September, 2021
Almost ten years ago, Jinjin discovered her deep interest in Jewish history and culture during her BA studies, majoring in history, at Henan University in China. She chose to write her thesis about Ethiopian Jewish Immigrants. She continued her MA at the center for Israel studies of Henan University, under the supervision of Prof. Zhang Ligang. Jinjin visited Israel for the first time during an academic visitation program at Yad Vashem.
In 2013 Jinjin finally moved for her MA in Israel studies at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev to Israel. She lived in Sede Boqer, in the very heart of the Negev, right where David Ben-Gurion settled to make the desert bloom. Under the supervision of Prof. Arieh Saposnik, she completed her thesis on the identity of Israeli Americans.
After eight years of learning history, Jinjin changed her career path and transited to the business world. For the past five years, she has been working in China-Israel related businesses. Currently, she serves as the China Desk Executive at KPMG Somekh-Chaikin (an Israeli partnership and a member firm of the KPMG global organization), promoting and handling all business interactions with Chinese customers.
As a Chinese living in Israel for eight years, she often sees herself as an “ambassador” to enhance the mutual understanding and bridge gaps between China and Israel, whether in culture or business. During her studies at Ben-Gurion University, she was awarded the ISIP prize for Civic engagement and Significant contribution for her work related to academic activities and the contribution to the social life of the student body. Now at work, she is aiming at providing professional services for China inbound and Israel outbound investment.
“I love China naturally since it’s my motherland. When I live in Israel, it also enables me to see my own culture and country from a distance, and it triggers lots of thinking about my identity, which I took for granted when I was in China. I feel even closer to my culture, heritage, and identity.I fell in love with Israel directly during my very first stay. The more I am living in Israel, the deeper the love grows. I got more connected with the history, culture, and people. It allows me to see the possibilities of different ways of thinking and living. Most importantly, I see the similarities and differences between China and Israel. Even though the economic relations between these two countries have been developing rapidly in the past years, I think it is still in the beginning. There are much more opportunities to explore, and I am so thankful to participate in shaping this bright future.”
Fun Facts:
· She is going to do an international MBA at the University of Haifa. This program will focus on the Asian market.
· Jinjin met Professor Zeev and Ruti Gries in China at the center for Israel studies of Henan University and became close friends and family in Israel.
· Jinjin’s husband is an Israeli, and he did his Ph.D. in physics at the same university of Jinjin. Having met in tiny Sede Boqer, they are glad to discover the big world together.
· Jinjin is very interested in dancing. She learned to salsa, bachata and tango in Israel. She took most of the lessons in Hebrew when she did not know the language.
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