Dear CBI Members and Partners,
We are delighted to announce that the CBBC has appointed Matthew Rous as its new CEO. Mr Rous, a career diplomat, will take up his new position in London in September 2017.
For more information please refer to the CBBC press-release below:
http://www.cbbc.org/news/press-release-matthew-rous-appointed-as-china-brit/
China Direct would like to thank CBI member Bloomberg and Peter Martin pmartin138@bloomberg.net at their Beijing Bureau for sharing this note on EU-China relations.
'Even as Trump hammers away at Transatlantic solidarity, the EU and China can't hide their differences.
The EU-China Summit is opening today in Brussels and - unlike last year - will likely produce a nice-sounding joint statement and perhaps even some real solidarity on climate change.
But, beneath the surface, European officials share many of the same frustrations with China's trade and investment regime as the Trump administration, even if they don't express themselves with equal bluster.
The trajectory seems likely to be toward the kind of world that McMaster and Cohn described in their op-ed on Trumpian foreign policy this week: "an arena where nations, non-governmental actors and businesses engage and compete for advantage..."
Full article below:
Download EU Leaders Turn to China After Trump Visit
The European Chamber of Commerce in China launched its annual business confidence survey on 31st May in Beijing and Shanghai.
Headlines included:
For a full press report and to download the Report please follow the links below.
http://www.europeanchamber.com.cn/en/press-releases/2554
http://www.europeanchamber.com.cn/en/publications-business-confidence-survey
Dear CBI Members & Partners,
Please find more than twenty examples of CBI member company successes in China through May 2017.
Companies ranging from Benoy to Bombardier and Huawei to Hilton are mentioned.
We look forward to celebrating your company's success soon.
Download CBI China Celebrating CBI member success in China_May 2017
City Visions: A Sustainable Future, a major exhibition about the urban design work of CBI member Foster + Partners, has opened at the Big House in Wuhan.
The show features a wide range of the practice’s work over several decades highlighting the variety and depth of projects that have sought to improve the urban environments of cities world-wide.
New urban planning projects for Wuhan city are explained through models, photos and videos including projects for Wuhan Aomen Road Masterplan, Sanyang Road District and Yuexiu Global Financial City.
The exhibition offers visitors a unique insight into the workings of the studio and the urban design process, in which architects and urban designers work closely together to design prosperous, socially enriching projects capable of evolving to meet future needs.
Foster + Partners’ urban design philosophy has always been underpinned by the acknowledgement that the design of the built environment must be generated by the needs of people, be respectful of the existing built fabric, cater to the local economy, and above all, be sustainable.
Please read more here.
CBI member Mastercard together with Samsung announced the start of Samsung Pay in Hong Kong, with the Early Access Program.
The mobile payment service will bring Mastercard cardholders in the city a new way to pay safely, smartly and conveniently with their Samsung mobile devices.
Samsung Pay is a simple and secure mobile payments solution that works almost anywhere you can swipe or tap a card, allowing consumers to pay with their credit cards using Samsung mobile devices.
Mastercard is working with major card issuers, including Bank of China (Hong Kong), Citibank, Dah Sing Bank, DBS Bank, and Standard Chartered Bank to enable their customers to use their Mastercard credit cards with Samsung Pay. Starting today, Citibank, Dah Sing Bank and Standard Chartered Bank cardholders can register online to participate in the Early Access Program.
Please read more here.
The CBI member RICS Commercial Property Sentiment Survey has been released for the first quarter.
Sentiment surrounding Asia-Pacific Commercial Property remains nuanced, with most markets responding to local supply and demand conditions. Though property in core locations such as Tokyo and Sydney is seen as expensive, respondents continue to expect capital values to increase.
However, a faster-than-expected US interest rate normalization path could cause the outlook in these markets to deteriorate.
Attached is an executive summary of the survey results for Asia-Pacific, and below is the link to the headline report.
http://www.rics.org/Global/RICS_Global_Commercial_Property_Monitor_Headline_Report_Q1_2017.pdf
For additional information on our surveys please visit:
http://www.rics.org/hk/knowledge/market-analysis/rics-global-commercial-property-monitor/
Best,
Dear CBI members and partners,
Please find attached links to information shared at the 6th joint CBI-IPO Seminar hosted at the British Embassy in Beijing on 21st April.
At this year's event Tom Duke, UK IP Attache, highlighted that China filed 3.7 million trademark applications and had 147,000 first instance civil IP cases in Chinese courts in 2016.
For more IP related information or insights please either contact Tom Duke (tom.duke2@fco.gov.uk) or our office directly on either: 010-80424018 or: nzheng@cbi.org.uk.
Thank you.
CBI member DP World provided the starting point for an historic return freight train journey to China.
The first freight train to run from Britain to China was due to depart on Monday, carrying vitamins, baby products and other goods.
The 7,500-mile journey from eastern England to eastern China will take three weeks, around half the time needed for the equivalent journey by boat.
The first freight train from China arrived in Britain in January. The train will leave a depot at Stanford-Le-Hope in Essex for Barking in east London, before passing through the Channel Tunnel into France and on to Belgium, Germany, Poland, Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan.
Please read more here.
Jaguar Land Rover, the UK's leading manufacturer of premium luxury vehicles today reported its best ever February retail sales of 40,978 vehicles, up 9% on February 2016, thanks to strong sales performances in China and North America.
The company sold 88,671 vehicles in the first two months of 2017, 6% up on the same period in the prior year. Retail sales for the month of February were up year-on-year across many key regions: 40% in China, 16% in North America and 14% in the UK.
Europe and other Overseas markets were down 2% and 7% respectively year-on-year.
Please read more here.
