Gao Shan

Gao Shan

Doctor of Commerce

GAO SHAN grew up in The People's Republic of China and served in the North Sea Fleet of the Chinese Navy from 1969 to 1975. A short time later he enrolled in the Beijing Institute of Foreign Trade (BIFT) where he graduated in 1981 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree with a major in Economics. While enrolled there as a student he was commissioned to assist the Canada/China Language Training Centre, a joint project of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Trade and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). This project was managed through BIFT and Saint Mary's. As a legacy of this program, Saint Mary's continues to be one of the best known Canadian universities in The People's Republic of China. Shan is the first Chinese student ever from The People's Republic to graduate with a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from Saint Mary's in 1985.

Shan has enjoyed much success in the oil business over the years. In 1983 he became an Associate Professor at the University of Business and Economics and not long after took the leap in what would become an outstanding management career in the Chinese petroleum sector.

In the late 1980s he accepted a position as General Manager for the Oil Products Division of Sinochem, and in 1995 he became the Executive Vice President of the China National United Oil Corporation. That same year he was appointed General Manager and President of Sinochem International Oil Corporation, a subsidiary of Sinochem - a company mainly specializing in the import, export and entrepot trade of crude oil, petroleum products and oil storage, processing, futures transaction, barter and contra-trade.

His friends and colleagues attribute his outstanding success to his charisma and stamina as a person.