China direct

Obama in Asia: a new relationship?

Herewith a joint policy note from our Washington DC and Beijing offices on the forthcoming US Presidential visit to Asia Pacific (14-17 November).

We welcome your comments and feedback!

Download Obama in Asia - CBI Policy note 13.11.09

China's 3rd Q statistics - implications for business

Beijing published its 3rd quarter trade statistics yesterday and the World Bank, BNP Paribas and Morgan Stanley were on hand with an assessment of what these figures might mean for business.

They also highlighted some incumbent risks and policy recommendations.

Here are some of China Direct's headlines:

• Year-On-Year growth for 2009 is likely to be up to 10%
• 2010 forecast could be higher with Andy Rothman's CLSA not expecting any tightening of economic policy until the second half of 2010.
• Ardo Hansson, Chief Economist at The World Bank in Beijing, has upgraded China's growth from 8.4% to 8.7% for the year to October
• Inflation has not been an issue in 2009 but if stimulus lending and investment continues unchecked then this could be a serious problem in 2010.
• More than 10 trillion RMB of credit - or 30% of GDP - has been issued in 2009
• Economic fundamentals still look good with commodities, auto and, most recently, property leading growth
• A united call by BNP Paribas, the World Bank and Morgan Stanley for the Chinese leadership to "seize the moment" and implement medium term reforms such as pensions, healthcare and increasing private business loans, in order to address current structural imbalances.
• Chen Xingdong, Chief Economist at BNP, does not anticipate any fall in growth until 2011 at the earliest.
• There is chronic overcapacity in 14 of China's 20 strategic industrial sectors. This has led to mass under-employment and this must be addressed urgently in order to avoid future social instability. More than 43 million workers were laid off in Guangdong in early 2009 - 20 million more than first reported.
• Domestic consumption is less than 35% of GDP - the lowest of any developing country. The service sector is also less than 40%. Huge potential for growth and restructuring.
• External demand for China's export driven goods and services has dried up as US consumer demand has dropped from 4% to less than 2% in 2009.
• Restructuring is required now so that the new leadership in 2012 is able to focus on issues such as climate change.
• Increasing US-China trade spats forecast as US domestic unemployment continues to skyrocket beyond 10%.
• Finally, please watch this space for a joint "thought piece" article from the Washington DC and Beijing CBI offices on President Obama's forthcoming visit to Asia Pacific and China (14-17 Nov). 

 

Shanghai EXPO 2010 - website launch and new information for business

DATE FOR YOUR DIARY!

The long awaited website that will, it is hoped, provide UK business with practical information regarding the UK Pavilion and Shanghai EXPO 2010 will be launched by UKTI's Chief Executive, Sir Andrew Cahn, on Friday 20th November in Shanghai.

China Direct can inform you that the JW Marriott Tomorrow Square will be offering good value room rates for the duration of EXPO and is a 5 minute taxi ride from Xintiandi Metro Line 13 - running direct to the EXPO PARK. Details of other hotels offering good rates will be published on the new website shortly.

Please contact Lily Han (lily.han@fco.gov.uk) directly to review the JW Marriott rates.

Kindly note that the first week of EXPO (April 30th - May 4th 2010) is likely to be very busy.

All 5 key sponsors (AstraZeneca, Barclays, BP, Diageo and GKN) of the UK Pavilion are CBI member companies so please contact China Direct to stay informed and up to date as to the latest EXPO developments.

Some EXPO headlines:

Opening Date: Friday 30th April

UK National Day: Wednesday 8th September

Monthly Priority Sectors:

May: UKTI Priority Sectors: Creative Industries, Consumer Goods

June: ICT, Construction, Auto/Marine/Aerospace/Airports/Engineering

July: Life Sciences

August: Environment, Energy & Water, Climate Change

Sept: Financial, Legal & Business Services

Oct: Education/Training

CBI members triumph at annual BBA in Beijing

CBI member companies BENOY and HSBC won the Company of the Year and Green Company of the Year awards respectively at the 2nd annual BBA (British Business Awards) earlier this week in Beijing.

Other winners included Ecotek, the BBC's World Service, Queen Mary University and Professor Li Shirong.

Download BBA 2009 Press Release 04.11.09

A Chinese language Press Release can be downloaded direct from our website here.

Next year's BBA will take place in Shanghai on 08 Sept 2010 to coincide with both Shanghai EXPO 2010 and the UK's chosen National Day for the EXPO.

China and Climate Change - everybody's business

Dr. Neil Bentley’s 5 day visit saw him engage with key climate change policymakers and member companies (Tesco, Standard Chartered, Siemens, BP & British Airways) in Beijing before flying to Chongqing for a live online interview with local news station Chongqing Net (www.cqnews.net) and key meetings with local business and government representatives.

 

A speech to members of the local British and European business community, high level meeting with the Guangdong Economic and Information Commission and a lecture to students at Guangzhou’s prestigious Zhongshan University topped off a packed week in China.

