On October 23, PepsiCo, one of the world's largest food and beverage companies, signed an agreement with the Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management (Tsinghua SEM), announcing a $3 million donation to Tsinghua SEM to support the establishment of the Chair Professorship program and a course on Responsible Corporation.

President of Tsinghua University Chen Jining, PepsiCo Chairman and CEO and Tsinghua SEM Advisory Board member Indra Nooyi, Dean of Tsinghua SEM Qian Yingyi, CEO of PepsiCo Asia, Middle East and Africa (AMEA) Sanjeev Chadha, and PepsiCo Greater China Region (GCR) Chairwoman Katty Lam, attended the signing ceremony.

In addition to its long-standing and proactive investment in China's development, PepsiCo has supported higher education in China. By providing funds for the establishment of a course on Responsible Corporation at Tsinghua SEM, PepsiCo intends to work with this world-class university to train future business leaders in the importance of aligning business objectives with society's needs.

"Tsinghua is a world-renowned university, and its School of Economics is the cradle of business leaders and captains of industries," said Nooyi. "PepsiCo is incredibly honored to strengthen our cooperation with Tsinghua through the establishment of a new course and joint research projects that will contribute to the development of future business leaders. - for China and the world - who understand how to manage a corporation in a way that is both good for business and for society."

The course on Responsible Corporation will be open to undergraduate, Master's, MBA and EMBA students of Tsinghua SEM. It will cover such themes as: how to align corporate interests with public interests and engage with stakeholders effectively, and how to balance and manage short-term business and profitability and set up long-term development strategies.

The Chair Professorship program will employ leading professors in the management field and follow a multi-disciplinary approach, inviting experts from government agencies, NGOs, and experts from other disciplines (Law, Public Policy, etc.) to share their perspectives and experiences with the class. In addition, PepsiCo and Tsinghua SEM will identify collaborative research projects of common interest in the areas including supply chain food safety management and sustainable agro development, and organize seminars and forums on topics such as e-commerce and corporate social responsibility.

Chen expressed his appreciation of PepsiCo's care and support for the development of Tsinghua University.

"Tsinghua University and PepsiCo has forged an important partnership and shared a common aspiration of values.  One of the core initiatives of the university's reform of education and teaching is to establish a trinity educational model on value-creation, ability-training and knowledge-transference. PepsiCo and Tsinghua signed an agreement today to work together on a course in Responsible Corporation, which helps to reinforce Tsinghua University's education reform. "

PepsiCo entered the Chinese market in 1981. In the past 33 years, PepsiCo has established a highly successful food and beverage business in China. With its vigorous promotion of "Performance with Purpose" strategy in recent years, PepsiCo has scored tremendous achievements in human sustainability, environment sustainability and talent sustainability. PepsiCo became Advisory Board unit of Tsinghua SEM in 2011.