METP: Training tomorrow's leaders

Officially launched in July 2006, the EU-China Managers Exchange and Training Program (METP) is an inter-governmental project of human resource exchanges in the field of international trade. The four-year program is co-funded by the European Union and the People's Republic of China.

The aim of the program is to train 200 Chinese and 200 European managers in, not only the languages, but also the business culture and practices of their respective target countries. The China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) is responsible for the implementation of the program.

Radio86 spoke with Dr. Wigan Salazar about this ambitious project and about the importance of understanding the Chinese way of doing business in today's world.

“The main goal of the METP is to give managers, especially from small and medium-sized companies, the opportunity to train and build up networks in China and use these to build their own careers, but also to do business between the EU and China. Trade and this kind of exchange constitute one of the backbones of the relationship between the EU and China, and they have shown to have a stabilizing effect on other parts of the relationship, be it on the cultural or political side, between the two regions. There used to be another program before the METP, where Europeans were able to go to China and learn Chinese and about Chinese business, but METP has been around since 2006 and has revamped this program, which has since become a bilateral thing.”

According to Salazar, the program includes a two-month internship in the target country.

“You have an overall of 200 Chinese managers going to Europe and being trained in cities like Manchester at the Manchester Metropolitan University or in Milan or Paris, to be managers in European business schools. On the other hand, you have some 200 managers from all over Europe going to Beijing, first of all, to learn Chinese and business Chinese, which is the basis to conduct business. From then on, they go to internships in companies, get to learn the country, the business style and build up their networks. This is a great bilateral exchange. At the start, the Chinese and European participants meet up in Beijing and get to know each other, not in long sessions, but for instance in outdoor sessions where you learn how to build bridges together and how to rely on each other. You learn a lot in these training sessions about how cultures work, how cultures interact and how different they are, but also how similar we all are. At the end of the day, also within the European group, there are of course big cultural differences, say, between Swedish and Italian participants, somebody from Bulgaria, from Cyprus or Lithuania. It's a great opportunity for people to get to know people from within the European Union, so it’s proven a great success, which is why the European Union and the Chinese government have just prolonged it. It was actually only planned to have four so-called intakes, but now the European Commission has decided to prolong the program by a fifth intake.”

Promoting China-Europe business ties

Dr. Wigan Salazar. (Image: METP)

Although the METP is open to residents of all 27 EU nations, some nationalities seem to have grasped the benefits of the program more readily, which is also clearly reflected in the amount of applications received from every country, Salazar says.

“In the beginning, we had a strong wave of applications, especially from southern Europe, from countries like Italy and Spain. But we have been focusing on, of course, getting people from all around Europe, including Lithuanian, Swedish, Danish, German, French, UK participants. We have in the past year focused on making the program more well-known in Northern Europe, in order to get more applicants from countries like the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark, and it’s working. It's really about getting METP to be known all around Europe. Of course, we have not yet had applicants or even participants from all 27 countries, because we have small countries like Luxembourg or Malta, for instance. It would be great to have more applications from there to have a whole representation of the European Union, but most counties and regions already have applicants and participants. So the applications have remained strong for Spain and Italy, but the other regions of Europe have caught up.”

As the title of the program indicates, the METP targets young aspiring managerial level professionals with an interest in China. The training is free of charge and the EU even pays the participants a monthly allowance for the duration of their overseas internship.

“'Managers' is a broad term. We interpret it as executives, so people who are not starting in their jobs, who do have enough job experience, but who are at the same time young - they have to be below 35. So it’s not about having the CEO or the managing directors, but really about getting the young talent who are already in an executive position, who are also bound to do more in the future, but also want to learn something else and perhaps be part of a leading generation of people who build up a relationship with China and the European Union. Having said that, it’s hard to find people in that age bracket, so it’s not only about having people who have big manager experience. The real point is people have to have started their first management task.”

“The European Union pays for the whole tuition fee and pays a stipend of one thousand euros per month. Obviously, the European Union can’t pay the salary one necessarily had, but a stipend of a thousand euros is quite good in China. One could compare it to a MBA which is given for free, because if you do an MBA you also don’t work and pay high tuition fees. At the same time, there are deals, which some participants do with their companies, where the company says 'it's great you’ll be working in Beijing, take the stipend, but we also leave you a small part of your salary, because we want you to come back.' So, basically people are flexible to do that, but the basic thing is that it’s free, the tuition is paid and there's a stipend.”

“We have within the program two months of internships and it’s best to do it in two internships. We have partners of course in China, but people are also encouraged to work on their own and find out what they would want to do, because we do have applicants from a range of different businesses. We have people from the pharmaceutical industry, chemical industry, but also people from the media, so, for somebody, for instance, from a publishing house, it might not necessarily make sense to get an internship in a chemistry plant somewhere in China. So, what we also look out for is that people set up a plan, what they'd like to do in China. We call it a business plan, which is part of the application, so anybody who applies for METP has already thought about how he or she can make the best use of their time in China. We of course are able and willing to help, but at the same time, we want to have people who can think independently and also really have an idea of what they are doing. So, while there’s help, we also expect people to be imaginative, and entrepreneurs, at the end of the day.”

All eyes on China

China offers vast business opportunities for foreign entrepreneurs. (Image: Radio86)At the moment, China is one of the most dynamic players in the world economy. Even the global financial crisis has not managed to stall its economic engine, which so many countries are now looking to it in the hopes that it will help tow them out of the downturn as well. And China will continue to play a significant role on the world stage in the future, which is why now is really the eleventh hour for companies hoping to profit from China's ample business opportunities to get in the game.

“China has become a strong stabilizing factor in the world economy. But apart from that, seen in perspective, in the next five to ten years, it really is growing as one of the main trade partners for the European Union. So, it's a good time for anybody young and interested in this market to embark on it, because there are not that many China specialists within European companies, especially small and medium-sized ones, which we especially target. These companies sometimes have great opportunities in China, but don’t know how to handle them, because they don’t have enough staff or can't afford to send somebody to China without a significant risk to them. So, especially for these companies it’s really interesting and exciting to build up people that way. And about timing, of course it depends on where somebody is in his or her career, we can’t say it’s the perfect timing for this or that person, but it’s a really good time for anybody young and entrepreneurial to embark on this."

The METP has published a concise handbook on Chinese business practices, which can be downloaded free of charge from their website. The 20-page pamphlet provides a comprehensive, no-nonsense look at the most critical aspects of forging a successful partnership with Chinese business associates.

“The Business in China Factbook specifically targets European entrepreneurs, who don't know much about China yet, providing them with key facts about China. On the one hand, the Business in China Factbook looks at the hard facts related to the EU and China economies and how they interact, while also featuring individual case studies. For instance, a Lithuanian participant of the METP worked in China and found out how he could transfer his business, which he had in Lithuania, to China. In addition, there is a case study of a Chinese lady working in the flower industry, who went to the Netherlands because the flower industry there is very strong. There she got to know production and marketing methods and is now using the knowledge she gained back in China. So, in addition to delivering some hard facts about business, the Business in China Factbook also has a more personal note.”

For more information about the METP and the Business in China fact book, please visit their website at www.metp.net.cn.

You can also read selected parts of the guidebook here.