Learn China · Masterclass

A China masterclass taught by operators, not by ex-consultants.

A concentrated training programme on China's digital and eCommerce ecosystem. Platforms, consumer behaviour, campaign mechanics. Tailored to your industry, delivered by operators with 20 years on the ground.

0 years training executives
0 partner institutions
0 working languages
  • HEC MBA
  • ESCP MBA
  • EU Chamber
  • AmCham
  • Business France
  • SJTU Executive MBA
Scroll
Why this training

Understand how China really works, not how a report says it works.

This is a deep dive into how China's digital and online shopping ecosystem operates in practice. You leave with a clear view of the platforms, the consumer behaviour that moves sales, and the mechanics of a campaign that actually converts.

No recycled trend slides. No playbook translated from the US. Numbers get refreshed before every session because the market moves fast enough that last quarter's deck is already wrong.

What you take away

Training that stays useful after you leave the room.

Five reasons teams keep coming back. The first one is what most other trainings cannot offer.

The difference

Operator trainers

Trainers who run stores, media budgets and campaigns today. Not ex-consultants reading slides from last year. You learn from the person still getting WeChat notifications at 11pm.

  • 20+ years on the ground
  • 100% operator-led, every session

Real case studies

Brands that grew in China, brands that burned money. Both matter, and the numbers come with each one.

Current numbers

Platforms, consumer behaviour, media costs. Refreshed before every session because last quarter is already stale.

Your brief, not ours

A working session tied to your category, your price point and your team. Not a deck anyone could find online.

Ready-to-use tools

Frameworks, checklists and templates your team can put to work the following Monday morning.

Curriculum

Three modules. Your pick of depth, your pick of format.

Delivered as a full day, split across half-day sessions, or configured into a longer programme. Depth on the topics that matter to your category, summary on the ones that do not.

Market overview

  • Current numbers: internet users, eCommerce penetration, category splits
  • Mobile and super-app behaviour
  • Chinese consumer profiles by tier, age and income
  • Regional differences and why one national plan rarely works

Consumer behaviour

  • How Chinese consumers actually discover, compare and buy
  • The real purchase journey across search, social and eCommerce
  • What drives decisions: price, content, trust, recommendation
  • The weight of mobile and social in every category

Current trends

  • Livestreaming, short video and social commerce
  • AI, personalisation and the rise of GEO on Chinese search
  • What is growing, what is peaking, what is already over
Who teaches it

Operators, not academics.

Cyril has been training executives on China's digital market in English and French for more than a decade. Liyan runs the same programme for Mandarin-speaking audiences. Together they have trained at HEC MBA, ESCP MBA, the European Chamber of Commerce in China, the American Chamber, Business France and Shanghai Jiaotong Executive MBA.

  • Portrait of Cyril Drouin
    Cyril Drouin Founder & CEO Shanghai / Paris English · French
  • Portrait of Liyan Ye
    Liyan Ye Senior Director Shanghai Mandarin · English
Format and logistics

Built around your team's schedule.

Six knobs you turn before we walk in the room. Content, venue, timing, language, deliverables, and what we keep doing after the session ends.

Content
Customised for your industry. Beauty, food and beverage, tourism, automotive, luxury, services. We rewrite examples and case studies to match the category you actually sell in.
Venue
Our consultants travel. Shanghai, Hong Kong, Paris, your office, your offsite. In person or remote.
Duration
Full day (8 hours), half day (4 hours), or a multi-session format spread across weeks.
Deliverables
Complete course materials, the session deck, and access to the trainers for follow-up questions after the workshop.
Languages
English, French and Mandarin. Bilingual sessions are standard, not an upsell.
Post-training
30 days of follow-up support for in-house training: email Q&A, two video call sessions, and ongoing access to our market updates.
Need a different shape? We will build the brief around it. Talk to us
FAQ

Twenty questions we get every week.

Practical questions from teams sizing up a masterclass. Filter by topic.

Programme Do you customise the programme?

Yes. We start from your goals, your industry and your current level of China exposure, then build the programme around that. A short briefing call before the session is enough to tailor the modules, examples and case studies.

