On April 12, the list of key projects for the 17th "National Top 100 Management Cases" was officially released. The project Chain Leader Going Global, Ecological Co-governance: The Collaborative Overseas Industrial Park Governance Model of the Zambia-Jiangxi Cooperation Zone, submitted by Ms. Kang Liqun from School of Economics and Management (SEM), Nanchang University (NCU), has been successfully approved. This marks a historic breakthrough–NCU’s very first key project approval in this category. It stands as another landmark achievement for SEM's case study initiatives, made possible through years of dedicated organization, application efforts, and theoretical and practical accumulation.
Since 2010, the National Steering Committee for Master of Business Administration Education has organized the annual "National Top 100 Management Cases" competition. Over sixteen years, this award has become widely recognized as the highest honor in the field of management case studies in China. In 2012, it was formally integrated into the disciplinary evaluation system of the Ministry of Education. To further advance the development of high-quality indigenous management cases, the selection process introduced a "key project" category in 2018. This special category aims to encourage deeper collaboration between universities, enterprises, and research institutions, focusing on key phenomena, core issues, and critical factors in Chinese corporate management. It aims to systematically produce original research with both theoretical innovation and practical value, so as to support the construction of a distinctive theoretical framework for Chinese management and empower high-quality corporate development. Following the release of The Application Guidelines for Key Projects of the 17th "National Top 100 Management Cases" Selection in December 2025, the rigorous review process–including preliminary screening, review by the expert committee, and defense session,–resulted in the final approval of only 12 key projects nationwide.
Ms. Kang Liqun’s team has long been engaged in research on management innovation in China’s manufacturing industry. Their work has previously been recognized with four "National Top 100 Management Case" awards and thematic case study grants from the Professional Degree Education Center of the Ministry of Education. This rich history of academic achievement provided a solid theoretical foundation for the current project.
The newly approved project focuses on the theme of "governance models of overseas industrial parks". Taking the Zambia-Jiangxi Economic Cooperation Zone as the research object, it deeply analyzes the evolutionary path of a collaborative governance model for overseas parks built by multiple stakeholders. The project systematically reveals the logic of governance transition–from "physical agglomeration" to "ecological symbiosis"–providing significant practical support for building a theoretical system of management with Chinese characteristics and for facilitating the high-quality "going global" strategy of Chinese state-owned enterprises.
It is noteworthy that the research received substantial support and full cooperation from key enterprises, including China Jiangxi Corporation for International Economic and Technical Cooperation (CJIC) and Jiangxi Copper Corporation. The project team had engaged in in-depth discussions with these companies prior to the application, securing their commitment to support case development, along with the necessary authorizations and agreements.
Looking ahead, SEM will further improve its support mechanism for case study development, encourage faculty to conduct on-site research in enterprises, and carry out systematic research on key topics of Chinese management practice. It will continue to promote the summarization and advancement of indigenous management theories, and deliver more high-quality research results to serve national strategies, boost high-quality enterprise development, and contribute the wisdom of Nanchang University.
Editor:Kang Liqun
Editor in Charge: Yan Huanmin, Zhu Shuye
Reviewer: Wang Yushuai, Fu Zhi
