news dragon - Swedish Chamber of Commerce in China

Transcription

Member Magazine for Swedish Chambers of Commerce in Hong Kong and China
No.01/2008
DRAGONNEWS
Heart
and soul
The heart and soul of a chamber
of commerce is the dynamic
environment in which members
become active contributors.
Without them, the chamber is
nothing.
6 Hong Kong’s strength
is its energy
22 Putting Sweden on the
South China map
28 He is excited about China
Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong
Swedish Chamber of Commerce in China
Member Magazine for the Swedish Chambers of Commerce in Hong Kong and China
No.01/2008
Dear Readers,
The Swedish Chamber of Commerce in China
celebrates its 10th anniversary this spring! The
chamber in Hong Kong celebrated its 20th
anniversary in 2006. Time really flies! Those
of you who have been around during those
years have witnessed the radical and enormous
changes that have taken place in both China and
Hong Kong. In this exciting issue, we will discuss
those changes and review past times! Hope you
all will enjoy, and hope to see you in the coming
10 to 20 years as well!
The Editorial Committees
China & Hong Kong
DRAGONNEWS
A D V E R T I S E R S
APC Asia Pacific Cargo page 13
BALtrans page 45
Bamboo page 9
Finnair page 2
Geodis Wilson page 39
Gerhard Jörén page 41
Handelsbanken page 49
Henriksson Consulting page 24
House Hunters page 45
Iggesund Paperboard page 15
Johnny’s Photo & Video Supply Ltd. page 46
Mannheimer Swartling page 26-27
Montpelier Nordic page 51
Nanjing Scandinavian Industrial Campus (NSIC) page 21
Radisson SAS page 45
Sallmanns Residential page 50
Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) page 52
Scandinavian Furniture page 47
Scania page 35
Scan Global Logistics page 25
SEB Private Banking page 5
Sino Scandinavian Building Adviser (SSBA) page 35
Swedbank page 43
Swedish Trade Council page 31
T3 Online page 23
Trelleborg page 17
Vinge page 37
Volvo page 33
INQUIRIES
Room 3605, China Resources Building
26 Harbour Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2525 0349
Fax: +852 2537 1843
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: www.swedcham.com.hk
General Manager: Eva Karlberg
Marketing Manager: Johanna Ahlgren
Project Manager: Lotta Josefsson
INQUIRIES
Room 313, Radisson SAS Hotel
6A, East Beisanhuan Road, Chaoyang District
Beijing 100028, People’s Republic of China
Tel: +86 10 5922 3388, ext 313
Fax: +86 10 6462 7454
[email protected]
[email protected]
Web: www.swedishchamber.com.cn
General Manager:Yvonne Chen
Member Service & Sales Manager Beijing:
Camilla König Ekegren, Karin Roos
Shanghai Contact
Member Service & Sales Manager Shanghai:
Carina Järold-Mattsson
Tel: +86 21 6217 0838
Fax: +86 21 5425 0180
Mobile: +86 1368 179 7675
Chairmen’s corner page 4
6
Opinion: Staffan Heimerson page 6
Snippets page 8
Cover story:
10
Heart and Soul page 10
Editorial management, design and printing
Bamboo Business Communications Ltd.
Room 1906, Workingfield Commercial Building
408-412 Jaffe Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2838 4553
Fax: +852 2873 3329
www.bambooinasia.com
[email protected]
C O N T E N T S
Publisher
Swedish Chambers of Commerce in Hong Kong and China
For advertising inquiries, please contact
respective chamber’s office
The opinions expressed in articles in Dragon News
are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect
the views of the publisher.
22
60 minutes with Winni Fejne page 22
Thank you!
APC Asia Pacific Cargo (HK) Ltd
for your immense generosity shipping and
distributing Dragon News in China, Hong Kong
and Sweden.
Iggesund Paperboard
for being the proud sponsor for the paperboard
cover of Dragon News magazine in 2008. Cover
printed on Invercote® Creato 220gsm.
Scandinavian Airlines
for your generous distribution of Dragon News
on SAS flights from Beijing to Scandinavia.
Gerhard Jörén
for letting us use your professional photos
extensively in this issue of Dragon News as
illustrations for several articles. Please visit his
website, www.gerhardjoren.com.
28
Meet the President:Torbjörn Yngwe Bäck page 28
Membership updates page 30
Young Professionals in Hong Kong page 36
Chamber activities in Hong Kong page 38
Young Professionals in China page 42
Chamber activities in Beijing page 44
Chamber activities in Shanghai page 48
Directors of the board page 50
The Swedish Chambers of Commerce
in Hong Kong and China
DRAGON NEWS • No.01/2008
Chairmen’s Corner
Backpack
With a heavy backpack full of new record figures
from last year it will be a challenge to make this
one as successful, exciting and dynamic. But be
sure that we will try our best. And we have plans
on how to do it.
The first thing on the agenda is of course
to congratulate our sister chamber of China
which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. The Swedish Chamber of
Commerce in China has had a fantastic development over this relatively
short period (“short” in a China context). Having started with roughly
the same number of founding members as our own Chamber they have
quickly outgrown us. And we are happy about it! We have the same
objectives, we share Dragon News and sometimes even the same members to cater for. We work under slightly different conditions, but with
the same goal in mind – member value and the well-being of all Swedish
enterprises!! So therefore CONGRATULATIONS on the 10th anniversary and good luck with the next 10 years!
NEXT ON THE AGENDA is to describe how we intend to continue
doing what we set out to do last year, that is adding even more member
value. We aim to achieve this by hopefully organising and designing our
functions so as to give each attendant something concrete to bring home
in terms of advice, knowledge and/or experience. These more educational functions will reflect on the topics covered by our Dragon News
Cover Story.
For 2008, we have agreed to reflect on relations and communications on various levels and in different contexts. We will deal with the
branding of our Chambers’ operations and purpose. We will look into
the rationale, structure, objective and relations of the Chambers and
how to extract member value from that. We will deal with external and
internal communications, exploring for example how to effectively use
the various communications channels available for an enterprise. We
plan to cover risk management and safety issues and we aim to spend the
last issue of Dragon News this year to explore customer relations; how to
negotiate with the Chinese, cross-cultural relations in general, corporate
values and internal relations.
SO, PLEASE KEEP THIS in mind and make sure to read our Dragon
News carefully as we hope to have something useful for you in each issue.
Also, be on the lookout for seminars and other functions where we will
offer the opportunity to explore these topics even further, and to use the
events for experience exchange and networking.
That, in essence, is what we believe will give each member added
value to its membership, but we are always interested to hear from you
with ideas on how to improve.
Thanks and take care,
Thanks for your
great support!
Time really flies! This year we celebrate the 10th
anniversary of the establishment of the Swedish
Chamber of Commerce in China. Therefore, the
theme of this issue of Dragon News is the role of a
chamber of commerce.
Why do we need a chamber and what does it do for its members?
Well, if you look at the business ideas of most chambers of commerce,
they say that they act to improve the business environment of its
members. The business idea of the Swedish Chamber of Commerce
in China is to “do things to promote the business interests of the
members in China, that they can not easily do themselves”. This we do
by arranging activities that inform about China and promote experience
sharing, but also by engaging ourselves in trade policy issues on a
bilateral level. However, we are a non-profit organisation and therefore
we do not act as a consultancy organisation.
THESE FIRST 10 YEARS of the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in
China have been some of the most dramatic in the history of China.
During this period, we have seen China triple its GDP, we have seen
China enter the WTO, we have seen China become the third largest
economy in the world, a major international trading power, etc. These
have truly been remarkable years.
The chamber has grown in an equally remarkable way. From 30
founding members, we now have more than 200 members. We are one
of the most active foreign chambers of commerce both in Beijing and in
Shanghai where we presently have chapters, and we are becoming active
in southern China. This magazine that you are now holding in your
hand, the Dragon News jointly published with the Swedish Chamber of
Commerce in Hong Kong, is the envy of many chambers in China and
around the world. Still, there is much space for improvement in a lot of
areas within the chamber.
A chamber is very important. Not least for newcomers. Through
a well-functioning chamber, it is easy to quickly build up a network of
people in a situation similar to your own, that is trying to do business in
a region or in a country. And to answer the question above, I think this is
perhaps the most important role of a chamber – to be a liaison point for
people to get together to share information and experience.
I STILL REMEMBER HOW valuable it was, when I first came to China
and Hong Kong in the 1980s, to find fora where you could meet other
business people. The Swedish chambers both in Hong Kong and in
China started as informal fora with regular lunches and experiencesharing meetings. When there is enough of a critical mass and a few
engaged individuals, then a chamber is formed. This happened in Hong
Kong, Beijing, and Shanghai, and I am sure it will happen in more places
in China, such as in southern China and Jiangsu where there are a lot of
Swedish business interests.
We are celebrating our 10th anniversary by upgrading the Annual
General Meeting and by two gala dinners in Beijing and Shanghai
towards the end of the year. More information will come.
Lastly, a chamber never becomes better than its members. Therefore,
thanks for your great support during the first 10 years. Together, let us
make this chamber even better!
Thomas Lagerqvist
Mats Harborn
Chairman
Chairman
For nearly three decades, we at SEB have been helping Northern European companies and private
individuals in the Asian market. Already in 1979, we set up our first banking offices in Singapore, and
since then we have also become established in Beijing, Shanghai and New Delhi.
At the same time, our Asian operations serve as one of many bridgeheads for SEB’s international
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Opinion
Hong Kong’s strength
is its energy
Text: Staffan Heimerson, [email protected]
Photo: Gerhard Jörén, [email protected]
Staffan Heimerson was born 1935
in Karlstad, Sweden. He is one
of Sweden’s most well-known
journalists. He works at the
evening daily, Aftonbladet, where
he is a columnist. For decades
he was a foreign correspondent,
stationed in, among other places,
Hong Kong from 1989-1993,
reporting for Swedish Radio. He
has written a number of books
about his experience travelling
around the world as a reporter
“Don’t be afraid, Staffan,” my
best friend in Hong Kong said over the
telephone when I told him recently I was
going to revisit the former colony. “It’s not
the same as before. It’s better!”
I was talking to Gerhard Jörén, the
photographer, and he should know. He
came to Hong Kong during the Opium Wars
or soon thereafter … Well, if you’re a stickler
for details he came in 1987.
I LIVED IN HONG KONG from 1989 to
1993, first in Tai Tam, and after that in
Repulse Bay. Nowhere in the world have
I enjoyed myself more – and I have been
moving around all my life, so I think I’m
in a position to make comparisons. I have
lived in cities like Sydney, Bangkok, Beirut,
Nairobi, New York, Boston and Washington,
and European capitals such as Paris,
London, Bonn, Madrid and Vienna, and
even spent a couple of years in Islamabad. In
one way or another, I liked them all.
But Hong Kong takes the prize, and
every time I return I am worried that my
memories will just have me nostalgically
sighing, and saying, “It was better in the
good old days.”
“Can Hong Kong really be as good
as I remember it?” asks Staffan
Heimerson, a Swedish journalist and
former Hong Kong correspondent.
The answer is simple: “Hong Kong is better!”
That is yet to happen. Even when
I came to Hong Kong in 1999, and the
Chinese Communist Party was celebrating
Communist China’s 50th anniversary, and
the plug had been pulled on the property
market, Hong Kong was still pulsing. I saw
the changes: the new airport had opened;
there was more Chinese advertising on the
sides of the trams; and the South China
Morning Post had lost its spark somewhat.
