Dragon News - No. 1, 2013

Page 1

M E M B E R M A G A Z I N E F O R T H E S W E D I S H C H A M B E R S O F C O M M E R C E I N H O N G KO N G A N D C H I N A

No.01

2013

6

Jeremy Goldkorn/ Barry van Wyk How media can destroy a brand overnight

20

Mats H Olsson Leading the way for 4G in Asia

22

Nick Marsh More women in the boardroom!

The power of

word of mouth

China hosts a quarter of the world’s social media users. They are more active and trust word of mouth more than users in other countries. Today, social media is an essential part of brand building in China.


( % $% # $ #% # # &% # ' $ % ' # $% % $ &# ! ! ! ! ! ! % " $ ! ! ! " % ! % # ! % # $ ! " % " ! ' ! " % % " ' ! ! ) #

! ! % " ! # !

Publisher The 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.

CONTENTS

Editorial management, design and printing Bamboo Business Communications Ltd Tel: +852 2838 4553 Fax: +852 2873 3329 www.bambooinasia.com bamboo@bambooinasia.com Art director: Johnny Chan Designer: Victor Dai English editor: Chris Taylor Cover photo: iStockphoto INQUIRIES Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong Room 2503, 25/F, BEA Harbour View Centre 56, Gloucester Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong Tel: +852 2525 0349 E-mail: chamber@swedcham.com.hk Web: www.swedcham.com.hk General Manager: Eva Karlberg Finance & Administration Manager: Maria Tornving Interns: Elin Bornefalk

INQUIRIES Swedish Chamber of Commerce in China Room 313, Radisson Blu Hotel 6A, East Beisanhuan Road, Chaoyang District Beijing 100028, People’s Republic of China Tel: +86 10 5922 3388, ext 313 Fax: +86 10 6464 1271 E-mail: beijing@swedishchamber.com.cn Web: www.swedishchamber.com.cn General Manager: Yvonne Chen Office Manager Beijing: Karin Roos Webmaster & Finance Assistant: Jaycee Yang Administration Assistant: Vika Jiao

Shanghai Contact Office Manager Shanghai: Johanna Pollnow Event Coordinator: Emma Gunterberg Sachs Tel: +86 21 6217 1271 Fax: +86 21 6217 0562 Mobile: +86 1368 179 7675 E-mail: shanghai@swedishchamber.com.cn

6 Opinion: Jeremy Goldkorn/Barry van Wyk

8 Snippets 10 Cover story:

10

The power of word of mouth

20 Executive talk: Mats H Olsson 22 Feature: More women in the boardrooms

26 SwedCham’s environmental programme

20

30 Young Professional interview: Olov Norlander

34 Chamber activities in Hong Kong/Taipei 36 Chamber activities in Beijing 38 Chamber activities in Shanghai

51

40 New members 51 Dragon News on your tablet 52 After hours 54 The chamber and I: Johanna AlmstrĂśm HlZY^h] 8]VbWZg d[ 8dbbZgXZ ^c =dc\ @dc\

ADVERTISERS APC Logistics page 19, Bamboo page 25, B&B Tools page 55 Business Sweden page 27, Finnair page 2, Environmental Air of Sweden (EAS) page 47

HlZY^h] 8]VbWZg d[ 8dbbZgXZ ^c 8]^cV

Thank you! APC Logistics for your immense generosity shipping and distributing Dragon News in China, Hong Kong, Asia and Sweden.

Mannheimer Swartling pages 28-29, Nordea page 45, Primasia page 49

Iggesund Paperboard for being the proud sponsor for the paperboard cover sheet of Dragon News magazine in 2012. Cover printed on InvercoteÂŽ Creato 220gsm.

Radisson Blu page 51, Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) page 17

Scandinavian Airlines

Scandinavian Furniture page 49, Scania page 45, Scan Global Logistics page 53

for your generous distribution of Dragon News on SAS flights from Beijing to Scandinavia.

Handelsbanken page 56, HellstrĂśm page 33, Henriksson Consulting page 33

! " ! & " ! ! &! ! $ % % " & ! ' ! ! ! $ ! ! $ ! ! % & % " % ! " ' !

6

4 Editorial

Ericsson page 9, Executive Homes page 53, Geodis Wilson page 43

# &$ + ( % )%$ &# # "& % *( # !# #

No.012013

Iggesund Paperboard page 23, IKEA page 15, Johnny’s Photo & Video Supply page 42

SEB page 5, Sigtuna Boarding School page 47, Swedbank page 41, Swegon page 39 Vinge page 31, Volvo page 37, Workspace page 35

The Swedish Chambers of Commerce in Hong Kong and China

DRAGONNEWS t /0 3


Jon Hicks/Corbis/Scanpix

EDITORIAL

8IFO JU T UJNF UP EP CVTJOFTT XF SF FYDFQUJPOBMMZ PQFO

Mats Harborn Chairman Swedish Chamber of Commerce in China

Ulf Ohrling Chairman Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong

An ever-growing flow of information Dear Reader, All of us working to produce Dragon News are concerned that the content and themes of our publication are current and of great value to the reader. This issue of Dragon News deals with Cyber-China and how business people can make use of it. China is on the global frontline and many people are studying developments here. Perhaps it is a cultural trait, but it is a truth that news travels fast in China, although not always by officially sanctioned sources.

