China Direct

European Chamber releases 2016 China Business Confidence Survey

The European Chamber, in cooperation with Roland Berger, today released its annual Business Confidence Survey 2016. The survey finds that Beijing’s failure so far to deliver on promises that foreign-invested enterprises will enjoy a more open, competitive market has fostered mounting pessimism: a significant 41% of European companies are now re-evaluating their China operations and planning to cut costs, including through headcount reduction.

Although 47% also report that they plan to expand their operations in China, this represents a thirty-nine point decrease from 2013, when an overwhelming 86% of European companies were intending to do so. However, a clear majority of European business would likely increase their investment in China in the event of market access barriers being removed.

Please read the full press release here. The full download can be accessed here.

CBI Member China Successes September 2015

 

Dear CBI members and partners,

Please find our monthly members success summary for September 2015 attached below for your review.

Members mentioned include:

• Airbus
• Baker & McKenzie
• Benoy
• Bentley Motors
• Boeing
• BP
• British Airways
• British Film Institute
• Deloitte
• Diageo
• EY
• Heathrow Airport Limited
• Imperial College London
• Jones Lang LaSalle
• Linklaters
• PwC
• Rolls-Royce
• Shell
• Simmons & Simmons
• Standard Chartered
• Starbucks Coffee Company
• UBM
• University of Birmingham
• University of Nottingham
• University of Sheffield

Download CBI China, Celebrating CBI Member Success in China, September 2015

Huawei contributes £956 million to U.K.’s GDP over last three years (2012-2014)

 

CBI member Huawei has made a contribution of £956 million to the U.K.’s GDP over the last three years (2012-2014) and currently supports 7,400 jobs directly and through its supply chain. The figures are among those found in an economic impact study commissioned by Huawei and conducted by Oxford Economics.

It is the first time Huawei has had its economic impact in any country independently audited. The impact study also assessed Huawei’s progress in reaching its target of spending £1.3 billion in the U.K. over the five years from 2013-2017, split equally between investment and procurement. Based on its analysis of Huawei’s activities, Oxford Economics concludes that, “Huawei is on track to meet this spending commitment.”

The five-year spending commitment was made in September 2012 by Huawei’s founder and CEO, Ren Zhengfei, in a meeting with U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron. Since 2012, Huawei has acquired the Cambridge-based Internet of Things company Neul, opened a new research and development (R&D) centre in Bristol, helped roll out 4G and broadband networks across the U.K. for customers including EE and BT, begun pioneering the development of 5G technologies, and increased its U.K. workforce from 781 to 1,030 people.

The company now has a presence at 15 locations across the U.K. Huawei’s total contribution to U.K. GDP grew by an average of 23.7% annually between 2012-2014, according to the impact study. Over that time, it sourced goods and services from suppliers based in 70% of the U.K.’s postcode areas, and it made a positive contribution to GDP and employment in all of the U.K.’s regions.

Please read more here. 

Download The Economic Impact of Huawei in the UK, June 2015

BT announces five-year contract with China’s conference solutions company

CBI member BT announced a five-year contract with GNET, China’s largest independent domestic provider of conferencing solutions, to provide BT’s audio conferencing solutions in China.

Audio conferencing services are a key collaboration tool for any international company looking to expand faster. By partnering with global leaders such as BT, GNET will be able to address increasing demand to support Chinese multinational companies (MNCs) in their global expansion and support BT’s global customers who are developing their presence in China.

Through this partnership, GNET will provide their customers with BT’s best-in-class audio conferencing portfolio, including BT MeetMe, which harnesses PSTN (Traditional fixed telephony) and IP access (Voice using the Internet or private data networks) to provide a very cost-effective service.

Kevin Taylor, President of BT Asia, Middle East, and Africa, said, “Today’s announcement marks a further step in the availability of our audio conferencing solutions in the Chinese market. This is the first time we have built such a partnership, which will increase the availability of high-end conferencing services to some of the most dynamic Chinese companies. Together we will provide them with the best possible customer experience.”

Huawei unveils Huawei P8 smartphone in London

 

CBI member Huawei announced that Huawei Consumer Business Group had unveiled the Huawei P8 smartphone at the legendary Old Billingsgate, London’s renowned arts and fashion venue.

The Huawei 8 is a blend of technology, sleek styling, usability, and revolutionary low-light camera features. Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei Consumer Business Group, said, “The goal of Huawei 8 is to become the most user-friendly smartphone for consumers globally. Through in-depth market research, Huawei has addressed the most pressing pain points for premium smartphone users today."