But people were on the move with the same
determination and the same spring in their
“This is Hong Kong. You
either go big or you go
home.”
feet. My favourite old Korean restaurant still
had the same lovely smell I remembered,
even if the Mongkok Bird Market was gone.
WHATEVER THE CHANGES, I knew what
I was longing for in “my” Hong Kong. It
was, of course, the Rugby Sevens, the Happy
Valley races and the magical junk tour to
Lamma Island.
I was recently making a trailer for a new
Swedish TV serial, and the energy in Hong
Kong prompted me to make a note in my
writing pad.
Criss-crossing my way through the
Hong Kong streets on foot, it struck me
that the city would be something for the
city haters on the Swedish political left wing
to behold: millions of people on the move,
illegal immigrants pouring in, the number
of people on the streets increasing by the
day.
Perhaps, I wrote, those Swedish city
haters might be tempted to urge Hong Kong
politicians to introduce a congestion tax
– not on cars, as one could expect, but on
pedestrians.
“Congestion ...,” I droned, when
Gerhard Jörén brought me along to the
Foreign Correspondents Club (FCC) and we
had paid our respects to the Grand Old Lady
of the FCC, Clare Hollingworth (she was at
that time 96 years of age – when she was 28
she was the first one to report about Hitler’s
tanks rolling into Poland), “... congestion
is in itself a healthy sign”. There’s a straight
line between the words city, congestion and
creativity. I think you can make a formula
like this: Congestion on the pavements
is equal to a city being sound and alive.
Anyone introducing a tax on congestion is
in fact taxing the vitality of the city.”
“Didn’t I tell you?” said Jörén.
ELEVEN YEARS AGO, many of us thought
Hong Kong was doomed. The Communists
will, we all said, as they always tend to do,
kill the goose that lays the golden egg. And I
admit that, as a correspondent for Swedish
Radio, and when giving speeches, I delivered
the same sentiment.
To be sure, the Communist governor has
tried to strangle the freedom of the press. He
even tried to stop the marches, half a million
strong, for more democratic elections. The
demonstrations, however, continued, and
the governor is now saying there will be free
elections within a decade.
Small wonder a Hong Kong editor
recently wrote a headline aimed at
influencing public opinion: “If there is
a dark cloud on the horizon, I would
appreciate if someone can point it out for
me.”
In fact, I can do just that. Despite its
success, China still remains politically and
legislatively under Communist rule. Beijing
could in a whim abolish “one country, two
systems”.
But I think the Hong Kong model
will last. Let us first hope for a successful
Olympic Games in Beijing, which will be
good for China’s self-esteem, even if it is
worth bearing in mind the sinister Chinese
proverb, “The nail that stands out will be
hammered down.”
I DISCOVERED RECENTLY that Emily
Lau, whom I met the first time I was in
Hong Kong in 1979 (she was a reporter at
The pace in Hong Kong had got faster.
“Congestion on the
pavements is equal to
the city being sound
and alive.”
the Far Eastern Economic Review) today
writes pamphlets about expanding freedom
of speech – not in Hong Kong but on the
mainland. I could see signs of that; I even
observed a small shop selling prints with
gallows humour – Mao Zedong and Osama
bin Laden hanging side by side.
There’s a straight line between the words city, congestion and creativity.
As Jörén put it; the pace of the city had
got faster. The streets were even cleaner, and
the selection of gadgets on display in the
shops was even greater. The reason for this,
I learned from Mats Harborn in the book,
To do business in today’s China, is that 40 per
cent of China’s investments outside China
are directed to Hong Kong.
Hong Kong’s great advantage is the free
flow of information. Even more importantly,
the city is growing. At the handover in 1997,
Hong Kong had a population of about 6
million. “Now there are more than 7 million
of us,” said my Chinese friend Winnie Tang.
Expecting mothers from the mainland are
trying to enter Hong Kong to give birth, in
order to get residency. Mainland Chinese
arrive as tourists and simply stay on.
And when The Economist describes
Hong Kong with admiration for its
entrepreneurial spirit and plain street
smartness, it uses this example: the
“doomed” theme park, Ocean Park, has
pulled itself together and is now more vital
and fun than Disneyland.
A NEWSPAPER EDITOR recently put it this
way; “This is Hong Kong. You either go big
or you go home.”
It is not hard to imagine Milton
Freedman applauding from his grave and
saying, “Didn’t I say just that? Capitalism
works.”
Immigration is important. More people
equal more busy hands. “Our city was not
born with a silver spoon in its mouth,” wrote
a local commentator, Samson Chan, about a
year ago. “Our strength is our energy.”
Equestrian Snippets
Cool horses
Quote
“Among the 28 sports in the summer
Olympics, equestrian events are the most
complicated.”
Lam Woon-kwong, chief executive officer of
the Equestrian Events (Hong Kong) of the Games
of the XXIX Olympiad, a company that has had
less than three years to prepare for the Games.
Did you know ...
Misting fans and air-conditioning running
on full blast in the stables will help the horses
to cool down when they compete in the
Equestrian Olympic Games in Hong Kong
in August, a hot and humid month that
normally sees temperatures of over 30 degrees
centigrade.
Even the Olympic venue, with 18,000 seats,
will have an air-conditioning system in its
practice quarters.
Events will take place at cooler times of
the day, either early in the morning or in the
evening after sunset.
Olympics organisers picked Hong Kong
over host city Beijing for equestrian events
because of concerns about equine diseases
on the mainland. This is similar to the 1956
Olympics, when host city Melbourne could
not hold equestrian events because of tough
quarantine regulations in Australia, resulting in
Stockholm holding the events.
Hong Kong organisers believe they have
the experience, facilities and ability to hold
the equestrian events. Therefore, it came as
a surprise when some Swiss and Canadian
riders decided to withdraw from the games
because of fears about the impact the heat and
humidity could have on the horses.
Hong Kong has a long history of horse
racing, and the Hong Kong Jockey Club
(HKJB) is fully equipped for quarantining,
medical treatment, transportation, stabling,
and feed supplies, and boasts world-class,
skilled personnel certified by the International
Equestrian Federation (FEI) and the
International Olympic Committee. For
example, a horse hospital at the Shatin Race
Course, equipped with operating, anaesthesia
and recovery rooms, can provide emergency
medical care for the animals during the Games.
Even if horse racing differs from Olympic
equestrian events, the facilities and equipment
needed are much the same.
The government and the Hong Kong
Tourism Board hope that the co-hosting
of the Games will highlight Hong Kong as
a metropolitan and dynamic tourist city.
Between 10,000 and 30,000 tourists, many with
deep pockets, are expected to visit Hong Kong
because of the 12-day events.
Equestrian is the only Olympic sport where
men and women compete against each other
under the same conditions. The contests
– dressage, jumping and eventing – are divided
into individual mixed and team mixed events.
Equestrian events were included in the
Olympic Games for the first time in 1900 and
then, in 1912, in a format very similar to that
seen at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.
Sweden has a good history when it
comes to equestrian Olympic medals and has
maintained third place after Germany and the
US statistically with 17 gold, nine silver and 14
bronze medals.
In the latest Summer Olympics in Athens,
Sweden took a silver medal in team jumping.
The medallists were Malin Baryard, RolfGöran Bengtsson, Peter Eriksson and Peder
Fredricson.
The events in Hong Kong will be held from
August 9 to 21. The jumping and dressage
events will be held at the main venue in Shatin
and the cross-country competition will be held
at Beas River.
Green Games
... that the Olympic equestrian events comprise
three events:
- Dressage – the event is conducted in
several rounds with the rider performing a set
of routine and free-style dressage. The freestyle dressage routines are choreographed and
performed to music.
- Jumping – the horse and rider are
required to complete a course of about 15
obstacles, including triple bars, parallel bars
and water jumps. Penalties are incurred if a
horse refuses a jump, knocks down a rail, or if
time limits are exceeded.
- Eventing – combines the above dressage
and jumping disciplines, and adds a third
competition of riding a cross-country course.
Equality between genders
Environmental protection and conservation
are on the top of the priority list in Hong
Kong’s preparations for the equestrian
Olympics. Recycling and re-usage are key
words for the Games.
Leftover food and horse manure will be
taken away daily and turned into fertiliser at a
special treatment plant.
The tracks consist of “sandy soil”,
composed of fine sand, soil, sawdust and cloth,
mostly imported from Europe, and following
strict environmental protection standards. The
special mixture has water-repelling abilities. In
the event of rainy or stormy weather, planners
guarantee that the competition can restart
within an hour of the rain stopping.
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Heart and
COVER STORY
Soul
A chamber of commerce relies heavily
on its active members. Without them,
the chamber is nothing.
Text: Jan Hökerberg, Bamboo, [email protected]
Last year, the two Swedish
Chambers of Commerce in Hong Kong
and China started to organise SwedCham
Forum workshops in Guangdong Province.
The latest one was held in March this year
at the Westin Hotel in Guangzhou, where
some 40-50 people gathered for a dinner
and round-table discussion about corporate
social responsibility and crisis management.
This was the fifth SwedCham Forum
that the two chambers jointly organised in
South China. The previous session was held
in Shenzhen in January, and focused on
sourcing.
Both chambers have members who
are located in, or have interests in, South
China. However, since no office, or chapter,
has been set up there yet, these member
representatives have had to go to Hong
Kong, Beijing or Shanghai when they
wanted to participate in chamber events or
do some networking.
“Compared to Beijing or Shanghai, there
are a limited number of Swedish-related
companies present in Guangdong Province,
so the prerequisites for opening a chapter
have been limited. However, we want to
create opportunities, and perhaps there is a
real enthusiast among them who could be
the driving force in forming a chapter,” says
Mats Harborn, chairman of the Swedish
Chamber of Commerce in China, which
celebrates its 10th anniversary this year (see
separate article).
Photo (pages 11 and 20): Gerhard Jörén, [email protected]
“The true soul of a chamber of commerce
has its origin in the culture and values the
organisation represents, and these values
must be manifestly expressed and supported
by the members. The board’s challenge is
to create such a dynamic environment that
members become active contributors to this
culture. Then members are more likely to
perceive that
the chamber
membership has
added value to
them. Without
active members,
the chamber is
nothing.”
Thomas Lagerqvist,
chairman
11
COVER STORY
Harborn hosts the SwedCham Forum
together with his counterpart in Hong
Kong, Thomas Lagerqvist. The aim of the
two chambers is to organise four workshops
per year in Guangzhou and Shenzhen
respectively.
“We have seen that business people
operating in Guangdong cross the border to
attend our events. So we said that if they are
coming to us, why don’t we also go to them
and give them access to the same functions
and opportunities that we offer members
in Hong Kong? After all, it is all about
providing members with the support and
services that are expressed in our charter,”
says Lagerqvist.
EVER SINCE THE TWO Swedish chambers
were founded in 1986 (Hong Kong) and
1998 (China), they have strived to facilitate
networking and knowledge sharing. This
is particularly important in markets such
as China and Hong Kong, which for
many newcomers can appear difficult to
understand, and where business decisions
are often based more on an understanding
of risk, the local business culture, and social
relationships than formal agreements.
For a company that is new on the
market, participation in a chamber means
that its representatives can get plenty of new
contacts and valuable information quickly.
This was one of the main reasons
for founding the Swedish Chamber of
Commerce in China in 1998.
At that time, Rolf Gren was one of the
initiators and the chamber’s first chairman.
