Ying Hai Xie (LPC 92-94) is currently a Vice President at The Carlyle Group, focusing on growth capital opportunities in Asia.

 

Prior to joining Carlyle, Ying Hai was an Associate Director of Standard Chartered Bank's private equity group, where he was responsible for deal sourcing, execution and portfolio management in the Greater China region.  Before that, he worked as a Director for Milestone Capital Management, an Associate for Olympus Capital Holdings Asia and at Lehman Brothers in both Hong Kong and New York as an Analyst.

 

Ying Hai graduated with B.A. honours in economics and mathematics from Wesleyan University, USA.   He was awarded several honours for his excellent work in his field. 

 

“I was one of the ‘pioneers’ of Li Po Chun UWC, there were only 120 of us in that first year and as a result we became a close knit group. There was a sense that we were all in it together, sorting out the teething problems and creating the culture of the College.  I went back to the College last year, and it was lovely to see that some of the original staff are still working there and the ladies in the canteen even recognised me!” said Ying Hai. 

 

“My favourite UWC memory is the whole experience of people from different cultures and backgrounds living and learning from each other.  The real difference between us was neither the colour of our skin nor the language we spoke, but our views and perspectives of the world.

 

“In Chinese schools, the education system works very differently – everything you are taught is presented as a fact.  At UWC, I became more open to other peoples’ views and to fully appreciate these views and perspectives, even though I may not necessarily agree with them.  I also learnt that ‘facts’ are not always what they seem and can be interpreted differently.  I also developed a real motivation to tell people about China, the Chinese culture and myself.  This community was so much more diverse and interactive than the schools I attended back home, and I became so much more willing to contribute to this mix.  I still have my own views and values but I learnt to appreciate and respect others’ opinions and values.  When I look at people who grew up in the traditional Chinese education system, they tend to be very one dimensional and can be either too insensitive or too sensitive to different views.  At UWC, we had these discussion groups and it was the first time I had really participated in this type of healthy open exchanges with other people.  I am not very confrontational and I don’t like to argue, but these were valuable exchanges and helped to dispel some of the preconceptions and misunderstandings among all of us. 

 

“UWC presented me with alternatives for my future career. My favourite academic course was economics, which was not available in China as a high school subject at that time.  It was also a period of massive growth in China and I was able to study the theories behind this growth.  The International Baccalaureate is a well rounded programme, it makes you study a little of everything, which is different from the curriculum in China.  As a result when I went to an American university, I was able to adapt to the US educational environment very quickly.  I was not a typical Chinese student abroad – I liked and studied social sciences and joined a variety of extra-curricular service projects – whereas the typical Chinese students often study medicine, engineering or computing science.

 

“UWC really affected my personality and values and I became a more understanding person, I now choose to listen from different aspects.  This helped me at College and now in my professional career.  My job involves a lot of interaction with entrepreneurs, governments, and investors and the confidence that I gained at UWC allows me to present a better image of myself and my company.  I also feel more confident in presentation and communications with other people in a real business environment.  My business is all about making deals happen. Having a mutual understanding and establishing cooperation between counterparties is essential in deal-making.  UWC gave me the foundation training for all my interpersonal, communications, negotiation and presentation skills.

 

“The community service aspect of UWC was new to me.  Giving back to the community through charity or voluntary service was not a very common phenomenon in China at the time, when China was just emerging from its economic reform.  Even though I don’t have much time to commit to community service projects physically with the current workload, I still have a constant desire to help other people through either financial means or personal resources.  I have been a long-time donor for several charity funds, and previously I was chairperson of the UWC Graduates Organization of Hong Kong for several years.  I was also actively assisting Li Po Chun as well as my American university in student recruitment.  After being at UWC it is so natural to do these things, to share your good fortune with others.  I was lucky to be selected to attend Li Po Chun College on scholarship and now I feel the time is right to give back.  People have done good things for me, which improved my life so I feel obliged to do things that will improve the lives of others.  It’s like the idea of “pay it forward”.  Many education systems in Asia don’t advocate this; usually the primary message is to get ahead of other people and become competitive.  I don’t choose to do this to prop up my CV, but because I believe it is my obligation to give back.

 

Wherever you go there is always a UWC graduate to be found – there is a common tie that holds us all together, regardless of which College we attended.  You naturally bond with them as UWC creates a sense of global community and everyone is like a family member.  It is a close knit community borne out of living your daily lives together, but yet there is so much diversity in that community that you never get bored.