Shanghai brought the 2018 J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge Series to a close with a capacity crowd of 5,000 taking off from the Oriental Sports Center starting line. Wei Wenzhong representing the Bank of Communications earned his second consecutive men’s individual title while Jiang Ying Li from the Shanghai Disney Resort earned the women’s crown for the second time in three years.
The 8th annual J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge® in Shanghai – China’s most popular after-work team road race – was conducted this afternoon, and set a record in the process.
To make the best of a mid-November date in the Northern Hemisphere, Shanghai’s race flagged off at 3 p.m., to maximize available sunlight before the 4:56 p.m. sunset. It was earliest start of a non-Championship race in the 42-year history of the J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge Series. Most events begin in either the 6 or 7 p.m. hours.
A total of 5,000 runners and walkers from more than 200 companies left the office early and were rewarded with good conditions in which to cover the 5.6km (3.5-mile) race course and then celebrate in the hospitality village.
“We are excited to bring the J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge to Shanghai for the eighth consecutive year. This proprietary event of the firm has successfully brought together colleagues and friends from the business community to promote healthy competition, camaraderie and teamwork,” said Mark Leung, CEO of J.P. Morgan China. “China represents one of the largest opportunities in the world for many of our clients and for J.P. Morgan. We are fully committed to bringing the full force of J.P. Morgan to China to support our clients and the local community.”
The participants also took pride in that their efforts are commemorated via a donation to a worthy cause. J.P. Morgan will donate to the China Social Entrepreneur Foundation (YouChange Foundation) in the launch of cross-border e-commerce workforce training program, which helps address workforce shortage issues in the emerging e-commerce industry and assists the underprivileged young students to find job opportunities.
“It is a tremendous opportunity to showcase the E-commerce workforce training program at the Corporate Challenge,” said Zhang Jing, Deputy Secretary General, YouChange Foundation. “Not only does this gain us race night exposure to business leaders from over 200 companies in Shanghai, but also worldwide awareness of the issue through partnership with the J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge Series.”
For the third consecutive year, CIFM Asset Management was the largest participating company in the Corporate Challenge in terms of total entrants. CIFM registered 408 employees, followed closely by Eaton (327 entrants) and Shanghai Disney Resort (252).
Disney also had the fastest woman in the race. Jiang Ying Li covered the 5.6km in 22:32 to win the women’s individual title, her second Corporate Challenge victory in three years. Ji Huifang from the Bank of Communications was runner-up in 23:03 with Cao Peng Li of China Merchants Bank close behind in third at 23:06.
The men’s race had a repeat winner – Wei Wenzhong from the Bank of Communications. Wenzhong is now two-for-two at the Corporate Challenge, having won last year with a time of 19:28. He was almost a full minute faster in this race, breaking the tape in 18:34, the fastest effort in Shanghai since Mathieu Leboulanger of Schneider Electric logged a time of 18:25 in 2015.
Wenzhong’s Bank of Communications colleague Ju Peng was second in 19:40 with Zhang Bin of China Merchants Bank third in 19:41.
Companies of all sizes and industry groups enjoy the Corporate Challenge blend of healthy competition and teamwork, including General Electric, which participates at J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge Series events in six different cities around the world.
“There is no better investment than in the healthiness of our people,” said Charles Cao, Managing Director of Corporate Treasury of GE. “The location of the Corporate Challenge, being close to the Huangpu River, helps the team witness the great and fast changes of the city. It’s about the care of our employee’s well-being, teambuilding, fun, and networking. Thanks to J.P. Morgan for making it happen.”
J.P. Morgan has been doing business in China since 1921, and hosting the Corporate Challenge in Shanghai since 2011. J.P. Morgan’s services in China include corporate and investment banking, commercial banking, treasury services, markets, investor services and asset management. Today, the firm serves Chinese and international corporations, financial institutions and government agencies through its network in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Harbin, Suzhou and Shenzhen.
With the Shanghai capacity gathering, the final attendance for the 2018 J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge Series totaled 253,191 entrants from 7,661 companies. This slightly improves upon the 249,261 participants and 7,334 businesses that took part in 2017.
The complete schedule for the 43rd year of the J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge Series will be announced in early 2019. Check back to www.jpmorgancc.com regularly for updates or follow the Series on Facebook.