He says: “The most important thing about
the chamber was to provide Swedish
business people with a natural meeting place
where they could meet other colleagues
without paying huge amounts of money. We
could also off-load some of the pressure on
The chambers
often organise
visits to member
companies.
12
“Those who join the chamber
shall always feel welcome and
shall be given opportunities
to create contacts [and] get
valuable information.”
Mats Harborn, chairman
the Swedish Embassy, which did not have
the resources to take care of all company
visitors.”
NETWORKING IS AN IMPORTANT
ingredient in providing added value for
members. Networking also helps make
members become more active participants
in the chamber’s activities.
“As a chamber, we have a single focus
to which we are committed, and that is
to create member value. A chamber must
base its operations on what its members
need and what is useful and/or enjoyable
for them. The board’s role is therefore to
analyse and understand members’ needs,
and to ensure that they are accommodated.
Networking consistently gets a high rating
from members, so that is what we continue
to arrange in different ways,” says Lagerqvist.
“The soul of the chamber is also
about being open and welcoming,” adds
Harborn. “Those who join the chamber
shall always feel welcome and shall be
given opportunities to create contacts, get
valuable information – for example about
the business climate – and get support on
bilateral trade issues.”
THE CHAMBERS OFFER their member
companies plenty of opportunities, and
both chambers are very active in organising
different kinds of activities and events (see
separate article).
“Our chamber in China is one of the
most active if you consider the size of
Sweden as a country,” says Yvonne Chen,
general manager of the Swedish Chamber
of Commerce in China, which organises
around 50 different activities each year
in Beijing and Shanghai, plus many more
by the Young Professionals, which is an
association of individual members.
“The Swedish chamber in Hong Kong is,
with around 160 members, the fourth largest
among European chambers,” says general
manager Eva Karlberg. “We organised more
than 80 activities last year if you include the
ones by the Young Professionals.”
This means in average more than one,
often two, activities per week all year round.
Most of them are well attended. Some
are free, while others – often arranged to
coincide with breakfast, lunch or dinner
– are just slightly above cost price. Those
small margins, plus the profits from bigger
events like the crayfish party, along with
membership fees, secures the necessary
funding of operations at their current level.
But establishing a stable economy was a
problem for the China chamber in its first
phase.
“We managed to get our founding
members to pay double the annual fee
for the first year,” says Tommy Liu, vice
chairman of the Swedish Chamber of
Commerce in China and chairman of its
Beijing Chapter. “That provided us with
some financial stability, so that we could hire
people and rent an office. The Radisson SAS
Hotel was supportive from the start, and we
were able to lease a room there.”
In Beijing, breakfast meetings are the
most popular, especially when the level
of the speakers is high, while in Shanghai,
evening sessions with workshops are
more popular, since there are many
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13
COVER STORY
For the Top
Management Day
in May 2000, the
chamber in China
organised an
exhibition where
member companies participated.
manufacturing companies in the region and
they need more practical information in
areas such as tax legislation, the new labour
law, etc.
In Hong Kong, breakfast meetings are
the most appreciated. “Here, we also offer
so-called member-to-member presentations,
which every new member company is
entitled to arrange, and these have become
very popular. The company pays the costs,
making it free of charge for members. The
presentation could be a visit to a showroom, a
container terminal or a factory,” says Karlberg.
WHEN HARBORN COMPARES chamber
activities today with 10 years ago, he can
see many differences. “Today, everybody
involved has so much more experience.
We have many more members, and we
have found good ways of working together.
Everything is easier, actually. Ten years ago,
it was more like a start-up,” he says.
Both chambers think they get good
response and feedback from members after
the activities they arrange.
“For each activity, we distribute
an evaluation sheet that asks attendees
to answer some questions about their
satisfaction level for the event. Normally
they are very positive,” says Chen.
She estimates that the chamber in
China organises events for at least half of all
Swedish, or Swedish-related, companies that
are present in China. Karlberg says that in
Hong Kong the number is higher, perhaps as
much as 80 per cent:
“The last couple of years, there have
been many small companies establishing
themselves here, so we decided to
offer new companies with five or less
employees membership at half price for
the introductory year, and that was an
immediate success.”
Harborn points out that the difficult
task in running a chamber is balancing
interests: “It is easy to be over-ambitious, but
14
the risk is that members get bored. In that
sense, it is better to be more broad ranging
and try to reach out to more people in the
member companies. In our activities, we
have targeted people who work in different
areas, such as human resources, marketing,
etc, and we have also put a strong focus
on providing information about Swedish
management.”
GOVERNMENT RELATIONS ARE
an important part of a chamber’s
work. In Hong Kong, the international
business community is very strong, and
represents some 50 per cent of the special
administrative region’s (SAR’s) gross
domestic product.
“This means that the government has
a good incentive to really listen to what the
international business community is saying,”
says Lagerqvist. “They are very open minded
and we can bring up all kinds of issues as
long as they have a bearing on Hong Kong,
the SAR’s competitiveness and the general
business and investment environment.”
The Swedish chamber is an active
member of the European Chamber of
Commerce in Hong Kong (ECC), as well as
of the International Business Committee
(IBC). It also participates in meetings and
functions organised by the 27 chambers
within the International Chambers of
Commerce in Hong Kong (InterCham), and
is active in its Pearl River Delta committee.
The ECC is a federation of chambers
that allows the European chambers to
speak with one voice, for example, at IBC
meetings. The ECC, therefore, arranges
meetings with the member chambers
prior to the IBC meetings so as to be able
to coordinate and consolidate positions
on different issues of importance to the
European business community.
The IBC is a forum in which the
international business community regularly
meets with the Hong Kong government
to discuss business issues. The Swedish
chamber has been very active in this
forum and, for example, has brought
up environmental issues, especially the
alarming levels of air pollution in the city.
Benefits galore
As a member of the Swedish Chamber
of Commerce in Hong Kong and in
China, you will get plenty of benefits.
The chambers are active in several
different areas:
- Information. An annual directory
covers contact details and business
presentations of all member
companies and is distributed for
free to all members. Dragon News is
a free member magazine, published
jointly by the two chambers. It
is an important communication
platform for sharing information,
views, opinions and thoughts with
members.
- Events and networking. The
chambers organise expert seminars
and professional workshops, as well
as breakfast meetings and lunch
meetings with invited speakers. The
chambers also participate actively in
functions organised together with other
chambers.
- Social functions. Christmas and
midsummer parties, crayfish parties
and other festivities are popular annual
events.
- Lobbying. Regular meetings with officials
from the government are an important
part of the chamber’s activities. Most
often, the chambers join forces with
broader chambers, such as the ones for
the European Union and, in Hong Kong,
the International Business Committee.
- Surveys and statistics. Each year, both
chambers conduct a survey to monitor
the business climate in Hong Kong
and China. The chamber in China also
participates in information sharing with
other chambers, for example in a joint
salary survey.
Tel: (852) 2516 0250 Fax: (852) 2516 0251
www.iggesund.com
COVER STORY
“We have also positioned ourselves
on issues such as the quality levels of
international schools and the declining
standards of English language among Hong
Kong students,” says Lagerqvist.
After the European Union Chamber of
Commerce in China was formed in 2000,
most of the industry-specific lobbying was
made through it.
The European chamber has offices in
Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Guangzhou,
Tianjin, Chengdu and Shenyang. It
comprises more than 1,000 members, from
global companies to small and mediumsized enterprises. If a company wants to
become a member it has to be a member of
a national chamber.
The European chamber has organised
more than 30 working groups for various
industries. These groups are lobbying the
Chinese government on industry-specific
issues, presenting position papers and
inviting government officials to meetings,
seminars and events.
“Meetings with government officials
were more frequent in the beginning. Today,
the ministries are fewer, and they are less
involved in commercial activities,” says Liu.
“The authorities still have influence over
business, but issues are solved in different
ways today. You don’t need to approach a
minister.”
It is also more difficult to get access.
“Previously, they welcomed us. Today, we
are more likely to get information from
them, and then have our legal experts
make judgements and interpretations,”
he says.
On a local level, the chapter liaises
with Beijing’s vice mayor and other city
government officials to organise regular
informal dinners, where the members can
discuss various issues.
BOTH THE SWEDISH CHAMBER in
China and the one in Hong Kong carry out
annual surveys about the current business
climate. These surveys have become a
useful instrument, since they show current
sentiment, and include predictions and
forecasts concerning various issues by
existing members.
“These are credible and useful statistics
when we talk to the government about what
the business community is saying about
Hong Kong, or when we communicate with
Hong Kong and China externally in various
situations,” says Lagerqvist.
“When we meet visitors – for example
representatives of the Swedish government
and top executives of Swedish companies
– we show them these surveys. They serve
as a background, allowing us to easily point
out what issues our community thinks are
most important, and they also help us focus
on where we have problems,” says Harborn.
He adds that he has noted over the years
that the chamber has received increased
recognition as an established institution and
an active partner in discussions on all levels.
SEPARATING THE ROLES of the
organisations that represent Sweden has also
been of importance for the success of the
chambers. Some other chambers around the
world have chosen to have a consulting role,
which can mean that they risk competing
directly with their own member companies.
While the embassy and consulate
generals are the official representatives of the
country of Sweden, the chambers are nonprofit organisations representing the Swedish
business community. The Swedish Trade
Council is an organisation that has both
official and commercial consulting arms.
Anders Hägglund, who served as the
chairman of the Swedish Chamber of
Commerce in China between 1998 and
2005, made it clear from the start that there
should not be any competition between the
chamber and the Swedish Trade Council or
member companies.
At that time, Harborn served as the
Swedish Trade Council’s commercial
counsellor in Beijing. He knew that there
could be conflicts between a chamber and
Networking is an
important function for
the chambers.
16
Events organised by the
chambers are in general very
well attended.
other Swedish institutions, such as the
Swedish Trade Council.
“Therefore, we wrote in the statutes
that a representative from the Swedish
Trade Council should be present at all of
the chamber’s board meetings. We also said
clearly that the chamber should not be a
consulting organisation,” says Harborn.
FOR COMPANIES THAT PLAN to establish
themselves in China or Hong Kong, a visit to
the chamber of commerce is normally on the
agenda. The chamber can act as a hub, giving
recommendations and information in many
different areas. Later, when the company is
established, it often discovers that many of
the initial contacts they got came through
the chamber, either directly or through
networking events, arranged by the chamber.
“The most important thing is to
know that the chamber is there for its
member companies, because they pay the
membership fees,” says Hägglund.
For example, the chamber should avoid
becoming associated with an organisation
such as Invest in Sweden Agency, which
is a government agency for attracting
Chinese businesses to Sweden. “The reason
is simple,” says Hägglund. “Most of our
members are not interested in their Chinese
competitors moving to Sweden, even if it is a
praiseworthy initiative by our government.”
Lagerqvist is passionate about always
listening to members: “We are of course
happy if they say that the chamber office,
the committees and the board are all doing
a good job. But we would still continue to
make things even better. However, more
important is when they tell us what is not
good. We definitely want members to suggest
areas of improvement. We all benefit in the
end, if people share their opinions and help
us improve our performance as a chamber.”
Karlberg agrees: “A chamber is nothing
without active members. These are our soul,
without them we can’t exist.”
And perhaps there is an active member
out there somewhere in Guangdong
Province who can become the initiator of
a new chapter of the Swedish chamber and
help it make the next step in its history.
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COVER STORY
A golden decade for business
met at a restaurant, he liked the idea and we
started working on it.”
Gren recalls the difficulties they
had obtaining a license: “We visited the
authorities and presented ourselves.