Engagement Can we work with you as consultants rather than trainers?

Yes. We also run strategic and operational consulting: digital audits, market entry strategy, distributor selection, eCommerce setup. The training often becomes the starting point of a longer engagement.

Programme Can we pick specific modules?

Yes. The programme is modular. Clients often run half-day sessions focused on WeChat, eCommerce platforms, social commerce, or KOL and influencer marketing alone.

Programme Can you go deeper on a specific topic?

Yes. We can spend a full session on Tmall Global strategy, livestream commerce, Douyin closed-loop, Xiaohongshu for beauty, or any other topic your team needs to dig into.

Engagement Do you run in-house corporate training?

Yes. We come to your office, adapt the content to your internal context, and run the session for your full team. In-house formats unlock the best discussions because everyone is working on the same business.

Format In which languages do you train?

English, French and Mandarin. Trainers are bilingual or trilingual, which helps on cultural and commercial nuance.

Engagement What support do you offer after the session?

For in-house training, 30 days of post-session support: email Q&A, two video call sessions for the team, and access to our market updates.

Programme What does a typical training day look like?

A mix of content modules, live case studies, structured Q&A, working exercises tied to your business, and a closing action plan. We keep the pace high and break regularly.

Audience Any prerequisites?

No technical prerequisites. A basic familiarity with digital marketing helps. A real project or interest in the Chinese market is the only thing we really need from the room.

Pricing How much does it cost?

Fees depend on format, duration, location and number of participants. Contact us for a tailored quote.

Format How many people can attend?

Between 8 and 30 in a working session. Smaller than 8, the room loses energy on discussion. Larger than 30, the exercises and breakouts stop working properly. For full-company days or conference keynotes (50 to 300 people) we run a lecture-format version with structured Q&A instead of group work.

Format How quickly can you run a session?

Two weeks of lead time is the comfortable range. We have run sessions on five working days notice when a board meeting moved. Tighter turnarounds cost flexibility on dates and trainer pairing, not on content quality.

Format Does it work remotely, or only in person?

Both. About half of in-house sessions now run remote or hybrid. Remote works best in 3 to 4 hour blocks across two days rather than one long Zoom marathon. In person still wins when the team needs to break into working groups or whiteboard a strategy.

Format Can we record the session for colleagues who cannot attend?

Yes, for internal use. We ask that the recording stays inside your company, off public channels, and is not repackaged into external commercial content. Slides and supporting materials come with you either way.

Programme What should we prepare beforehand?

A short brief on your current China activity, what you do not know yet, and the three or four questions you most want answered. Plus any internal data you are happy to share: channel mix, current agency setup, recent campaign results, distributor structure. The more concrete the input, the sharper the working session output.

Audience Which industries have you trained?

Beauty, fashion, luxury, food and beverage, tourism, automotive, professional services, B2B industrial, large tech and SaaS players. Platform mechanics are mostly the same across categories. What changes is the case studies, benchmarks and tactics we plug in.

Audience We are completely new to China. Is this too advanced?

No. Module 1 is built for teams starting from zero. We calibrate depth during the briefing call. A beginner room spends more time on platform basics and consumer behaviour. A senior room moves faster through the map and digs into operations and budget allocation.

Audience We already run a China office. Is there anything in this for us?

Yes. A good share of our in-house clients are teams who have been operating in market for years. For them the value sits in benchmarking, fresh category data, and an outside diagnostic on the parts of their setup that are quietly under-performing. The agenda tilts toward audit and operations, away from introduction.

Engagement Do you sign NDAs?

Yes. Before any briefing call that touches your numbers. Internal data and strategy stay in the room. Nothing surfaces in another client deck or public case study.

Programme How current is the material?

Refreshed before every session. Anything older than the most recent full quarter gets flagged or removed. Chinese platforms change fees, formats and algorithms several times a year, so we treat stale slides as a real risk and plan the prep around it.

Get in touch

Thinking about a China masterclass for your team?

Tell us about your team, your category and what you want to walk away with. We will come back within one business day with a tailored programme.