China Direct

Celebrating CBI member success in China: February and March 2013

 

A number of CBI members were busy raising their profile in China in February and March, engaging in many exciting activities across a wide range of industries.

Please click here to access our latest briefing, which highlights the recent successes of 48 CBI members.

In the latest update we have added a hot-link to sector-specific updates on the front page.

If your company has not been included our apologies and we look forward to including your success in our next update.

A very happy Easter to you all from the CBI's Beijing team.

Faithful + Gould appoints Barry Piper COO of Asia Pacific Region

 

Faithful + Gould, a member of CBI member Atkins, recently announced the promotion of Barry Piper to Chief Operating Officer of its Asia Pacific business. Barry also joins the worldwide board of Faithful + Gould.

Barry has had a 28-year career in planning and delivering projects. During his 24 years with Faithful + Gould, he has spent 17 years in the growth of the company's Hong Kong and mainland China businesses. Barry is the founding head of Faithful + Gould's mainland China business.

Commenting on his new role, Barry said, "We are a world leading Project Management and Commercial Services Consultancy, in China we are probably the largest provider of Sustainability and Energy Services, and I am excited to be taking on the challenge of spearheading at the time when we are celebrating 75 years of design engineering and project management excellence."

He also said, "We have made huge progress over the past 25 years in Asia, and I look forward to building on that success by delivering greater profitable growth from our existing markets by focusing on our key growth markets of Singapore and China and also realising new opportunities as we grow our
presence in the APAC region."

 

EUCCC annual European Business position paper launched in China

 

[Image courtesy of www.europeanchamber.com.cn]

Late last week The European Union Chamber of Commerce in China (EUCCC) released its European Business in China Position Paper 2012/2013.

The Position Paper intends to provide an overview of the current conditions in various sectors in China as well as detailed and constructive recommendations.

The 13th edition of the Position Paper was prepared through a six-month consultative process with hundreds of companies and includes 41 separate Working Group and Forum papers and eight city-specific papers covering Beijing, Chengdu, Chongqing, Nanjing, Pearl River Delta, Shanghai, Shenyang, and Tianjin).

Sectors covered include:

     • Aerospace
     • Agriculture, food, and beverages
     • Automotive
     • Auto components
     • Aviation
     • Banking and securities
     • Carbon market
     • Construction
     • Consumer finance and non-banking financial institutions
     • Cosmetics
     • Energy
     • Healthcare equipment
     • Heating
     • Information and communication technology
     • Information security industry
     • Insurance
     • Lighting
     • Logistics
     • Maritime transport
     • Non-ferrous metals
     • Petrochemicals, chemicals, and refining
     • Pharmaceutical
     • Private equity and strategic mergers & acquisitions
     • Rail
     • Renewable energy
     • Smart grid

Please click here to access the Executive Summary of the Position Paper and here for the full publication.

Atkins wins design prize in Nanjing and designs CBD in Karamay, Xinjiang

[Image courtesy of www.atkins.com]

CBI member Atkins' landscape team recently won the first prize of the Nanjing Yangtze river waterfront international competition.

Atkins designed a brand new waterfront and gateway to Nanjing, where the Youth Olympic Games will be held in 2014. The waterfront stretches 30 kilometres from Hexi New Town to Yanziji New town.

Atkins is also planning and designing the new Central Business District (CBD) in Karamay in northwestern China. The CBD will occupy 7.15 square kilometres.

CBI Member Successes in China July 2012

 

 

Dear CBI members and subscribers to China Direct,

Kindly find a link to the very latest CBI member successes in China for July 2012 below.

Thank you.

Download CBI China, Celebrating CBI member success in China, July 2012 

 

Mott MacDonald wins major design contract for HK-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge

 

[Image courtesy of www.mottmacdonald.com]

CBI member Mott MacDonald was recently appointed as the lead contractor’s designer for the 9.4 kilometre-long viaduct section of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge in southern China. The HK$12.867 billion project is the largest single design and build contract ever awarded in Hong Kong.

The bridge will support a dual three-lane carriageway over the Pearl River Estuary. Mott MacDonald will design substantial sections of the viaduct as well as being responsible for geotechnical, highways, electrical and mechanical, utilities, and other civil engineering services.

Dr. Mark Swales, Mott MacDonald's transport division manager in Hong Kong, said, "This is a fantastic project for Mott MacDonald in Asia, and we are proud to be part of the Joint Venture's team. The project will enable us to showcase and draw upon our worldwide experience in the design of major bridges; it will be both challenging and rewarding for all involved."