However, there were many problems to be
solved. For example, there was a regulation
at that time in China that if a certain
number of people gathered together in the
same room, the police had to be there.
“I had to use my skills as a vacuum
cleaner salesman to finally get approval,” he
says.
Anders Sundström, Zhong Min and Rolf Gren
tie the ribbons.
This year, the Swedish Chamber of
Commerce in China celebrates its 10th
anniversary. It has been a decade full of
action and rapid development.
On a Sunday in May in 1998, more than 200
people gathered at the Radisson SAS Hotel
in Beijing to celebrate the grand opening
of the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in
China.
The then Swedish Minister of Industry,
Anders Sundström, tied ribbons in the
colours of the Swedish and Chinese
flags together with Ms Zhong Min, who
represented the chamber’s Chinese sponsor,
and Rolf Gren, the newly elected chairman
of the chamber.
Two months earlier, the chamber had
obtained formal recognition from Chinese
authorities after an application period that
lasted almost a year.
“At that time, chambers of commerce
were still a rarity in China, and only a few
leading industrial countries had established
one. The authorities were a bit confused
when we approached them, and did not
really know which ministry should handle
the license issue,” recalls Tommy Liu, one of
four pioneers who formed an interim board
until the chamber could be legally registered
and a formal board elected.
ACTUALLY, THE PREPARATION work
for the chamber had started with the China
Resource Group, an informal gathering of
general managers and chief representatives
of Swedish companies in China. This group
was organised by Johan Björkstén and
18
used to meet for Wednesday dinners at the
Radisson SAS Hotel in Beijing to exchange
ideas and discuss business problems on the
Chinese market.
Gren and Björkstén started to talk about
forming a chamber of commerce. Gren
was the chief representative for Electrolux,
which was at that time building a factory for
vacuum cleaners in Tianjin. Björkstén had
founded a PR company that later became
Eastwei Relations.
“I had been a member of a junior
chamber in Sweden, which inspired me to
start a chamber in China. When Johan and I
“I had to use my skills as a vacuum
cleaner salesman to finally get
approval.”
Rolf Gren, former chairman
THE SWEDISH CHAMBER was the
eighth chamber to obtain a license from
the government. When the chamber was
founded, Gren became its first chairman.
“We felt it was important to have a
chairman from a large corporation to
provide the right leverage and networks
in the business community, and we have
continued this tradition in the chamber over
the years,” says Björkstén.
In the beginning, before the chamber
got its authorisation, everyone involved had
to do everything by themselves.
“We wrote a declaration saying that we
should concentrate on business activities,
not social activities. There was another
organisation, called the Nordic Club, that
arranged social events at that time,” says Liu.
“We decided we should also organise
exchanges of experience between member
companies, creating a platform for
discussion about common problems and
issues. Our guiding star has always been
doing things that are of common interest for
our members,” he adds.
YVONNE CHEN WAS the first employee.
She had studied Swedish at the Beijing
Foreign Studies University and worked
at Swedish-owned companies such as
Scandinavian Furniture and Elof Hansson.
“At the end of the 1980s most other
Chinese students wanted to learn English. I
wanted to learn something more unique and
chose the Swedish language,” she says.
Chen worked for one and a half years
by herself, attracting new members and
organising activities. Today, she is the
general manager of the chamber.
“In the beginning, we had to be
innovative in everything we did. At that
time, we had no e-mail or Internet. When
“It is a great advantage
when you have the same
people on the board for
a long time and can keep
a steady course.”
Anders Hägglund, former
chairman
I had to send out invitations by fax for
the grand opening, I had to work all night
long since the fax machines at the member
companies were always busy in the daytime,”
recalls Chen.
SHORTLY AFTER THE CHAMBER was
formed, Gren was assigned by Electrolux
to go to France. “If there is something I am
proud of, it is that I founded the Swedish
Chamber of Commerce. I always carry the
chamber’s name card with me wherever I
go,” he says.
When Gren left, Anders Hägglund was
elected new chairman, a position he held
from 1998 to 2005. Hägglund had come to
China in 1994 to lead Sandvik’s operations
in the Middle Kingdom.
“We started small scale, arranging
breakfast meetings and other activities. It is
better to build things step by step instead of
promising a lot of things that you cannot
achieve. We had very good support from the
then Swedish ambassador, Kjell Anneling,”
says Hägglund.
Gren and Hägglund also initiated
The four pioneers: Tommy Liu, Johan
Björkstén, Rolf Gren and Leif Engström.
cooperation discussions with Thomas
Lagerqvist, who at that time was – and still
is – the chairman of the Swedish Chamber
of Commerce in Hong Kong. One outcome
of these discussions was that both chambers
decided to share the member publication,
Dragon News, which until then had been the
mouthpiece of the chamber in Hong Kong.
HÄGGLUND ALSO TOOK the initiative to
establish a Beijing Chapter and a Shanghai
Chapter to avoid any rivalry between
members in the two cities.
Forming the chapter in Shanghai in
2002 was important for the membership
development. The timing of this was very
good. It happened at a time, when many
small- and medium-sized companies were
moving into China, especially into the
eastern region. The chamber witnessed
a formidable upswing in the number of
members, from 40-50 to more than 130 in
two years.
The stability of the board of directors
has also contributed to the chamber’s
success. “It is a great advantage when you
have the same people on the board for a
long time and can keep a steady course. I
have seen the opposite in other chambers,
when new people have been elected, and
they suddenly change direction, leaving
everybody confused,” says Hägglund.
SERIOUSNESS IS IMPORTANT for a
chamber, according to Hägglund: “We can
have social activities, such as crayfish parties,
but the business-oriented activities have to
dominate.”
In 2005, Hägglund chose not to seek reelection as chairman, since he was leaving
his position as president of Sandvik China.
He, and Gren, are today honorary members
of the chamber.
Another China veteran, Mats Harborn,
was elected new chairman. He had just
returned after a few years in Sweden, now as
the head of Scania in China. He has witnessed
a steady growth in member companies, which
today number more than 200.
“Today, the chamber is a very respected
institution. Every time we meet Swedish
visitors or Chinese government officials we
note that they listen very carefully to what
we say,” says Harborn.
The chamber's three chairmen:
Anders Hägglund, Rolf
Gren and Mats Harborn.
From 27 to 200+ members
The Swedish Chamber of Commerce in China received formal recognition from the
Chinese authorities on 5 March, 1998. The grand opening was held on 10 May the
same year.
The first board consisted of Rolf Gren (chairman), Tommy Liu (vice chairman),
Johan Björkstén (general manager), Leif Engström (treasurer), Birger Lund, Frédéric
Cho, Jan Björk, Johan Andrén, Anders Hägglund and Mats Harborn.
During the first year, 30 founding members, 18 ordinary members and one
associate member joined the chamber.
In early 2008, the chamber had 210 ordinary members and 10 associate members.
19
COVER STORY
World’s fastest-growing economy
Over the past decade, China has made
enormous achievements and lifted
hundreds of million citizens out of
poverty.
Construction
is consistently
going on
everywhere in
China.
Ten years ago, the financial crisis was
sweeping Asia. It started in Thailand with
the collapse of the baht, and spread quickly
to Indonesia, South Korea, Hong Kong,
Malaysia, the Philippines, etc. China seemed
to be the only economy in the region that
was largely unaffected.
There were various reasons for that.
One was that the non-convertibility of
the renminbi (RMB) protected it from
currency speculators. Another was that,
unlike investments in many other southeast
Asian countries, almost all of China’s foreign
investment was in factories rather than
securities, which protected the country from
rapid capital flight.
What has happened since then is well
known. Foreign investment soared after
China opened its markets to join the World
Trade Organisation (WTO) in 2002, and the
country has been the world’s fastest growing
major economy, outpacing the United States
and far ahead of sluggish Japan.
The Chinese government has reformed
the economy from a Soviet-type centrally
planned economy to a more market-oriented
economy with a rapidly growing private
sector. China is today a major player in the
global economy. Since the reforms were
introduced, hundreds of millions of Chinese
citizens have been lifted out of poverty.
These are some of the milestones in
China’s development over the past decade:
- This year, China is expected to overtake
Germany to become the world’s thirdlargest economy behind the US and Japan
(nominal GDP, measured in exchangerate terms). If GDP is measured on a
purchasing power parity (PPP) basis,
China is already the second largest
economy in the world after the US.
- The annual gross domestic product
more than tripled from RMB7,940
billion in 1998 to 24,662 billion in 2007.
- The urban per capita disposable income
increased from RMB5,400 in 1998 to
13,400 in 2007.
- By 2006, China had become the
world’s third largest automotive vehicle
manufacturer after the US and Japan,
and is the second largest consumer
market for cars after the US.
- In 2007, China had the second largest
number of Internet users in the world,
Here is one of 500
million mobile
phone users in
China.
123 million compared to 205 million in
the US and 86 million in Japan.
- China has more mobile phone
subscribers than any other country. In
2007, there were more than 500 million
active accounts. China Mobile, the
world’s largest mobile phone operator,
has 350 million subscribers, which is
more than the whole population of the
United States.
An extraordinary development
Major economic indicators in China, 1998 and 2007
1998
Population (millions)
1.248
1.314
5,425
13,786
2,162
4,140
Gross domestic product (RMB bn)
7,940
24,662
Real GDP growth (yr/yr % change)
7.8
11.4
Exports (US$ bn)
184
1,218
Imports (US$ bn)
140
956
14.1
24.8
8.9
18.5
Consumer price index (yr/yr % change)
-0.8
4.8
Actual FDI inflows (US$ bn)
45.6
74.8
Urban per capita annual disposable income
(RMB)
Rural per capita annual disposable income
(RMB)
Overall fixed-asset investment growth (yr/yr %
change)
Value-added industrial growth (yr/yr %
change)
Sources: National Bureau of Statistics, Reuters
20
2007
The first Swedish owned business and industrial center in China is being built in Nanjing.
Phase 1 - 26 000 sqm modern office- and industrial facilities - ready May 2008.




Nanjing Scandinavian Industrial
Campus is a new, Swedish owned
business and industrial center with
modern offices and industrial
facilities for lease, and built-to-suit
facilities, located in Nanjing
Jiangning Science Park.
NSIC is also providing an easy, fast
and cost efficient way for SMEs to
start up and run a business in
China, by offering complete service
solutions, including market analysis,
company
establishment,
recruitment, accounting, order
administration etc.
Siemens, Motorola, Lear, FedEx,
Flextronics and many, many more.
Nanjing Lukou International airport
with several cargo flights per week
directly to Sweden as well as Asia’s
largest river port for bulk and
container traffic are only 25 km
away.
Nanjing Jiangning Science Park is
located in an expansive industrial
zone with more than 1700
international companies including
Ericsson, Ford, Fiat, Toshiba,
Mazda, Mitsubishi, Pepsi, Hitachi,
Nanjing, with a population of 7
million people is the capital of the
70 million large Jiangsu province in
the Yangtze River Delta, where the
majority of Swedish companies are
established today.
www.nsic.com.cn
|
[email protected]
With 38 universities and colleges,
400 000 students and more than
100 research centers, Nanjing is
also one of the fourth largest
university cities in China.
60 minutes with Winni Fejne
Putting Sweden on the
South China map
Eva Karlberg, Swedish Chamber of Commerce, [email protected]
Sweden’s new consul general to
Guangzhou, Winni Fejne, worked
with China issues for several years
at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs,
and promoting Swedish business is
high on her agenda.
