Story of Ping

Liu Ping, the founder of China Star, is a legendary figure.

She started working at the age of fifteen and became a physical worker in Guizhou Kaiyang Phosphate Mine. She went to college to study English at the age of eighteen. At the time of China's reform and opening up in 1979, she came to Beijing and became the earliest Beijing drifter in Chinese history. She had worked in the Mining Bureau of the Ministry of Chemical Industry, the Foreign Affairs Department of the Ministry of Chemical Industry, and the China International Travel Service (CITS) Head Office before she started up her own business.

In 2001, when China joined the World Trade Organization, she resigned from her iron rice bowl and founded China Star, the first private enterprise in China specializing in MICE (conferences, incentive travel and events) business.

In 2005, Liu Ping joined the Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE) and was one of the earliest members of SITE in China. She was elected as an international board director of SITE for two consecutive terms (2008-2014). In 2009, China Star together with other 5 Asian PCOs founded the World PCO Alliance (WPCOA), becoming one of the founding members of this industry alliance, which currently has 20 national or regional members worldwide; China Star joined the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) in 2008, becoming one of the few private enterprise members in China. In 2017, China Star joined the International Association of PCO (IAPCO) and is one of the only two members in China.

Liu Ping enjoys a high reputation in the international MICE industry, and received IMEX Academy Award in 2009, becoming the first person in China to win this honor.

The COVID-19 from 2020 to 2023 brought enormous challenges to China Star. Under the leadership of Liu Ping, the company transformed in time, becoming the one of the first PCOs in China to operate online and hybrid events, ensuring the survival of the enterprise.

At present, Liu Ping is enthusiastic about doing field work and promoting rural revitalization with the help of MICE events. She often conducts research in rural areas, border areas, and ethnic minority areas, dedicated to exploring new destinations and developing new MICE products, and striving to integrate ESG harmoniously into the MICE events.

In February 2024, Liu Ping won the Richard Ross Award at SITE Global Conference in Istanbul, Turkey, in recognition of her contribution to the international incentive travel industry.