On November 15, 2024, the 6th Belt and Road International Energy and Electricity Market Business Decision Simulation Competition Final kicked off as scheduled. The competition was carried out online and offline, with Shanghai University of Electric Power as the host, School of Economics and Management and International Exchange and Cooperation Office as the organizers, and Finnish CESIM OY as the co-organizer. Shi Qiannan and Wu Jihui, two members of the Windy Team from the School of Economics and Management, won the first prize at the competition with their wonderful performance, and advisor Zhang Kewei won the Excellent Advisor Award.
The final was preceded by a speech given by Pan Hua, Deputy Party Secretary and Executive Vice President of the School of Economics and Management, who, on behalf of the host, extended sincere thanks to the judges, the university teams, and the relevant staff for their support and involvement. He encouraged participants to turn their passion and creativity kindled in the event into greater achievements in their learning and life., and hoping for there to be more young people to join the international energy and electricity business cooperation to co-create more business miracles.
The business simulation part, powered by the international energy and electricity market business decision simulation platform of Finnish CESIM OY, and highlighting the win-win background of the Belt and Road, allowed participants to conduct international energy and electricity business operations in a risk-free and highly realistic environment. The participating students came from ten countries, namely China, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia, Somalia, Cambodia, the Philippines, Myanmar, Laos and Bangladesh. The four judges were Gao Yafang and Max Appercé, both from Finnish CESIM OY, Shao Luning from the School of Economics and Management, Tongji University, and Sun Jingran from the School of Tourism, Shanghai Normal University.
After seven rounds of intense competition, six teams from six schools made it to the finals, namely the PowerNova Team from University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, the NEXERGY Team from University of Singaperbangsa Karawang, the Candles Team from Electric Power University, Vietnam, the SUT-Inter Team from Suranaree University of Technology, Thailand, the Windy Team from Shanghai University of Electric Power, and the CPALL Team from Panyapiwat Institute of Management, Thailand.
At the final, competition events were presented through video results display and cloud defense, and the judges assessed the performance of each team by means of market data, business decisions, and team presentations. Our Windy Team outshone its rivals in the intramural tryouts with its outstanding performance in all aspects. They, market-oriented and insightful in market trends, made flexible adjustments to pricing strategy according to market dynamics, thus successfully increasing market share. In addition, the team, in active response to the market and policies, worked to increase the proportion of clean energy, playing a positive role in promoting sustainable development. Moreover, their powerful data analysis, excellent grasp of the market situation, and consistent streakiness during the links of presentation and defense added to the highlights of the competition.
The international teams fully demonstrated their strengths. As company managers, they made informed decisions in light of changes in the market environment, environmental protection constraints, and corporate management strategies, to maximize the benefits of their companies. Their innovative ideas for business decision-making, unique perspectives, and high industry acumen are worth our learning.
The participating teams presented their business simulation experience and projects through the cloud. According to the scores given by the jury panel to each team, the PowerNova Team and Windy Team won the first prize, with the second prize going to the NEXERGY Team, Candles Team, and SUT-Inter Team.
The competition, serving as a platform for students and colleges at home and abroad to exchange and communicate with each other, is committed to raising students' comprehensive application of business skills and soft skills, by engaging them in solving practical problems encountered by enterprises in their development in a simulated market competition environment. It aims to stimulate students' subjective learning initiative, help them combine explicit and tacit knowledge of business management, and exploit excellent international teaching resources to benefit more institutions and students. The powerful simulation platform, richness of the latest cases at home and abroad, a mixture of international elements, and varied forms of event organization make the event dynamic.
The simulation competition, driven by B&R Regional Association of Energy and Power Universities (RAEP) and B&R Cooperation of Energy Industries and Universities (CEIU), two organizations initiated by Shanghai University of Electric Power in October, 2018, is a new mode of explorative international production-study-research cooperation among domestic and foreign universities and enterprises in the field of energy and power. The sixth competition began with intramural tryouts in 2024, lasting for more than four months. More than 400 students from six universities in ten countries joined the international competition, further enhancing our school’s global clout.
By School of Economics and Management