Please click here to read the full press release by Mott MacDonald.

Benoy opens Hong Kong 'Pop Corn' development

 

[Image courtesy of www.benoy.com]

CBI member Benoy recently announced the opening of the 'Pop Corn' development, a new joint venture by Sun Hung Kai and MTR Corporation in Hong Kong.

Pop Corn, short for 'Popular Corner', is a 160,000 square metre mixed-use development, comprised of retail, entertainment, hotel, and residential space, which is designed to create a new central focal point for the heart of East Hong Kong.

Benoy was involved in the design concept to the construction stages of the project.

Please click here to read the full press release by Benoy.

2011-12 British Business Climate Survey in China - Summary

 

[Images courtesy of www.cbbc.org and www.britishchamber.cn]

The CBI would like to thank our partners at the CBBC and British Chamber of Commerce in Beijing for sharing the findings of the 2011-12 British Business Climate Survey in China.

The results of the 2012 Business Climate Survey indicate increasing optimism about the outlook for revenue growth in 2012. The survey clearly demonstrates the growing importance of China to many companies as a driver of corporate growth, evidenced by plans to increase investments in China this year.

However, companies continue to acknowledge the complexity of the operating environment, especially in terms of rising labour costs, increasing local competition and the ongoing challenges of IPR & legal enforcement, protectionism and bureaucracy.

 Despite this, most UK companies remain confident about the outlook for their business in China.

 The key messages that arise from this survey are the following:

 

• Despite worries over the global economic outlook and rising domestic competition, performance in 2011 was generally positive with the majority of respondents seeing an increase in revenue.

 

• China remains a key market, with the majority of respondents planning an increase in investment and remaining positive in their expectations for the coming year.

 

• Human resource issues continue to be a substantial challenge for business, with members tackling increasing labour costs and problems attracting and retaining skilled staff.

 

• Whilst domestic competition still struggles to compete in terms of technical innovation and management expertise, they showed significant improvement in marketing and branding.

 

• The key business challenges facing those in the China market continue to be bureaucracy, securing licences and protecting intellectual property.

 

• Despite intellectual property rights being cited as an important factor in China operations, the number of infringements that actually harmed operations was relatively low.

 

To download the full survey please click below:

Download 2012_china_business_climate_survey

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CBI member success stories in China Feb 2012

 

[Image courtesy of www.cbi.org.uk]

February 2012 was a bumper month for CBI members in China with at least 29 (matching the leap day!) confirmed successes that China Direct is aware of.

Member contributions came from:

• ABB
• Accenture
• Alstom
• Arup
• BAA
• BBC
• Benoy
• BMW
• BP
• Burberry
• Clifford Chance
• Devro
• Ernst & Young
• Eversheds
• Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
• Herbert Smith
• HSBC
• IHG
• INEOS
• J.P. Morgan
• Pfizer
• McKinsey
• Nike
• RBS
• Standard Chartered
• Thales
• University of Edinburgh
• University of Leeds
• WPP

China Direct would like to say a huge thank you to all of our members for their contributions and also to Ben Cooper at the CBI's Beijing office for patiently collating the information.

Please find our Feb 2012 summary below:

Download CBI China, Celebrating member success in China, February 2012

UK company Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG) builds its Hainan island business

 

[Image courtesy of www.ihg.com]

CBI member InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) recently signed a two-brand hotel management contract with Yanlord Land Group Limited to further strengthen its position in Sanya, one of China's most popular resort destinations.

Scheduled to open in 2014, the new Crowne Plaza Sanya Haitang Bay and Hotel Indigo Sanya Haitang Bay complex will mark a strategic step for both companies into the newly developed Haitang Bay in Sanya.

The partnership between IHG and Yanlord Land Group is a win-win strategic move for both companies, and will reinforce IHG's position in China's growth markets, leading the trend for resort development in the hotel industry.

Keith Barr, chief executive officer, IHG Greater China, said, "I truly believe that the reason we have gained our owners' trust and confidence in China is because they love our brands, trust our extensive network, and more importantly appreciate the financial returns we have been delivering to our partners for almost three decades. One of our strategies to continue and even accelerate our quality growth in China is to partner with large-scale and influential real estate developers like Yanlord Land Group."

Zhong Sheng Jian, chairman and chief executive officer of Yanlord Land, said, "We are glad to have joined with IHG again to develop hotels in China's emerging resorts destination. We have great confidence in IHG's competitive advantages, and value their brands, system, and management expertise to consistently deliver the best hotel experience for guests from home and abroad."

Please click here to read the full press release by IHG.