All Swedes in South China have
joined the staff of the Consulate General in
welcoming Sweden’s new consul general to
Guangzhou, Winni Fejne.
The warm welcome she experienced is
the first thing she mentions when we meet
over breakfast in Hong Kong for this interview.
She feels as if a circle has closed, as she
was one of those at the Department for
Asia and the Pacific Region at the Ministry
for Foreign Affairs in Stockholm who was
responsible for working out Sweden’s initial strategy in South China, leading to the
establishment of the Consulate General in
Guangzhou. She was part of the delegation
that accompanied the then Minister for
Industry and Trade, Leif Pagrotsky, on 26
November, 2002, in Guangzhou to officiate
the opening of the new Consulate General.
The Swedish Trade Council formally opened
its South China office in Guangzhou at the
same time.
Winni Fejne arrived in South China
directly from her post as minister and deputy head of mission at the Swedish Embassy
in Dublin.
“In Dublin I often missed Sweden, but
since arriving here in China I haven’t missed
either Sweden or Ireland! On the train ride
into Hong Kong from Guangzhou I could
see companies like ABB and IKEA, which
22
feels just like home! Also, Chinese people
seem to like me, and I like them. As if we
laugh at the same things.”
Winni Fejne describes her time at the
Department for Asia and the Pacific Region
as very important and meaningful to her
– this is where she worked with China, Hong
Kong and Taiwan issues. She visited China
many times during that period and also
“Since arriving here in
China I haven’t missed
either Sweden or
Ireland!”
hosted many high-profile visits by Chinese
from China to Sweden. In the three years
she worked for the department, she closely
followed the meetings in Geneva that led to
China’s – and Taiwan’s – membership of the
World Trade Organisation (WTO).
At the same time, she was also taking
evening classes in Mandarin. “I have now
started taking private lessons in Mandarin
in Guangzhou, and have been told that I still
have a good pronunciation!”
Fejne grew up in Helsingborg, a city on
the south-west coast of Sweden. Music and
art was very much part of her upbringing,
and at one stage she even wanted to become
a professional pianist, but this did not happen because her father thought she should
have a “proper” education. But music has
always played an important role in her life,
and she even brought her accordion with
her to Guangzhou. One of her colleagues,
Lennart Nilsson, consul for economic and
trade affairs, plays the guitar. When the
Guangzhou International Radio Channel
was launched last February he put on a performance, and Fejne regretted that she had
not unpacked her accordion so that they
could play a duet. She believes that there will
be other opportunities ...
“Chinese people like the accordion,”
Fejne says, recalling how, in 1998, when
the Radisson SAS Hotel in Beijing was
inaugurated, “Outside the hotel 50 Chinese
girls formed a circle, and they all played the
accordion.” She calls it an “unforgettable”
experience.
The Fejne family always travelled a lot,
and she thinks that is why she has become
so international. She has a Masters Degree
in International Relations from The Johns
Hopkins University in Washington DC,
and her long diplomatic career has sent her
to places like Tokyo, San Francisco, New
York, Paris, Kuala Lumpur, London and
most recently to Dublin, before landing in
Guangzhou.
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60 minutes with Winni Fejne
In Dublin she worked closely with the
Swedish Chamber of Commerce as an honorary board member, and this is something
she hopes to continue doing in South China.
She is looking forward to promoting
Swedish business, know-how, and culture,
and facilitating the establishment of a
branch of the Chamber in South China. She
also wants to strengthen ties with the Nordic
representatives in Guangzhou. Finland and
Denmark are already present, and Norway
will open a Consulate General in early June
2008. The three Scandinavian countries are
now planning a unique joint celebration of
their national days.
The new consul general has a busy
schedule ahead, including several high-profile visits:
- An international conference on sister cities will be held later this year in
Guangzhou; a municipal delegation from
Linköping (Guangzhou’s sister city in
Sweden) has already visited.
- Music Export Sweden is focusing on
China 2008, and there will be many musicrelated happenings during the year.
- An exhibition of Chinese export porcelain is being planned for the autumn at the
Guangzhou Municipal Museum as a follow-
up to the East Indiaman Göteborg’s visit to
China in 2006.
In April 2008, Winni Fejne is looking forward to the opening of IKEA’s first
standard-sized store of nearly 32,000 square
metres in Shenzhen. In line with her aim
to promote Swedish business in this part of
the world, she will, of course, participate in
the ceremony. She also welcomes the first
Orrefors KostaBoda store in Guangzhou,
which will open in late April.
Both chambers in China and Hong
Kong wish Winni Fejne a warm welcome to
South China – and look forward to a long
and fruitful cooperation.
Winni Fejne’s personal
favourites
Restaurant in China: Shangri-La’s
Italian, Fishers’ Village in Panyu
(Chinese).
Food: Seafood at Fishers’ Village,
Japanese lunches.
Music: All kinds of jazz.
Person: “I like so many.”
Colour: Green, gold.
Hobby: Tennis, modern art.
A district of 220 million
The district of the Consulate General of Sweden in Guangzhou includes the provinces of
Guangdong, Fujian and Hainan, as well as the autonomous region of Guangxi, an area
with a population of around 220 million
Guangzhou is China’s third largest city. The average per-capita income in Guangdong
Province is US$4,000, and the province is China’s largest income source, with a GDP of
US$422 billion –12.5 per cent of the national total.
Around 70 Swedish companies operate in South China, but most Swedes are
concentrated in the Shenzhen area.
“Have you secured your
company’s future?”
“We are planning for the future right now. We
know we are pretty vulnerable since no
succession planning has been done since the
start of the company. Now we have started to
secure our future leadership by putting new
and potential managers into a leadership
training held by Henriksson.”
“We need people ready to step in when it’s
time for us “oldies” to leave or if something
unforeseen should happen.“
24
Henriksson is specialized in organization
development. We can support you in all
aspects of succession planning and
facilitate leadership training and coaching
for your staff on different levels.
Don’t hesitate to contact us to learn more
about how we can help secure your company’s
future.
S weden ´S leading buSineSS
law firm - i n C hina
M a n n h e i M e r S wa rt l i n g is a
full-service law firm with an extensive global
practice and assignments all over the world.
We combine the highest legal competence
ongoing matters
we are currently engaged in nordic acquisitions of Chinese
enterprises in China at a total transaction value of around
3.5 billion SeK. the transactions span over industries like
with industry know-how to offer our clients
aluminium, chemical, security products, metrology equipment
professional legal advice with added value.
and automotive supplies. also the firm is engaged in the
establishment of a number of foreign direct investments (FDis
both in the form of wFoes and Joint ventures) in industries
like mining, power (a power plant CDM project), automotive
supplies, chemicals, service industry, security products
and different trading activities. we are also engaged in the
restructuring (mergers and divisions) of existing FDis.
our China team has recently acted for a well known Swedish
what’s new?
brand in taking affirmative action against infringers of its
products and ip rights spread all over China.
hong Kong
in order to strengthen the current project team we have
both Swedish and english and fluent in Mandarin and French.
awards
nik comes from a prominent US law firm where he has been
l e a D i n g l aw Y e r S i n a S i a
recruited. nik Slingsby an english solicitor, native speaker in
an associate in the Mergers and acquisitions Department.
Before that he was working in london and Beijing.
lawyers from our offices have, three years in a row, been
recognized in the asialaw leading lawyers Survey in the
as of March this year legal consultant grace Yuan will be
categories M&a and general Corporate Commercial practice.
working in the hong Kong office instead of Shanghai office
as part of her internal training.
S w e D e n ’ S B e S t l aw F i r M 2 0 0 8
in the annual awards contest of Sweden’s best consulting
Shanghai
firms arranged by Swedish business weekly veckans affärer,
Karolina eriksson leaves Malmö to work at the Shanghai
Mannheimer Swartling was voted Best Swedish law Firm
office until august.
2008.
DevelopMent
M a n n h e i M e r S wa rt l i n g # 7 i n t h e w o r l D
all the legal staff in our Shanghai office in January attended a
i n i n t e r n at i o n a l a r B i t r at i o n
week-long training in Stockholm. in addition to learning more
also, a recently published report in global arbitration
about Swedish culture they were given in-depth training in
review describes 100 international law firms deemed to
M&a and banking and finance. they also visited the Supreme
have particular capacity, track record and experience. we are
Court, the Swedish Bar association and the arbitration
proud to note that Mannheimer Swartling ends up rated #7 in
institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce. the latter
the world after leading firms like Freshfields, white & Case,
playing a very important role in international arbitration
Clifford Chance and allen & overy and before several world
involving China related disputes.
class firms.
www.mannheimerswartling.se
Stockholm
Gothenburg
Malmö
Helsingborg
New York
Frankfurt
Berlin
St. Petersburg
Moscow
Brussels
Shanghai
Hong Kong
Meet the President
Excited about China
Text: Jan Hökerberg, Bamboo, [email protected]
Photo: Gerhard Jörén, [email protected]
“No other market in the world
is as exciting as China,” says
Torbjörn Yngwe Bäck, commercial
counsellor at the Swedish Trade
Council in China.
Torbjörn Yngwe Bäck will
always remember 2005 as a very special year.
He married his wife Anna, and the couple
moved into a new house in Bromma in
west Stockholm. Their first child, Amanda,
was born in the same year. If that were not
enough, in 2005 Torbjörn was appointed
commercial counsellor in China for the
Swedish Trade Council, and the family
moved to Beijing.
Yngwe Bäck (Yngwe is his family name
and Bäck is his wife’s surname) was born in
1971 in northern Sweden, but grew up in
Hammarö, an island in Lake Vänern, not
far from the city of Karlstad. He studied
in Göteborg and later in Linköping, where
he graduated in industrial engineering and
management.
After graduation, he wanted to use
his knowledge of Spanish, which he had
studied, and his experience from Latin
America, where he had done thesis work.
28
“I can go through details
and check that things
are correct, but I trust
people to handle things
by themselves ...”
He got a job working for Ericsson Latin
America, selling turn-key mobile phone
systems.
“They were good times. This was at the
end of the 1990s, and the market for mobile
phones was expanding rapidly,” says Yngwe
Bäck.
AFTER TWO YEARS, he wanted to broaden
his industrial knowledge, so he started out
as a consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers
(PwC) in Stockholm, working with business
development for different companies within
the telecommunications and other high-tech
industries, as well as for other industries and
the public sector.
Some time after he had joined PwC, its
worldwide management consulting business
was acquired by IBM. Yngwe Bäck’s area of
expertise shifted towards business process
outsourcing, which involved consultancy
and services to big companies that wanted
to move some of their services to low-cost
countries such as India.
One of his last big projects was to serve
as IBM’s project executive responsible for
the traffic congestion tax project in the city
of Stockholm. “It was a high-risk project,
but very exciting and politically very
interesting,” he says.
DURING THIS PERIOD, he was in touch
with a head-hunter, whom he told, “If you
find something interesting in China or
South America, I am prepared to move.”
After a few years, the head-hunter came up
with the job at the Swedish Trade Council
in Beijing.
Yngwe Bäck had been to Hong Kong
and Macau but never to mainland China.
His wife Anna had, however, been studying
Chinese at upper secondary school and she
had a huge amount of Chinese literature at
home. Born in Malaysia, both her father and
uncle were doing business in Asia.
When he arrived in Beijing, Yngwe Bäck
started to read a lot about Chinese business
and culture, and talked with business
people who had been living there for a long
time to try to understand the country and
culture better. Today, he thinks he has a
pretty good knowledge, even if he does not
speak the language. But at the same time, he
says, you will never understand it completely
and to know what you do not understand is
very important.