He added: "Huawei seamlessly combines the best elements of style and durability in this device, delivering a revolutionary user experience—especially in terms of camera capabilities and network connectivity. Based on the outstanding market performance of Huawei’s P series, we fully believe the Huawei P8 will become one of the most popular smartphones of 2015.”

Please read more here.

CBI Member Successes in China - Snapshot of Year of the The Horse

 

Dear CBI members and strategic partners,

China Direct would like to share with you a snapshot of CBI members' successes in China through 2014. We hope that you found our new format easy to use, visual and informative and wish you all every success for the forthcoming year of the sheep.

Please do keep sending us your updates and press releases so that your business can also be highlighted in 2015.

Thank you.

Download CBI Beijing, Member Milestones in China, 2014

Coventry University and Alcatel-Lucent announce China deals

 

CBI member Coventry University launched a dual degree programme in China, delivered in collaboration with the South West University of Political Science and Law (SWUPL), which is ranked in the top five universities in China for its law programmes.

The undergraduate dual degree programme in Commercial Law was significantly oversubscribed, and has attracted 100 high-calibre students from 15 provinces across China. The degree will be taught at SWUPL’s new campus in Chongqing.

Please read more here.

CBI member Alcatel-Lucent announced that China Telecom, China Unicom, and China Mobile—the three biggest telecommunications service providers in China—had each chosen 7950 XRS (Extensible Routing System) from Alcatel-Lucent for their IP-based core networking needs in order to meet rapidly accelerating demand for fixed and mobile broadband access in China.

The 7950 XRS core router is the ‘traffic cop’ that directs data traffic at the heart of an IP network, handling multiple Terabits of data per second. The system provides operators with up to five times the data capacity of other core routers on the market.

China is anticipating massive growth of data and video in the coming years for residential and enterprise customers due to increasing demand for high-definition content, on-demand viewing, multi-screen delivery, the widespread use of smart-phones and tablets, and the rapid adoption of cloud applications.

The first scale commercial deployments of the 7950 XRS in China will enable China Telecom, China Unicom, and China Mobile to address the expected explosion of demand for capacity over the next five years, as well as supporting the operators’ contributions to China’s national ‘Broadband China’ strategy.

The selection of the 7950 XRS was the result of a central bidding process for IP core routers. The deployments will mark the first scale commercial use of the system in China.

Please read more here.

Herbert Smith Freehills advises China Telecom on US$300 million cable venture

 

CBI member Herbert Smith Freehills recently announced that it had advised China Telecom Global in relation to its role in a consortium which agreed to build and operate a new Trans-Pacific submarine telecommunications cable worth approximately US$300 million.

The cable, known as FASTER, will be one of the fastest and highest capacity sub-sea cable systems in the world. Designed to address the high demand for broadband, mobile, applications, content and enterprise data exchange on the Trans-Pacific route, the new cable will connect to Los Angeles, Portland, San Francisco, Oregon, and Seattle to Chikura and Shima in Japan.

Construction of FASTER will begin immediately, and the system is targeted to be ready for service during the second quarter of 2016.

Please click here to read the full press release by Herbert Smith Freehills.

UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) Inward Investment Report 2013/14

 

U.K.Trade & Investment (UKTI) recently released its Inward Investment Report 2013/14.

Highlights include:

• During the 2013/14 financial year, the U.K. attracted the most inward investment projects since records began in the 1980s.

• In total, 1,773 investment projects were set up by foreign businesses, up 14% on last year.

• These projects are estimated to bring with them over 111,000 new ans safeguarded jobs.

• The leading industry group for both projects and jobs was advanced manufacturing.

Please click here to access UKTI's full report.

Celebrating CBI Member Success in China May 2014

 

 

Greetings from China Direct.

We would like to share with you our briefing for May 2014, which highlights the successes of a number of CBI members in China.

The attached briefing covers 35 members, including (by alphabetic order):

• Accenture
• Arup
• Atkins
• BBC
• Benoy
• Boeing
• British Airways
• BT
• Burberry Group
• Clifford Chance
• DHL
• DLA Piper
• Eversheds
• Ford Motor Company
• Gatwick Airport
• GKN
• Heathrow Airport Limited
• HSBC
• Huawei
• INEOS
• Jaguar Land Rover
• John McAslan + Partners
• Jones Lang LaSalle
• Linklaters
• Marks & Spencer
• Norton Rose Fulbright
• Philips
• Prudential
• Rolls-Royce
• The Royal Bank of Scotland
• Shell
• Smith & Nephew
• Standard Chartered
• UBM
• University of Nottingham
• University of Warwick

Please click here to review the full review. 

Thank you.