergraduate Degree: International Economics & Business

Where did you work before enrolling in business school? Keefe, Bruyette & Woods – Vice President of Investment Banking Division

Where did you intern during the summer of 2014? Medtronic – Shanghai

Where will you be working after graduation? Anbang Insurance – Senior Vice President of International Investment Division

“I knew I wanted to go to business school when…I wanted to make a career switch but realized that I needed to broaden my skill-sets and access additional resources to make the transition successful.”

“If I hadn’t gone to business school, I would be…stuck on my old investment banking job and potentially be miserable for a long time to come.”

What are your long-term professional goals? My long-term aspiration is to become the head of a large Chinese corporation’s international business division, responsible for all overseas business activities.

Favorite Courses: Macroeconomics, China Economic Reform and Organizational Behavior

Which academic or professional achievements are you most proud of? I’m very proud to be a member of the Dean’s List (top 10 percentile). This is because I had a lot on my plate being the student committee president and I love to hang out with fellow classmates in all social gatherings. So I’m very proud to be able to manage my time efficient and effectively to find the required time to study and get pretty good grades.

Who would you most want to thank for your success (and why)? I would like to thank my wife for taking great care of our son in Hong Kong whilst I was away in Shanghai attending the CEIBS MBA Program. She is a very caring mother and an empathetic wife!

Why did you choose this business school? I was born in China but grew up and worked in the west. I wanted to make a career switch from investment banking to corporate development and focus my future career in greater China. CEIBS’ flexible, China-centered MBA program was the perfect fit to my career preparation. CEIBS’ Shanghai location, China-specific courses and great mentoring program with successful and high caliber alumni offered exactly what I wanted.

What did you enjoy most about business school? The school provides a platform for highly motivated individuals of different backgrounds to be together for an 18-month period. This is what I love about CEIBS. I enjoyed the company of all my fellow classmates who have extremely interesting life and work experiences. It was so rewarding sharing with each other our thoughts and live experiences. The 18-month period was definitely one of the best times of my life.

What is your most memorable moment from business school? The most memorable moment for me was at the year-end party right before we all disembark to do our internships followed by exchange programs. We knew that after that party most of us wouldn’t see each other until the graduation day. It was a very emotional party where we showed pictures and videos of the funny, sad, miserable and joyful moments together over the past year. Everyone was very sentimental at the end. It was a very memorable party with so much mixed feelings all at once.

Fun fact about yourself: I’m a terrible swimmer even though I grew up in the Caribbean and lived there for over 10 years.