SHANGHAI, Oct. 21, 2020 ― FedEx Express (FedEx), a subsidiary of FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) and one of the world’s largest express transportation companies, announced that the 2020 FedEx Express/JA International Trade Challenge China Finals have drawn to a successful close. The program, now in its fourth year, was held online this year as a result of COVID-19. After a fierce competition, three winning teams with a total of six students, stood out from the 10 participating teams who will go on to represent China in the Asia Pacific Finals next year.
The FedEx/JA International Trade Challenge (ITC) aims to cultivate entrepreneurialism, business application skills and practical English skills among high school students, including those from vocational schools. The 2020 China ITC challenged students to create a market entry strategy for a travel product targeted for the Cambodian market. Since this year’s launch on July 24, the program has attracted 168 student participants from 40 schools in 12 cities across the country.
On the Oct. 17 final, 20 talented participants who passed a series of screenings were grouped into 10 teams. They confidently presented their market entry strategies covering product design, pricing, marketing, distribution and the financial plan. An expert team composed of executives from FedEx and other multinational companies reviewed the student projects. The following participants won unanimous praise from the judges for their innovative, and practical solutions and clear logical explanations:
- First prize was awarded to NEXT from Hangzhou Foreign Languages School for their Thanakha Sunscreen Plan.
- Second prize was awarded to CamRentOut from Jiangsu Qianhuang Senior Middle School for their Outdoor Tourism Equipment Rental Service Plan.
- Third prize was awarded to Rilice Aley from Chengdu Foreign Languages School for their Talcum Powder Plan.
Eddy Chan, Senior Vice President of FedEx China, said, “As an important facilitator of global trade, FedEx has been committed to fulfilling our corporate social responsibility and actively giving back to society. We hope that through our continuous support of the FedEx/JA International Trade Challenge, we can cultivate and encourage the young generation’s business aptitude and entrepreneurship and inspire more young talent to become future business leaders. We also hope that ITC can guide them to create more possibilities for their future and cultivate talent for the future of international trade and commerce.”
To energize and mentor the participants, six FedEx team members with expertise in foreign trade from operations, regional sales, customer service ― and more volunteered. They worked with senior volunteers from other companies to introduce experienced international trade knowledge and guide students through market entry strategy development during the two ITC workshops Aug. 15 and 23, 2020.
The ITC was initiated in a collaboration with FedEx and Junior Achievement, the world’s largest non-profit educational organization dedicated to inspiring and preparing youth on future careers, entrepreneurship and financial literacy. The competition aims to nurture students’ business skills and global perspectives. Since its debut in 2007, it has successfully held 13 sessions, including a series of activities and competitions benefitting more than 25,500 students from the Asia Pacific region.
The 2020 Asia Pacific ITC regional finals next year will welcome participants from 10 regions, including Mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Australia. Final judges will be influential business leaders in the Asia Pacific region, and 60 students will be randomly grouped into new teams to develop international market entry strategies for a given product and target market within 48 hours. Three teams will be selected as winners.