Simon Shen

Dr Simon Shen is an international relations scholar and start-upper originating from Hong Kong. Graduating from Yale University (BA/MA) and University of Oxford (PhD) in international relations, Simon has worked in the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and the University of Hong Kong as associate professor or adjunct associate professor, teaching courses on globalisation, Chinese foreign relations, external relations of Hong Kong, among others. He is also the founding director of the Global Studies Programme, Master of Global Political Economy Programme and the International Affairs Research Center of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Active in the global academia of international relations, he has worked as visiting fellows of Brookings Institution, National University of Singapore, University of Warwick, Rikkyo University and Tsinghua University, among others. He published extensively in leading academic journals in the field, including China Quarterly, The China Journal, Journal of Contemporary China, Pacific Review, Asian Survey and Pacific Affairs.

In recent years Simon has transformed himself into a start-upper by setting up a chains of companies, called GLOs Confederation, to link international relations to the business world. His range of businesses including the Glo Travel, Glos Café Club, Glocal Education, The Glocal Media, the_ blanks, U Made This?, among others, with operations in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore. In the business sector, he has worked as the senior vice-president of Pacific Century Group, chairman assistant of B&P Education Group, and non-executive director of BExcellent Group (1775). He worked in various consultation committees of the Hong Kong SAR Government, including being a part-time member of the Central Policy Unit. He is also a renowned public intellectual in town, being a regular contributor for various local media including the Hong Kong Economic Journal, Mingpao and Yazhou Zhoukan, and serving as consultant of global media like the New York Times’s International Edition and Bloomberg Business Magazine. He hosted various television and radio programmes with the RTHK, Commercial Radio Hong Kong, Cable TV, ViuTV, among others. He is the author of dozens of academic and commercial books, including a popular series on movies and international relations. Active in social media, he has a personal Facebook page with more than 250,000 followers and is considered one of the leading political KOLs in Hong Kong.