“In my position, I don’t really need
to speak Chinese. Our clients are mainly
Swedish and all our Chinese employees
speak good English,” he says.
His wife has adjusted well and works
as consultant for the telecom industry. The
couple’s second daughter, Olivia, was born
in September 2007.
Yngwe Bäck enjoys Beijing, especially
when the family get an opportunity to travel
together up into the nearby mountains.
“Having a picnic with coffee and
“If we ask for a meeting
with a Chinese official
or company executive,
we get the meeting
almost every time.”
pancakes on the Great Wall on a nice day in
the spring or autumn is really great!”
EVEN THOUGH HE GOES to Sweden at
least once a month, he has still had time for
holidays in the region. “Besides China, we
especially like Laos,” he says. “Laotian people
are nice and friendly and it is easy to travel
around on bicycles.”
Going from being a consultant to a
manager for four offices has been a smooth
process. “Besides being a project executive
at IBM and a group manager at PwC, I am
used to leadership from school, the army
and the university.”
He sees himself as a demanding
manager who also gives his staff freedom. “I
can go through details and check that things
are correct, but I trust people to handle
things by themselves so that I just do checkups. We do employee satisfaction surveys
each year and I come out well ...” he says.
Eight questions for Torbjörn Yngwe Bäck
The Swedish Trade Council is jointly
owned by the Swedish state and the
Confederation of Swedish Enterprise.
What does it mean to be regarded
as an official representative of the
country of Sweden?
“The purpose of the Swedish Trade
Council is to help Swedish companies
grow internationally. With this ownership
structure, we get easier access to decisionmakers. If we ask for a meeting with a
Chinese official or company executive, we
get the meeting almost every time.”
The Swedish Trade Council has grown
substantially in China, how much?
“That is correct. Five years ago, there
were about 25 of us, and today there are
55 altogether. We have offices in Beijing,
Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong.
The Shanghai office is the biggest Swedish
Trade Council office in the world.”
The most profitable also, I have heard ...
“It is not the goal of the Swedish Trade
Council to make a profit. Every profit we
make is reinvested in different activities.
Right now, we are developing different
types of industry programmes.”
Will you expand to more cities in
China?
“We are discussing whether to open
one or two more offices, for example in
western China. However, it is all about
whether Swedish companies need us to
establish there. If not, I would rather see an
expansion of our existing offices.”
The Swedish Trade Council offers three
categories of service: information,
consulting and promotion. Is the
consulting part your main activity?
“Yes, here in China consulting represents
around 75 per cent of our business.”
Who are your customers?
“Most of our customers are Swedish
small- and medium-sized enterprises but
we also do a lot of projects for Swedish
multinational companies. The Swedish
government is our biggest single customer.
We deliver plenty of information about
doing business in China and participate in
around 30 seminars about China annually
in Sweden.”
To a certain extent, the Swedish Trade
Council does the same job as other
Swedish companies in China that
offer help for companies to establish
themselves: sourcing and market
analysis, legal advice, etc. Do you
regard them as competitors?
“We do not really see it that way. We have
helped several of them to set up business in
China and have good relations with many
others. If we can work together to support
Swedish businesses do well in China it is
great!”
Are Swedish companies in general
too naive about China?
“They generally understand that just
because China is a market with 1.3 billion
people does not mean guaranteed success.
However, Swedes in general are perhaps
a bit blue-eyed in thinking good about
all people. It is a nice quality, but can
be costly. They can put all their efforts
together with just one Chinese partner
without even bringing in a credit report.
Many Swedes do not realise the extremely
tough competition. On the other hand, no
other market in the world is as exciting as
China!”
Facts about Torbjörn Yngwe Bäck
Born: In 1971 (Year of the Pig) in Umeå.
Family: Wife Anna, daughters Amanda,
two years, and Olivia, 6 months.
Residence: House in River Garden in
Beijing.
Education: Master of Science
in Industrial Engineering and
Management, Linköping University,
1996.
Career: Area Manager, Ericsson Latin
America, , 1996-1998; Management
Consultant, Pricewaterhouse Coopers,
Stockholm, 1998-2002; Business
Development Manager and Project
Executive , IBM Business Consulting
Services, Stockholm, 2002-2005;
Commercial Counsellor, Swedish Trade
Council, China, 2005-present.
29
Membership Updates
New Members
HONG KONG
ORDINARY MEMBERS
EK (China) Trading Ltd
Unit B, 11/F, Fung Commercial Centre
289 Hennessy Road
Wanchai
Hong Kong
Tel: +852 3106 5073
Fax: +852 2851 2527
Chamber representative
Linda Bjursten
General Manager
Line of business
Trading.
Fergas Asia Pacific HK Ltd
No H, 8/F, Haribest Industrial Building
45-47 Au Pui Wan Street
Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2690 2122
Fax: +852 2690 9944
Andrew Lee
General Manager
Line of business
Trading and manufacturing of metal blower wheels.
Hong Kong Science & Technology Parks Corporation
8/F, Bio-Informatics Centre, No.2, Science Park West
Avenue
Hong Kong Science Park, Shatin
N.T. Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2629 6830
Fax: +852 2664 2481
Web: www.hkstp.org
30
ICA Global Sourcing Ltd
1213-19, 12/F, Tower 3, China Hong Kong City
33 Canton Road
Kowloon N.T
Hong Kong
Tel: +852 3549 8200
Fax: +852 3549 8229
Web: www.ica.se
Thommy Jarlefelt
Managing Director
Hans Lööf
Manager Finance Administration
Line of business
Retail.
Markslöjd Lighting Group (HK) Ltd
Room 2602, 3-5a Arbuthnot Road
Central
Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2877 2833
Fax: +852 2877 1359
Web: www.markslojd.com
Chamber representatives
Kenny Carlsson
CEO Director
Lars-Göran Hansson
Buying & Production Manager
Line of business
The Group develops, produces and markets
lighting both for consumer and professional
use.
Navicura Ltd
803 Yue Xiu Building
160-174 Lockhart Road
Wanchai
Hong Kong
Tel: +852 8199 0975
Mobile: +46 70 555 82 51
Web: www.navicura.com
Ken Hui
Vice President
Erik Lindgren
CEO
Björn Segerblom
Overseas Representative
Line of business
Science park.
Carl Bäcklund
Director
Line of business
Product design, production, sourcing,
assembly, etc.
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Membership Updates
Precise Biometrics Asia Ltd
Room 2301, World Wide House
19, Des Voeux Road
Central
Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2546 3001
Fax: +46 46 311101
Web: www.precisebiometrics.com
Steven Tynan
Sales Director
Line of business
Biometry, fingerprint identification.
INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS
Dan Dia-Tsi-Tay
Swe-Dish Satellite Systems Asia Ltd
Room 103, 1/F, Stag Building
148-150 Queens Road Central
Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2815 7481
Fax: +852 2815 6256
Web: www.swe-dish.com
CHINA
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CPP (China Production Partner Ltd)
5E, Longyang Business Building
No. 1990, Longyang Road
Pudong District
Shanghai 201402
Tel: +86-21-5134 8868
Fax: +86-21-5134 8869
Web: www.chinprod.com, www.zrui.cn
Jan Lindblom
CEO
Moible: +86-136 5190 5232
Alexandre Lechère (Qingdao)
Chief Representative
Mobile:+86 1370 897 6500
Line of business
Manufacturing & manufacturing parts, supply
chain and sourcing.
32
HSF Wuxi Electro Mechanical Co, Ltd
Building 33, 130, Xixian Road
Wuxi New District
Wuxi, Jiangsu Province 214112
Tel: +86 510 8811 6200
Fax: +86 510 8811 6288
Web: www.hsfgroup.com
Tomas Welander
Quality Manager
Mobile: +86 159 6180 9731
Helen Xu
Supply Chain Manager
Mobile: +86 1370 1512 902
Line of business
To produce and sell electronic and mechanical
components; to produce and sell parts and components
for mobile telecommunication equipment; to provide
after-sales service.
i.a.d. Ltd
8 floor, Seaview Commercial Building
21-24 Connaught Road West
Hong Kong
Web: www.insite-ad.net
Felix Bonnier
Principal-in-charge
Mobile: +86 135 6070 1304
George Hung
Principal-in-charge
Mobile: +852 6392 5510
Line of business
Architecture, comprising building, interior,
landscaping and other building related consultancies.
Specializing in sustainable building concepts and design
for a greener cityscape.
LELO China
3-5 floor, No. 77, Suhong Middle Road
SIP, Singapore Industrial Park
Suzhou, Jiangsu Province 215027
Tel: +86 512-6258 8561
Fax: +86 512-6258 8562
Web: www.lelo.com
Johan Arrhenius
GM China
Mobile: +86 1391 8911 489
Get more out of
every last drop.
Diesel oil is expensive. And for every
in economical driving, transport informa-
rise in its price, the more profitable it be-
tion systems, tyre pressure monitoring,
comes to reduce fuel consumption. At
air deflector panels and aerodynamic
Volvo Trucks, our aim is to offer our cus-
wheel covers can all help reduce fuel
tomers the most fuel-efficient trucks on
consumption by between five and ten
the market. However, that’s not enough
percent. A major saving, for you and the
for us. We’ve also developed an entire
environment alike.
package of measures to help you reduce
Now that’s what we call environmental
your fuel bills still further. Driver training
efficiency.
volvo trucks. driving progress
www.volvotrucks.com.cn
Membership Updates
Eric Kalen
Product Manager
Mobile: +86 1377 6067 721
Curt Bergstrom
President
Mobile: +86 139 1071 0317
Line of business
LELO is a Sweden-based company, founded in
2003, devoted to the design and development of sensual
pleasure objects with contemporary luxury flair.
Audrey Lee
Vice President
Mobile: +86 139 1175 1233
Line of business
Education and consulting.
Mei Yedersome Ltd
Flat 10, Kinetic Industrial Centre
7, Wang Kwong Road
Kowloon Bay, Kowloon
Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2753 6788
Fax: +852 2753 6795
Skanska Project Support AB Shanghai Rep. Office
Room 1801, Hongyi Plaza
288, Jiujiang Road
Shanghai 200001
Tel: +86 21 3366 5212
Fax: +86 21 3366 5216
Web: www.skanska.com
Thomas Canguilhem
Managing Director
Mobile: +852 6033 0691
Michael Yue
Chief Representative
Mobile: +86 1592 155 5670
Line of business
Supply chain and distribution.
Perstorp AB Sweden
Perstorp AB
SE-284 80 Perstorp
Sweden
Tel: +46 435 38 000
Web site: www.perstorp.com
Line of business
Construction.
Soderberg & Partners Investment Consulting (Beijing)
Co, Ltd
22 floor, Sunflower Tower
No. 37, Maizidian Street
Beijing 100026
Tel: +86 10 8527 6399
Fax: +86 10 8527 5091
Web: www.soderbergpartners.cn
Peter Strunk (Zibo, Shandong)
General Manager
Mobile: +86 1396 4390 266
Chris O’Hehir
President & CEO
Mobile: +86 139 1169 9783
Zhao Dayang (Beijing)
General Manager
Mobile: +86 1370 1217 142
Line of business
World leader in several sectors of the
specialty chemicals market, with a turnover of 1.4 billion
USD and approximately 1,800 employees.
Henry Chengxiao Luan
Vice President & COO
Mobile: +86 139 1063 4673
Line of business
Insurance and financial consulting.
