The Centre for Accounting, Banking and Finance parked under the Faculty of Business and Finance (FBF) hosted a virtual talk titled “Business and Financial Evaluation, Cooperation, and Risk in China, Malaysia, and ASEAN” on 6 July 2023 via Microsoft Teams.

Invited to delivered the talk were Dongguan City University (CityU Dongguan) China School of Business Dai Chunxia, School of Digital Economics Mo Huijun and Sun Xiangxiao. The webinar aimed to provide a review of the business evaluation practice in China, besides sharing the latest cooperation between China and Malaysia. It also aimed to enable participants to understand how the systematic financial risks in banking work.

The first speaker, Dai discussed the business evaluation practices in China and how they differ from other countries. She emphasised the importance of quickly analysing and comprehending an industry for effective business evaluation. Apart from that, she also provided practical tips and resources for conducting industry research, such as reading news, reports, rankings, and data, which focused on understanding the key factors that influence profitability and enterprise value, using examples from various industries and enterprises. She ended her talk by highlighting the benefits of a thorough industry understanding, which included avoiding misleading information, making accurate forecasts, and having confidence in valuation.

The second speaker, Mo elaborated on the cooperation between China and Malaysia, highlighting how both countries can leverage each other’s strengths and complementarities. Besides, she provided an overview of Malaysia’s economic background, the cooperation between China and ASEAN, and the current status of China-Malaysia relations, including the statistical data on Malaysia’s economy, which is comprised of its main export and import markets, foreign trade, investment, and the digital economy. Mo also outlined the history and development of China-ASEAN comprehensive economic cooperation, which encompasses trade in goods, services, and investment. The speaker continued to highlight the ties formed during the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of anti-epidemic measures and economic cooperation, showcasing recent achievements such as the China-ASEAN Expo and the Malaysia-China Digital Economy Forum.

The final speaker, Sun addressed the psychological biases in investment decision-making and their impact on business and finance, namely mental accounting; herd behaviour; and overconfidence. Sun disclosed that mental accounting relates to treating money differently based on its source and purpose, while herd behaviour involves following the actions or opinions of others; overconfidence, on the other hand, leads to overestimating one’s abilities and judgments. Sun concluded her talk by suggesting strategies to mitigate or overcome these biases, such as seeking more information, being aware of personal limitations, and learning from feedback.

The webinar ended with an engaging Q&A session.