Center for Global Management

Over the past decade, Big Tech has posed major challenges to regulators charged with enforcing antitrust and competition laws in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Several tech firms, such as Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Meta (Facebook), and Apple have become enormously powerful in the marketplace. Regulators and others are worried that these firms have monopoly power that has the potential of reducing or even eliminating competition. While at the same time, the large tech firms have had voracious appetites for buying up potential competitors at early stages, e.g., Meta’s purchase of Instagram. Will Big Tech’s monopoly power suppress competition and hurt consumers? Are U.S. antitrust laws and the regulators who enforce them well-suited to deal with Big Tech’s power and pervasiveness, and the growing influence of AI or will they simply stifle innovation in the U.S.?

Join the UCLA Anderson Center for Global Management and UCLA School of Law’s Lowell Milken Institute for Business Law and Policy in hosting Bill Baer, one of the world’s best known and respected antitrust/competition enforcers and Richard Parker (UCLA Law ’74), a preeminent antitrust expert and partner in the Washington, DC office of the law firm Milbank LLP for a thoughtful discussion and interactive conversation that will explore these timely and critical issues that are highly significant to economies worldwide.

This forum is a collaborative partnership between the Center for Global Management and UCLA School of Law's Lowell Milken Institute for Business Law and Policy.  The discussion is a featured event as part of UCLA’s International Education Week. Remote attendance to the discussion is open to UCLA students, alumni, faculty, staff and members of the extended UCLA and general community. Registration will open soon.

Is China a good place to invest now? As U.S. foreign direct investment into China is dwindling, are there any Chinese stocks worth investing in? Do the renewable energy and industrial automation sectors provide value creation potential? Will the high-risk high-return investments in China become a thing of the past, or does investing in China simply require a nimbler and more selective investment approach? Please join Professor Chris Tang, faculty director of UCLA Anderson’s Center for Global Management in conversation with author and wealth strategist Rob Luna (’16), chief executive officer of Real Talk Capital, and Andy Rothman, investment strategist at Matthews Asia, responsible for research on China’s economy and on U.S.-China relations who has been following China for years. They will address the current state of China’s economy, investor trends, challenges and growth opportunities, and share their predictions on the longer-term prospects for China’s economy and the bright spots for investors.

China’s economy has rebounded this year as mobility and activity picked up following the lifting of its “Zero-COVID” policy. However, China's manufacturing and consumer spending are weakening after a strong start to 2023 after anti-virus controls ended. Currently, the world’s second largest economy still faces significant economic challenges: a trade war, geopolitical tensions, crackdown on technology and property markets, and rapidly changing regulations. Longer-term, headwinds to growth include an aging population, high youth unemployment, rising labor costs and slowing productivity growth. The current climate in China is increasing uncertainties (and even risks) for U.S. firms to operate in China and risky for foreign investors to invest in China.

Open to UCLA students, alumni, faculty, staff and members of the extended UCLA community and general public. RSVP required via Zoom for webinar link and instructions to join.

With thanks to the Woo Series sponsor, Cathay Bank and supporting organizations: UCLA Anderson's Greater China Business Association, UCLA's Chinese Students and Scholars Association, and the UCLA Asia Pacific Center.

About the Series
The Wilbur K. Woo Greater China Business Series engages leading executives, innovators, influencers, investors and academics in conversations around the major forces, trends and innovations in the region across society, enterprises and consumers. Through balanced discourse, the series serves as a neutral forum to exchange ideas and learnings, understand new norms and models, and provide forward-looking perspectives on advancements to better understand the trends, opportunities and challenges of doing business in and with the Greater China region.

How should a firm go beyond financial measures to create a more environmentally sustainable and socially responsible future? Join Professor Chris Tang, faculty director of UCLA Anderson’s Center for Global Management, and Professor Heiwai Tang (B.S. ’00), director of Hong Kong University’s Asia Global Institute, for a moderated discussion with Margie Yang, chairman of the Esquel Group, who has long been an advocate for environmental conservation and sustainable production.

Headquartered in Hong Kong and based in China, the Esquel Group is a family-owned, knowledge-based innovation company with textile and apparel manufacturing operations in mainland China. Yang will address how the company has embraced automation and environmentally friendly production processes in its operations in China, where it faces rising labor costs and stricter environmental regulation. She will discuss the importance of transparency in supply chains and demonstrate how the company has developed a business model that makes money, protects the environment and empowers its people.

This discussion is in collaboration with HKU’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Study Center.

Open to UCLA students, alumni, faculty, staff and members of the extended UCLA community and general public. For more information and to register, please visit >>

The Wilbur K. Woo Greater China Business Series engages leading executives, innovators, influencers, investors and academics in conversations around the major forces, trends and innovations in the region across society, enterprises and consumers. Through balanced discourse, the series serves as a neutral forum to exchange ideas and learnings, understand new norms and models, and provide forward-looking perspectives on advancements to better understand the trends, opportunities and challenges of doing business in and with the Greater China region.

Please join the Center for Global Management (CGM), in hosting a lunchtime discussion with Christine Loh, former undersecretary for the environment, in the Hong Kong SAR Government, a position she held from 2012 to 2017. She was the advisor to the head of the HKSAR Government from 2019 to 2020 on specific aspects of environmental cooperation between mainland China and Hong Kong. From 2018 to 2022, Christine taught an MBA course at UCLA Anderson titled Non-Market Risks and Understanding Politics: The Global Context for Doing Business. She serves on the boards of several listed and nonprofit organizations. She is best known as a leading voice in public policy particularly in the environment and climate change, sustainable finance, and geopolitics.

The luncheon will provide an opportunity for interested MBA students to meet Christine in an informal and interactive setting and hear about her career trajectory in law, business, politics, media and the non-profit sector. She will share her thoughts and insights on the ESG movement in Asia and the U.S., and why she believes attention in sustainability will not fizzle out in the wake of climate change and shifting geopolitics.

Open to UCLA Anderson students only. To RSVP: If you are interested in attending this luncheon, please email Lucy Allard at lucy.allard@anderson.ucla.edu by no later than Friday, January 7th. Please attach a copy of your resume.