Sino Matters Ltd
Room 2105, Fuli Twins Tower A
59, Dongsanhuan Zhong Lu
Fulicheng, Chaoyang District
Beijing 100022
Tel: +86-10-5862 3286
Fax: +86-10-5862 3296
Web: www.sino-matters.com
34
ASSOCIATE MEMBERS
Fredrik Harfors
13A Floor, R&F Yinglong Plaza
76, Huangpu Dadao West
Guangzhou, Guangdong Province 510623
Tel: +86 20 3839 1234
Fax: +86 20 3839 1810
Mobile: +86 1367 2443 847
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Young Professionals
in Hong Kong
Young Professionals
in Hong Kong
YP Committee 2008
Young Professionals welcomes two new YP Committee members: Sara Gerdner
and Joakim Axelsson! We look forward to having you onboard and would also
like to thank Oskar Skiöld for all his work in the committee for the past years.
Sara Gerdner moved to Hong Kong July 2007 due to love and work. She has
previously lived two years in China (Guangzhou, Zhuhai) working for Maersk
Line, as well as spent four years in the US as a student. She will start working for
H&M in April.
Joakim Axelsson moved from Sweden 1998 and has been away ever since.
He came to Singapore in August 2005 and became the Chairman of the YP
of the Singapore Business Association of Singapore (SBAS) in January 2006.
Joakim was also in the board of the SBAS and moved to Hong Kong in July
2007. He works at Merrill Lynch.
The new committee for 2008 consists of: Joakim Axelsson, Anna Engström,
Sara Gerdner, Sara Hallström, Nick Jonow, Henrik Karlberg, Therese Touqet,
Christer Westberg, Sofia Wingren and Johanna Ahlgren.
April 12
April 16
Jaspas Junk!
Horse Racing even
ing
April 25 YP Af
ter Work Cocktai
l
April 26 Hike
& Lunch at Lamm
a
May 14
Pizza bake evenin
g & Ladies nite!
May 23
Tropical Spring Pa
rty
May 30
YP After Work C
ocktail
June 7
Jaspas Junk
June 21
Midsummer Junk
June 27
YP After Work C
ocktail
YP InterCham Valentines Cocktail
More than 400 YPs from 27 international chambers gathered at
Privé at Wyndham Street on 19 February for the 36th YP InterCham
Cocktail. The Canadian Chamber together with the Swiss and
Finnish Chamber organised the cocktail and the proceeds went to
Sowers Action.
We look forward to the next InterCham cocktail in September
2008.
36
YP Programme Spring 2008
Please find some of our planned activities here.
There will be some additional hikes and some
golf – invitations and more information will be
sent to all members!
Chamber Activities
in Hong Kong
Chamber Activities
in Hong Kong
Around Asia in eight hours
That Asia is an important and growing market is of
no surprise for the 100 companies that came to the
Swedish Trade Council (STC) seminars in Hongkong
and Singapore on 27 and 29 February. But in a
growing market with increased competition from
local actors where Sweden is losing market it is always
important to stay informed on the latest trends on
doing business in Asia.
Mattias Bergman, Sw
The Swedish Trade Council presented a recent
edish Trade
Council
survey with Swedish companies based in Asia. Almost
all companies believe that Asia will be more important
for the group company revenue and profit within
d
Jens Wernborg an
five years. China remains the most important market
Bengtsson (Doro),
From left: Fredrik
followed by Japan and South Korea, but now the
oth STC).
Margaret Leung (b
importance of India is growing quickly.
A large majority also feel that the local competition is
getting stronger where the main source of competition is
lower cost. That the local competitors had better client relations and
distribution channels were not surprising, but worth noticing was
the fact that many also see better products and services.
Based on 600 consulting assignments, STC presented the latest
trends in establishing, expansion as well as sourcing in Asia.
A summary of the presentation can be downloaded on www.
swedishtrade.se/hongkong
APC's Per Åg
Stefan Arenba
lk (STC) and
the chairman
the Swedish Ch
of
amber in Hon
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STC
Breakfast meeting with Klas Molin
The Chamber held a round-table-discussion over breakfast in
connection with the visit to Hong Kong by Klas Molin, deputy
director-general and head of Department for Asia and the Pacific
Region, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sweden. The topic for the
discussion was “Asia now has two giants: the Elephant and the Dragon
– what does this mean for Swedish foreign policy and Swedish trade
and Industry?”
Geodis Wilson – your Nordic link
and a more interesting partner
You know your business perfectly and with
us as your logistics partner you can focus
on it and feel comfortable in knowing that
with 164 years of experience it’s fair to claim
that we know our business too.
Geodis Wilson is not only the Nordic regions
largest logistic provider, we also have a pretty
fair share of the world with 4 600 employees in
44 countries. To you our Nordic origin, Wilson
started out with Steamboats from Hull-Gothenburg
in 1844, will signify a reliable partner who knows
all about the specifics for Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark. We keep twelve offices in China
today to cover your needs for logistics and our sea,
air and sea-air freights combined with our value
add-ons like storage, packing and our powerful
e-services for monitoring and track&tracing makes
us preferred partner for countless companies in the
region with door-to-door solutions in every country. We spread Nordic light on Chinese efficiency
– combined we strengthen your business!
Geodis Wilson – a Swedish logistics partner with
competitive powerful solutions for sea, air and
sea-air freight.
Geodis Wilson- general company information
Geodis Wilson makes customers more competitive
by delivering their cargo across five continents by
sea and air and by making their supply chain transparent and easy to manage. Geodis Wilson has
4,600 employees in 44 countries.
Geodis Wilson is the result of the merger between
Geodis Overseas and TNT Freight Management, a
164-year-old company formerly known as Wilson
Logistics. It is the freight management expert of the
Geodis Group, a global logistics provider with 26,000
employees in a network covering 120 countries.
Website address: www.geodiswilson.com
Chamber Activities
in Hong Kong
US going bust – what happens with China?
Handelsbanken and the Chamber hosted a luncheon with KA Mork,
chief economist at Handelsbanken Norway, at The China Club, 25
February 2008:
US recessions are an unpleasant thing, though pretty normal.
We’ve seen recessions in 1975, 1980, 1991 and 2002. The signs of the
recession mainly consist of decreasing housing starts, lower house
prices and increasing unemployment rate.
The biggest problem for China is not US recession but domestic
inflation. This is, according to Mork, basically caused by a tightening
labour market, an undervalued currency and a high growth in
money supply.
The way the Chinese authorities try to handle this situation is
through price control, credit control and reserve requirements for
banks. The question is if this is braking too hard or not. There is a
political risk either way. So is the high inflation here to stay?
Mork saw three possible outcomes:
Most comfortable one
• Only slight Chinese slowdown
• US restarts spending
• But then new problems with inflation and additional problems
within five years will arise.
Healthiest, but most painful one
• China tightens to stop inflation
• Sharp and deep US recession
• Healthy restart with non-inflationary growth and an end of
global imbalances
What Mr Mork fears the most
• China gets stuck with 7 per cent inflation
• Global inflation pressures
• US enters the Japanese trap
Which one of these possible outcomes would be the most
possible one, he didn’t reveal ...
mer
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Thank you, Jens!
The Swedish Chamber in Hong Kong congratulates Jens Wernborg
to his new position at the Swedish Trade Council in Mumbai, India.
At the same time, the Chamber wishes to extend its appreciation
for a very good collaboration during Jens’ many years as general
manager of STC South China.
to India.
Jens Wernborg moves
40
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Young Professionals
in China
Young Professionals
in China
Welcome back to Beijing
We at the Young Professionals’ committee are
looking forward to a great 2008 with many exciting
networking opportunities. We started off with a
mingle night at “Song Music Bar and Kitchen”
and a ski-trip to Nanshan ski resort. But there
will be much more to look forward to, including a
football tournament, trekking, a BBQ beach party,
a midsummer party and of course more mingle
nights.
If you are not a yet a member of the Young
Professionals in Beijing, just drop us an e-mail at
[email protected], and take part in
the fun.
1
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Johanna Atterby, Angelica Lejonberg, Jannicke Tibell and Sigrid (all students).
Jojje and Jerome Mcdonagh (both students).
Morten (Sellaeg) and Ali Nosrati (the Dowdy fourhundred).
Rurik Nyström (RedBang), Urban (consultant) and Tobias Nilsson (Ciao Coffee).
Christian Richtnér (Montpelier Nordic) and Eskil Hällström (student).
3
4
Thrilling activities in Shanghai
The Young Professionals in Shanghai have over the past several
months given many opportunities for members to socialise, network
and exchange valuable experiences about working and living in
China.
YP have arranged events on interesting topics, such as female
entrepreneurship, environmental issues and the science of feng shui.
The event on environmental issues was especially successful because
of the many participants and because it resulted in 100 new trees to
be planted in the Mongolian desert.
For those fond of high-speed racing, a day on the go-cart tracks
was arranged during the fall. The movie evening with “glögg”
and ginger bread, just weeks before Christmas, was also a much
appreciated event.
More interesting events and thrilling activities are planned for
this coming spring. If you are interested in participating and want
Fredrik Guitman (YP committee) and Joakim
Andersson.
42
2
5
to get more information, please send an e-mail to: ypshanghai@
swedishchamber.com.cn and we will add you to our mailing list. You
can also find us on Facebook under “Swedish Young Professionals,
Shanghai”.
Movie night, Ett öga rött (One Eye Red), followed by a dinner at Arugla.
Maria Rodin and
Frida Axell (both
YP committee).
Johan Wikander, Sofia Persson and Per Hellberg.
Lina Svedlund (YP committee), Akreim Abdu and
Erik Johansson.
A qualified
banking partner
When your Nordic-related business needs
a financial provider in China – just contact
Swedbank Shanghai.
Swedbank, the first Nordic bank in Shanghai, has upgraded its
representative office to a full bank branch.
We offer a comprehensive array of financial services to meet your
specific business needs. The branch provides Nordic companies
with full lending and deposit-taking services in foreign currencies,
as well as trade finance, treasury and payment services. Through
partner banks we can also arrange financial solutions in reminbi.
Tel: +86 21 386 126 00 Fax: +86 21 386 127 11
[email protected] www.swedbank.cn
Chamber Activities
in China
Chamber Activities
in Beijing
1. Isabel Borén (Volvo) reading Dragon News during a coffee
break.
2. Marie Wennberg (Standards), Johan Björkstén (Eastwei)
and Tobias Larsson.
3. Scott Kronick from Ogilvy.
4. Patrik Bernstein (Semcon) and Sara Wramner (Oriflame).
5. Thomas Jönsson, speaker from Nokia
PR and marketing seminar
On 28 February, the Swedish Chamber in Beijing arranged an inspiring PR
seminar with two outstanding communication experts, Thomas Jönsson, who
is responsible for Nokia’s communications in all regions across the world, and
Scott Kronick, who has spent 22 years in the public relations industry in New
York, Taiwan and China. Thanks to their presentation skills and professional
knowledge the participants were boosted with new ideas and perspectives when
they left the seminar that morning.
1
2
3
4
5
Breakfast meeting with Ola Alterå
The Swedish state secretary, Ola Alterå, held a breakfast meeting
in Beijing on 27 February. He was invited to China by SASAC Vice
Minister Li Wei who visited Sweden last year. The presentation was
very informative and a broad-ranging questions and answers session
took place after the presentation.
