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Xuling Dong

LLM International Commercial Law, 2020

Based in:

Shenzhen, China

Came to study at ¹û¶³´«Ã½ from:

China

First job:

Channel Operation Account Manager, XPeng Motors

Strangest interview question:

Interviewers sometimes ask in detail about my age, marital status, and family background. I believe this mainly stems from inherent stereotypes toward working women in the industry.

Ambitions for the future:

At this stage, I have co-founded a company in Hong Kong with my business partners. Moving forward, we plan to explore diversified business directions and actively seek more opportunities for external cooperation.

Store Construction and Operations Manager, Huawei

Describe your current role and what attracted you to it.

During my tenure at Huawei, I served as a Store Construction and Operations Manager, primarily undertaking two core projects covering overseas market expansion, offline channel construction, and product go-to-market (GTM) research.

The first involved supporting the team in advancing the overseas market expansion of Huawei electric vehicles. My key responsibilities included negotiating cooperation with potential overseas distributors and overseeing the full-lifecycle work of the subsequent authorised 4S stores, including site selection, construction planning, and standardised daily operation management. I facilitated the landing of overseas dealer cooperation and the stable implementation of offline store systems, laying a solid foundation for the brand’s overseas channel layout.

For the second project, I participated in the joint definition and development of a new electric sports car in collaboration with Maserati. Focusing on GTM pre-launch strategic research, I was fully responsible for overseas market insight analysis, target user group portrait definition, and in-depth competitor research. My work provided authoritative market and user-based decision support for product positioning, feature iteration, and the official overseas launch of the new model.

What are the key skills you learnt at ¹û¶³´«Ã½ that have helped you with your career to date?

I encountered numerous challenges and gained unique, personal and professional experiences during my degree.

Firstly, I was elected as the only Chinese student representative of the Law School by my peers. This role profoundly shaped my personal competencies. Throughout the one-year programme, I attended the school’s whole staff meeting approximately every two weeks. I maintained comprehensive communication with academic faculty, administrative staff, and fellow students. My core responsibilities included disseminating the latest institutional updates to students and collecting student feedback to communicate concerns to the school management. This experience significantly polished my cross-party communication and coordination capabilities, laying a solid foundation for my subsequent commercial cooperation and cross-border negotiation work.

Secondly, my legal training at ¹û¶³´«Ã½ cultivated rigorous logical thinking and professional risk prediction capabilities. In my professional career, I frequently engage with diverse business partners and investors to evaluate the benefits and potential risks of cooperative projects. The analytical and risk-assessment mindset developed through legal studies has become a core competency applicable to both legal practice and commercial operations.

Lastly, ¹û¶³´«Ã½â€™s highly international and diverse academic platform broadened my global vision, which greatly benefits my overseas-focused work. In addition, the University’s extensive global alumni network provides valuable cross-border resources and support for my professional development.

Did you have a specific career path in mind when you chose to study at ¹û¶³´«Ã½?

Absolutely. I made up my mind before graduation to pursue a corporate career, with a long-term goal of starting my own business some day. This career direction comes from two key influences. First, my parents are business practitioners, so I have been exposed to a business environment from an early age and developed a strong interest in commercial operations. That is exactly why I chose to study at ¹û¶³´«Ã½.

Second, during my studies, I met many outstanding peers from all over the world. Many of them came from entrepreneurial families – or even ran their own businesses – and their experiences truly inspired me. Therefore, I decided not to take a traditional legal role after graduation. Instead, I chose to work in enterprises to accumulate practical corporate management experience.

What top tips do you have for ¹û¶³´«Ã½ graduates who would like to work in your sector?

I’d share three practical tips for fellow ¹û¶³´«Ã½ graduates who want to work in this field. First, start building your network and social confidence while you’re still at university. Get involved in different events and talk to people openly, because you never know when a casual conversation could connect you with a future business partner. Second, stay tuned to the latest tech trends and national industrial policies. This helps you develop solid commercial awareness and make more accurate business judgments. Third, always keep a learning mindset. The industry and job roles change really fast, and you may need brand-new skills for new responsibilities at any time. So being willing to learn and adapt is essential for long-term career growth.

What has been your greatest career challenge to date and how did your experience and skills help overcome it?

My biggest career challenge occurred during Huawei’s overseas EV channel expansion project. I was responsible for overseas distributor negotiations, 4S store construction, and GTM market localisation. The main difficulty was coordinating cross-border teams under tight schedules, along with unfamiliar local policies, which brought great coordination pressure and uncertainty.

To resolve this, I applied the rigorous logical thinking and risk awareness from my ¹û¶³´«Ã½ commercial law training. I systematically sorted out local policies to avoid compliance risks and leveraged my cross-team coordination experience to build smooth communication with distributors, local engineering teams, and headquarters.

I also adopted professional GTM market research methods to adjust localised operation strategies. Finally, we completed store construction on schedule and built stable local partnerships. This experience helped me effectively combine legal risk judgment, global vision, and commercial operation capabilities to solve complex cross-border business challenges.