The 2nd Industry Insight Forum Successfully Held

On November 14, 2025, the College of Industry-Entrepreneurs (CIE) and HeXie Management Research Centre (HeXie Academy) at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU) successfully hosted the 2nd "Industry Insight Forum". With the theme of "Chip-Driven Inteligence, Talent-Empowered Growth", this forum brought together authoritative scholars and industry leaders from academia and industry. They conducted in-depth exchanges on key issues such as the development trends of the global chip industry, ecological construction, and high-end talent training, presenting a high-level feast of ideas.

The forum was hosted by Professor Xiaobo Xu, Executive Dean of the College of Industry-Entrepreneurs and Director of the HeXie Management Research Centre. Professor Xu pointed out that against the backdrop of "unprecedented changes in a century", technology and talents are complementary and indispensable. He reviewed the evolution of the chip industry from its main application in personal computers in the past to empowering the intelligent interconnection of everything today, emphasizing the urgency and strategic significance of deepening the collaboration among industry, academia, research, government and society in the current era.

Subsequently, Professor Youmin Xi, Executive President of Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University and Dean of the College of Industry-Entrepreneurs, delivered the keynote speech entitled "Ecologicalization and Networking of Organisations: Challenges of Management Research and Education". Professor Xi noted that in the digital and artificial intelligence era, the boundaries of enterprise organizations are increasingly blurred, and industrial ecology has become a prominent feature. He emphasized that the new era has spawned a digital operation mechanism centered on digital assets, sharing mechanisms, symbiotic logic and human-machine collaboration, and redefined the new concept of "industry-entrepreneur" — leaders who can cross organizational boundaries, think from the perspective of the overall industrial ecology and create value. Taking XJTLU's practice as an example, Professor Xi introduced innovative explorations in educational ecology, including the construction of platforms such as the Learning Mall and the College of Industry-Entrepreneurs. He further explained the trend of organizational form evolving towards networking through an analysis of the transformation cases of Haier, Huawei and Xinminghui. Finally, he pointed out that to address the core challenge of effectively combining an efficient hierarchical structure with an innovation-promoting networked organization, it is necessary not only for multiple subjects including industry, academia, research, government and society to work together to build a new ecology, but also to actively form a harmonious mindset.

To actively integrate university academic resources with local industrial practices, and effectively promote talent co-cultivation, collaborative innovation and social services, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University and Suzhou New District (Huqiu District) Association for New Social Stratum agreed to carry out strategic cooperation. Professor Youmin Xi, Executive President of Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, and Mr. Yuankai Qiu, President of Suzhou New District (Huqiu District) Association for New Social Stratum, who attended the forum specially, jointly signed a cooperation framework agreement, marking an important step in university-local cooperation to empower regional industrial economic and social development.

In the special report session, participating guests shared multi-perspective industrial insights:

Professor Jihn-Chang JEHNG from the Institute of Human Resource Management at National Central University in Taiwan, China pointed out the severity of the talent shortage problem by taking the semiconductor industry in Taiwan, China as an example. He introduced that enterprises in Taiwan, China attract and cultivate talents through methods such as the "Management Trainee (MA) Program", emphasizing the key role of cross-disciplinary recruitment, deepening industry-academia cooperation, rapid rotation mechanisms and mentorship systems in talent system construction.

Professor Wei Chen, Dean of the School of Chips at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, analyzed the training path of compound chip talents based on the history of industrial and technological development and XJTLU's practice, emphasizing the importance of personalized education, interdisciplinary curriculum design and in-depth integration of scientific research and industry. He proposed that we should not blindly pursue "nanoscale processes", but focus on the construction of various types of new chips and their ecology, and encourage students to bravely ask questions and innovate boldly.

Dr. Moon-Kuen Mak, President of Singapore DOT Circuit Electronics and Partner of Puli Consulting (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd., pointed out in his theme report that the current semiconductor industry "does not lack capital but talents", emphasizing the urgency of a global perspective and industrial chain integration. He called for strengthening the training of talents in non-technical fields such as marketing, supply chain and intellectual property management, clearly pointing out that "talents are the core of industrial competitiveness", and that we should go beyond manufacturing and actively build a complete talent and ecological system for China's semiconductor industry.

Ms. Yafang Guo, Deputy General Manager of Suzhou O-HR Management Consulting Co., Ltd., analyzed the supply and demand status of talents in the field of new-generation information technology including integrated circuits from the perspective of regional industrial dynamic development. She pointed out that the industrial scale of Suzhou Industrial Park continues to expand, and talent recruitment is active, but the introduction of high-end talents, especially overseas talents, still faces challenges. To this end, she also introduced a number of policies and measures launched by the park to attract talents.

The panel discussion session of this forum was hosted by Professor Lei Liang, Secretary-General of Industry & Strategic Resource Alliance, CIE, XJTLU. Centering on the theme of "The Path to Industrial Upgrading: Driven by Talent", Professor Wei Chen, Professor Jihn-Chang JEHNG, Dr. Moon-Kuen Mak and Ms. Ying He (General Manager of Suzhou Huisi Human Resources Co., Ltd) , spoke freely, conducted enthusiastic and constructive dialogues, and interacted with participating teachers, students and enterprise guests, drawing a successful conclusion to the forum.

The second Industry Insight Forum was co-organized by the School of Chips of Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, BenQ Guru Co-Creation Future Enterprise Research Institute, Suzhou Talent Management Consulting Co., Ltd. and Suzhou HumanPool Human Resources Co., Ltd. It strengthened the construction of a high-end, open and international exchange platform, and comprehensively outlined a blueprint for universities, industries and society to work together and meet challenges in the core field of chips, a hard technology. In the future, the College of Industry-Entrepreneurs and the HeXie Management Research Centre will continue to exert their unique value in the integration of industry, academia, research, government and society and the construction of cross-border ecology, actively promote the exploration and practice of the "industry-entrepreneur" concept, and accelerate the construction of X-ECO Mall featuring symbiosis, sharing and sustainable development.