2
1
44
1. Leif Chen (SinoNordic) and Jan Szaruk (Elcoteq).
2. Ola Alterå.
BALtrans
Logistics
(Sweden) AB
• Shipping & Airfreight
(Scandinavia vs worldwide)
• Worldwide network
• Total Logistics Service
• Scandinavian staff in Far East
We have the products, experience and knowledge to
execute your transport needs in a cost-effective manner.
BALtrans Logistics (Sweden) AB
Stigbergsliden 5, SE-414 63 Gothenburg, Sweden
Tel: +46-31-14 11 11 Fax: +46-31-14 11 12
Web: www.baltrans.com
There is no substitute for experience.
We offer 20 years’ specialist advice on expat relocation
and housing requirements in Hong Kong.
For more information, visit us online:
www.HouseHunters.com.hk
Or contact our Consultants
For professional and friendly service:
Tel. (852) 2869 1001
Our Hong Kong contact details:
Caroline Ergetie Tel. (852) 9462 3889
BALtrans Logistics (Hong Kong) Ltd
8/F Tower A, New Mandarin Plaza, 14 Science Museum Road
Tsim Sha Tsui East, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Direct Line: (852) 2798-1902 Mobile: (852) 9772-2103
Fax: (852) 2755-3405 E-mail: [email protected]
House Hunters Ltd
7B Wyndham Place, 44 Wyndham Street, Central, Hong Kong
Tel. (852) 2869 1001 – Fax : (852) 2526 7159
Email : [email protected]
Web Site : www.HouseHunters.com.hk
License : C-005468
Chamber Activities
in China
Breakfast meeting with Knut Anton Mork
Thanks to Handelsbanken, the chamber had the
pleasure to host Dr Knut Anton Mork, chief economist
at Handelsbanken in Norway, as a guest speaker at a
breakfast meeting on 29 February. Dr. Mork’s research
areas are macroeconomics and energy economics.
He is internationally recognised for his contributions
to the understanding of oil price shocks and their
effects on macroeconomic performance. This morning
he presented his point of view on "Recession or
Stagflation? US going bust – what happens to China?”
Dr Knut Anton Mork and Johan Andrén (both Handelsbanken).
Labour law seminar
Luka Lu, managing partner of Capital Associates, conducted
a seminar with the chamber about labour law in theory
and in practice and why you need to implement it in your
organisation. Luka Lu’s rich experience on legal issues related to
foreign investment in China was striking, and she delivered her
message clearly and informatively.
Luka Lu, speaker and managing partner of Capital Associates.
Mingyu Wang (Syntronic) and Emma Ho (Access People) chatting and
exchanging name cards.
JOHNNY’S PHOTO & VIDEO SUPPLY LTD
• Photographic Equipment
• Video/Audio Hi-Fi Equipment
• Home Appliances
• Colour Film Processing/Enlargement
• Audio/Video Dubbing Services
• Communication Equipment
• Electronic Equipment
• Repairing Services
• Mail Order Acceptable
Round table discussion.
Shop No.65, 1/F, Admiralty Centre, 18 Harcourt Road, Hong Kong
Tel: 852-2877-2227 Fax: 852-2877-2120
Mobile: 9051-9499 E-mail: [email protected]
Opening Hour:
46
Mon – Sat 9:00am – 7:00pm
Sunday 2:00pm – 6:00pm
Chamber Activities
in China
Chamber Activities
in Shanghai
Recent changes in Chinese tax law in 2008
Summary of presentation by Mathias Müller, tax consultant at Rödl
& Partner Shanghai, at Radisson New World in Shanghai, 29 January
2008:
At the end of last year, the State Council published the keenly
awaited Implementation Rules of the new corporate income tax
law in China. Although the implementation rules do not answer all
outstanding questions, they do provide guidance on many issues
such as withholding taxes, transfer pricing, and the concepts of
“permanent establishment” and “effective management”.
Mathias Müller, head of the local tax team in Rödl & Partner
Shanghai – a globally active German professional services firm
which is specialised in the areas of auditing, tax, and legal services
– gave a short seminar on issues chamber members may be facing
in relation to the new corporate tax law and its recently published
implementation rules.
The lecture covered not only general topics such as the newly
applicable tax rates for entities in China and the further use of tax
holidays, but also gave an overview of the treatment of withholding
taxes, management and service fees as well as that of international
holding structures via Hong Kong and Singapore.
The seminar focused on the transfer price documentation
Experience Sharing Forum on supply chain issues
On 19 February, the Swedish Chamber welcomed members to
the first Experience Sharing Forum in 2008. Representatives of
member companies were invited to Restaurant Mesa-Manifesto at
Julu Road to discuss and share their experiences with supply chain
management and sourcing in China.
Torbjörn Sternsjö, general manager of Sapa, lead the forum with
a panel from Establish Ltd.
requirements and the organization of tax accounting and
compliance. Members enjoyed the practical approach by the Rödl
& Partner team. During the Q&A session, participants got more
information on current local VAT issues as well as on other legal
issues in China. Müller concluded his presentation with an outlook
on outstanding tax regulations and a precise summary of corporate
restructuring issues.
Mathias Muller from Rödl
& Partner is happy with the
strong interest in the seminar.
Åke and Lisa Wetterström from the new
member company, LaserMaxRoll.
Multicultural understanding attracted many
A seminar on “Multicultural Understanding and Efficiency”
on 21 February at Radisson New World attracted more than 60
participants. Once again, member companies and others showed
great interest.
Lawrence Lo, who is the founder of LHY Etiquette Consultancy
in Shanghai, offered participants interesting insights into identifying
cross-cultural misunderstandings in the work place.
Western and Chinese differences in thinking were explained,
as well as ways to adapt, manage and persevere in a problematic
multicultural work environment.
1
One of Lawrence Lo’s “illustrations”.
2
48
1. Chris Meng
from Arvid
Nilsson
Logistics shares
her experiences
with ...
2. ... David Jiang
from Scania ...
Educated and raised in the US and
Europe, Laawrence shared his experiences from a multicultural point of view.
More than 60 per cent
of the participants were
Chinese employees who
came to listen to this
lecture on how to deal
with diversity at the
place of work.
Swedish Chamber of Commerce
Create a slogan – win
champagne!
Most companies have a slogan. Two well-known examples are “Just
do it” and “Connecting People”. A good slogan should reflect the
mission and culture of the organisation.
The Swedish Chamber of Commerce in China’s mission is “to
add value to members through activities and information that are
hard for individual companies to arrange” – a nice ambition which
we would like to communicate more clearly. We want to develop a
slogan that brings this idea across in a short, clear and memorable
way. We ask all of our members to come up with suggestions
and ideas. The winning idea will be rewarded with a bottle of
champagne!
Looking forward to your suggestions!
Goodbye Camilla - Welcome
Karin!
Dear Members, Colleagues, Readers and Friends,
After a little bit more than four years in
China, it is time for me to return to Sweden.
Therefore, I would like to take this opportunity
to say goodbye to all of you and to thank you for
having made my stay in Beijing and my daily life
in the chamber so rich in so many ways. For sure,
this has been a most exciting time in my life, and Camilla König
these years the most enriching, with dynamic
Ekegren
committee meetings, chatty phone calls, inspiring
events, networking opportunities and an ever-changing working
environment. Fantastic colleagues and always supportive chamber
boards! I feel extremely privileged having worked in the chamber.
I proudly introduce you to my successor,
Karin Roos, who has gradually started work
already as Member Service and Sales Manager
at the Swedish Chamber of Beijing. Karin has
lived in China for a year and a half and has a
background in service and sales. Please take care
of her as nicely as you took care of me.
Hope to see you sometime soon in Sweden!
Karin Roos
Camilla König Ekegren
A new team member
The Swedish Chamber of
Commerce in Hong Kong warmly
welcomes Lotta Josefsson to her
new position as Project Manager at
the Chamber. She is an important
addition to our small team at the
Chamber office – and we look
forward to working together!
Eva Karlberg and Johanna
Ahlgren
DIRECTORS OF THE BOARD
Thomas Lagerqvist, Chairman [Mannheimer Swartling]
Johan Adler,Vice Chairman [Ericsson Ltd]
Eva Iding,Vice Chairman [Gekko Ltd]
Göran Stille, Treasurer [Svenska Handelsbanken]
Björn Ekegren [Scandinavian Airlines System]
Stefan Holmqvist [Scan Logistics (HK) Ltd]
Staffan Löfgren [ScanAsia Consulting Ltd]
Stefan Rönnquist [The Tomorrow Group Ltd]
Hans Ström [Envac Far East Ltd]
DIRECTORS OF THE BOARD
Mats Harborn, Chairman [Scania]
Johan Björkstén,Vice Chairman [Eastwei Relations]
Carl Christensson,Vice Chairman [SEB]
Tommy Liu,Vice Chairman [Spiro SA]
Johan Andrén [Svenska Handelsbanken]
Lovisa Bergendal [APLDI]
Åke Fahlén [Shanghai Ericsson Simtek Electronics]
Michael Jiang [Ericsson (China) Co., Ltd]
Magnus Johansson [SKF]
Sara Wramner [Oriflame]
50
Lotta Josefsson
“For Scandinavians –by Scandinavians”
H E LPI NG YOU ACH I EVE
YOUR FINANCIAL GOALS
– Providing Independent Advice and Tailor-Made Solutions
RETIREMENT PLANNING – PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT – HEALTH AND LIFE ASSURANCES –
TAX PLANNING FOR EXPATRIATES – OFFSHORE COMPANY FORMATION – OFFSHORE BANK
ACCOUNTS – TRUSTS STRUCTURES – FIXED INTEREST/GUARANTEED PRODUCTS
CONTACT US FOR A FREE CONSULTATION:
CUSTOMER SUPPORT FAR EAST
Montpelier Nordic Ltd Shanghai Rep. Office
1801, Plaza 66, Tower 1, 1266 Nanjing West Road
Shanghai, China 200040
T: +86 21 6288 0558 F: +86 21 6288 0259
Email: [email protected]
FINANCIAL ADVICE, WEALTH MANAGEMENT & TAX PLANNING
WWW.MONTPELIERNORDIC.COM
MONTPELIER NORDIC IS A PART OF THE MONTPELIER GROUP, A LEADING INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION
FOR WEALTH MANAGEMENT & TAX PLANNING WITH 350 EMPLOYEES IN 15 COUNTRIES.
BANGKOK · BEIJING · BRUSSELS · DUBAI · HO CHI MINH · GENEVA · HANOI · HONG KONG · ISLE OF MAN · KUALA LUMPUR
· LABUAN · LISBON · LONDON (13 OFFICES IN UK) · MOSCOW · PARIS · PENANG · PHUKET · SHANGHAI · TOKYO
Bättre.
No one flies to Scandinavia more often than we do. From Beijing we fly
13 times a week, and from Bangkok 6 times a week. Connections are
available from Hong Kong and 28 cities in mainland China. Check out all
our destinations and timetables at flysas.cn or flysas.hk. By the way,
Bättre means “better” in Swedish – as in, Economy Extra, our premium
economy class, means a separate cabin with better seats, better food,
better service and so on.
!
e
c
i
r
P
e
m
Sa
.
China
n
i
s
e
ti
28 ci
From
Copenhagen Stockholm Oslo Helsinki Gothenburg Hamburg Hannover
flysas.cn or flysas.hk For flight booking call the Scandinavian Airlines offices in
Beijing (010) 8527 6100, Shanghai (021) 5228 5001, Hong Kong +852 2865 1370.

news dragon - Swedish Chamber of Commerce in China

Transcription

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