Jean Liu A Road Less Traveled By: Mona Zhang
The President of Didi Chuxing, the world’s largest ride-hailing and mobile transportation platform, is based in Beijing, China. Sometime in the Fall of 2017, against a jet-black background at Bloomberg Network’s studio, Liu Qing walked in wearing a crew-neck t-shirt covered with an off-white softly-fitting blazer. Her bangs were swept to one side and blended into the loose curls around her jawline, gently touching her shoulders. Liu, also known as Jean Liu, is President of Didi Chuxing and sets some pretty ambitious goals: “I joined the company three years ago...to solve the world-class dilemma of moving 800 million urban Chinese”, Liu says. She has a tender tone, “[There are] 800 million Chinese that ride 1.4 billion times every day; the accident
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rate is high. This industry we are in is so impactful that there [must be] something we can do to help solve the issue.” Liu went on to describe the growing megacities of China and how Didi’s mobile transportation platform had eased the lives of everyday commuters, alluding to the immense promise of Didi. Persuaded by the passion in her words, one almost forgets patriarchal China and its history of unbridled gender bias. Born in Beijing, Liu’s parents gave her the name Qing Liu, which translates to “green willow.” It was inspired by a well-known Chinese classical poem called “A Love Song” by Liu Yuxi: “The willows are green, The rivers smoothly flow; Singing over there on the waters, Is the girl I love.”
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Traditionally, Chinese parents are careful to choose names that will create bliss and success in in the future. From Liu’s name, it’s apparent she brought happiness to her parents. Indeed, Jean Liu not only grew up to be a lovely young lady but also an excellent student, enrolling in arguably the best high school in Beijing, the High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Peking University, before heading overseas to earn a master’s degree from Harvard in the same discipline. Looking back on her school days, Liu attributes her most significant strength to her drive for perfection. To this day, she still remembers the number of squat jumps she did every day in high school to get full marks in class.
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