Jane Sun has taken on a remarkable climb to the helm as CEO of Chinese travel services company Ctrip, which is currently the largest of its kind in China thanks to a current boom in inbound and outbound travel among mainlanders and foreigners alike.
Having started in Ctrip as CFO in 2005, Sun based her leadership on the need to form strategic corporate alliances, which led the company to grow its market valuation from a relatively humble $500 million since her appointment to $25 billion today--a figure that exceeds that of U.S. rival Expedia's $17 billion.
Sun's success in driving Ctrip to where it is right now does not constitute a mere case of riding on the coattails of China's travel boom. Acquisitions and investments facilitated the upsurge, as the company has the likes of Skyscanner, MakeMyTrip and two U.S. China-focused tour operators under its portfolio.
However, Sun - a Shanghai native with overseas experience in the U.S. with KPMG and Applied Materials, does not just dedicate a growth-oriented approach for Ctrip. She helped drove the company to become a model for combating one of China's most daunting social issues: aging.
Ctrip currently has female staff running much of its available positions, and Sun is keen on maximizing their potential not just for the sake of the company's growth, but also on a macroeconomic scale focusing on the larger picture of China's aging problem.
Under the valuable tutelage of outgoing CEO James Liang, who is also a population scholar, Sun has facilitated one of China's best and most comprehensive programs for incentivizing motherhood alongside the pursuance of career goals--a helpful boost for supporting the country's current two-child policy.
Childbirth among female staff in Ctrip is rewarded with a cash gift worth 8,000 yuan, and is further supplemented with benefits such as free taxi transportation for pregnant employees, summer camps for the company's mothers with their children, and work-at-home opportunities for aspiring mothers.
Through those programs, Sun embarks Ctrip on an upward trajectory that is not just exclusive to corporate growth, but also to that with positive social repercussions as well. It is through such an approach that makes her position as CEO a truly fulfilling one, more than just one she highly deserves.