 

His final day in Hong Kong saw Dr. Bentley present to the Hong Kong General Chamber and board Aviva’s solar and wind powered Junk for a tour of Hong Kong harbour, ending up at Aviva’s offices in Quarry Bay. Other key member meetings included calls on SJ Berwin, the Prudential and Arup.

 

Clearly there are plenty of practical opportunities for UK and international CBI members to provide green technologies to China and support its transition to a low carbon economy however much still needs to be done to ensure that carbon emissions are properly and accurately measured and a price for carbon set.

 

For more information about Dr. Bentley's visit please either contact the Beijing office directly or log on to http://climatechange.cbi.org.uk

CBI Climate Change Director to visit China (26-30 Oct)

Dr. Neil Bentley, Head of the CBI's Business Environment Directorate, will be in China from 26-30 October, visiting Beijing, Chongqing, Guangzhou and Hong Kong during his 5 day trip.

There will be plenty of member engagement and a good opportunity for Dr. Bentley to assess the mood of business and government on climate change in China in the countdown to Copenhagen.

In addition to a EUCCC breakfast seminar in Beijing there will be speaking engagements in Guangzhou at both the British Chamber and Sun Yat Sen University before taking to a solar powered junk in Hong Kong harbour to promote the climate change message on Dr. Bentley's final day in the PRC.

Dr. Bentley will be reinforcing key messages of the CBI's climate change task force whilst setting out clearly the business agenda for the UK - and ultimately China - pre-Copenhagen.

You can follow the CBI's Climate Change team on Twitter and via their interactive website.

The CBI's Beijing office has also published a briefing on

A diamond is forever? Some notes on China at 60

My apologies for the lack of content for the past week or so however I've been in the UK and Brussels this week meeting members and attempting to win new recruits.

Some comments.

The worst of the economic downturn seems to now be behind our UK members although the airline industry is predicting a dire 2010.

Manufacturers in Birmingham appear to be more positive about prospects for the next year and professional service providers (legal, accountancy and consulting firms) are seeing their business pipelines begin to fill once again.

According to Patent & Trade Mark attorneys Forresters the Chinese company Huawei registered some 800+ international patents in 2009 - the most of any company in the world.

Clearly China is seeking overseas engagement and investment on an even greater scale - and UK Plc should be ready to supply this new potential market.

I touch on this theme and several others, notably climate change and the state of the Chinese state at 60 in the following article, a version of which I presented to our members at a CBI luncheon hosted by Clarke Willmott today.

Please read on for my speech "A diamond is forever? The CCP at sixty"

Download A diamond is forever...the CCP at 60 

JCCR 09 - 13,000 RMB raised for Sichuan Kindergarten

For those of you who have been following my cycling exploits (see previous blog entries) I have raised 13,000 RMB (approximately 1300 GBP) for the Guangji Kindergarten, a private school that was devastated by the May 12th Sichuan earthquake.

I was unable to visit the Kindergarten over the current Mid-Autumn Festival but hope to get to Chengdu and then Guangji in November.

If you wish to donate then please visit the Sichuan Quake Relief website and give via Ammado.

Thank you very much once again for your support.

Recent lobbying success - BA granted additional Shanghai landing slot

The CBI's China office notched up a recent lobbying success in Shanghai with the granting of a Friday departure slot to British Airways (BA).

Following behind-the-scenes lobbying both in China and the UK Martin Broughton, BA Chairman (and former CBI President), lobbied Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng in Sept 08 during a brief visit to China.

A visit by UK Transport Minister Lord Adonis to China in August 09 provided the perfect platform for further engagement with the National Aviation authorities to further BA's case for its Regional GM Kevin McQuillan.

We were delighted to learn that the landing slot application was approved and should be ready for passengers wishing to fly to London Heathrow from December.

For more information regarding the new BA departure from Pudong airport and other related deals (purchase a BA business class ticket before Oct 16th and have an automatic oneway upgrade to First class - valid until March 2010) please contact either Kevin Mcquillan (kevin.mcquillan@ba.com) or Nathan Zhang (nathan.zhang@ba.com) directly.

British Business Awards in China - the Finalists

The thirty finalists of the 2009 British Business Awards were announced at a packed event last week here in central Beijing.

Among the finalists all vying for the coveted award in their category were a good spread of CBI members including ARUP, CBRE, HSBC and EVERSHEDS for Green Company of the Year; AIRBUS & GKN for Right Partner of the Year; ROUSE & Co for Innovative Product of the Year and ATKINS, BENOY and TESCO for Company of the Year.

Online voting will continue until October 9th with the Awards Ceremony taking place on Tuesday 2nd November in Beijing.

For more information or to purchase tickets for the gala dinner please visit: www.britishbusinessawards.cn

The BBA, now into its second successful year, will be held in Shanghai in 2010 to coincide with the EXPO.

A full BBA press release with details of all finalists can be accessed below.

Download British Business Awards - Finalists - Press Release