The mobile phone and the SMS service was out first, then came the internet, chat services, micro-blogs, and the mobile internet, among other developments. Even though China is still a developing country, it has become a global online communications giant, and even if the internet is not as free as in most other parts of the world, users who want to can find ways around the roadblocks. The online community is already exercising an influence on the course of political developments in this country.

Back in the 1980s, in China’s first stumbling years of opening up, the first tool to have far-reaching repercussions was the pager. At that time, fixed telephones were scarce and mostly operated by local neighbourhood committees. That made it difficult to call people. The solution was the pager, which made it possible to send a short message, letting someone know that you wanted to talk to them. Within a short time, pager services in China grew to include other kinds of information, such as weather forecasts, news briefs, and later stock exchange information. On this foundation, every technology that made communications more convenient took off just as fast as anywhere else in the world.

However, there is a contradiction in this ever-growing flow of information both in China and all over the world: Never before has mankind had access to so much information, and so quickly, but at the same time never has it been so difficult to judge the quality of the information. As is the case in other media, rumours risk being treated as truths while the truth is sometimes obstructed. Newly elected Chinese president Xi Jinping has his own blog, just as President Obama and Carl Bildt do. Follow Xi at: http://weibo.com/xuexifensituan. We are not sure how much time he himself spends on it, though. Sweden is a leading IT nation. It is home

4 DRAGONNEWS t /0

to interactive newspapers that can be read on tablets, while the internet is free and runs at very high speed. We at the Swedish Chambers of Commerce in Hong Kong and China want to be at the forefront of such developments, so starting from this issue Dragon News is also available in tablet format. In other news, in April, Mats will resign as chairman of the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in China after an eight-year tenure. Read his farewell notes in the next issue of Dragon News. “I will truly miss Mats as co-author of this editorial,� says Ulf. “We have had great fun writing it together. Mats is a wealth of Chinese contemporary history, which is so important when trying to put the rapid development of China into perspective. Our views often come from two very different places, but within a short space of time we see eye to eye on the content of each editorial. I do hope the chambers will continue to make good use of Mats’ skills and his great knowledge. Thanks a lot, Mats, for making me look better as co-author to this editorial, and all the best wishes.� To our readers, we wish all of you keep busy, followed by relaxing summer holidays in due time.

&WFSZ CVTJOFTT IBT B EJâFSFOU TUPSZ BOE B EJâFSFOU HPBM 8F VOEFSTUBOE UIBU 0WFS NBOZ ZFBST JO UIJT NBSLFU PG VOJRVF PQQPSUVOJUJFT XF WF EFWFMPQFE UIF MPDBM LOPXMFEHF SFTPVSDFT BOE DPOOFDUJPOT OFFEFE UP UVSO BNCJUJPOT JOUP SFBMJUZ 5IBU T XIZ XF SF POF PG UIF NPTU XFMM FTUBCMJTIFE OPSUIFSO &VSPQFBO CBOLT JO UIF SFHJPO 'PS DPSQPSBUFT mOBODJBM JOTUJUVUJPOT BOE QSJWBUF CBOLJOH DMJFOUT XF SF SFBEZ UP MJTUFO BOE DBUFS UP ZPVS OFFET o JO #FJKJOH 4IBOHIBJ )POH ,POH 4JOHBQPSF BOE /FX %FMIJ %JTDPWFS NPSF BU XXX TFCHSPVQ DPN BTJB


A

decade ago strategic communications and media relations for many companies in China consisted of cosy government relations meetings and press conferences where a “transport fee� for journalists ensured a pleasant tone in any news articles about the company or its product. The situation in 2013 could not be more different. Today companies are faced with round-theclock scrutiny by an army of social media users, a commercial media landscape of bloody competition that makes scoops and scandals vital to a publication’s success, and an increasingly aggressive and nationalistic state-owned media

sector. Here are just some examples of the way bad news blitzed a company, spread virally on the internet, and was pushed to homes around the nation via traditional media.

social media messages of complaint, KFC and Pizza Hut’s sales plummeted in China and the share price of the parent company Yum Brands took a dive on the New York Stock Exchange.

Case 1: KFC. In late 2012, Yum Brands, the parent company of KFC and Pizza Hut fast food chains in China, suffered a public backlash when KFC was enveloped in a food safety scandal that started after a news website reported that some of KFC’s suppliers had used excessive amounts of antibiotics to rear so-called “fast growth� chickens in 45 days. With reports from state broadcaster CCTV (China Central Television) joining millions of

Case 2: Minute Maid. On 16 January, 2012, a user of Chinese social media giant Sina Weibo published a post claiming that the Coca-Cola Company admitted that its Minute Maid fruit drink contained carbendazim, a fungicide banned in the US. A subsequent investigative report by China Finance Net revealed that the post was an orchestrated attack paid for by a competitor and executed by a “black PR firm�, but not before Minute Maid sales had taken a serious knock.

Jeremy Goldkorn (left) is the founding director and Barry van Wyk is the project manager of Danwei.com, a firm that provides intelligence from the Chinese media and internet to track investments, brands, and issues of concern to companies and financial, government and academic institutions. Typical clients are hedge funds and other investors in large cap companies, and multinational corporations with significant operations and reputational issues in China.

How media can destroy a brand overnight

“[Master Kong’s] experience serves as a reminder of how damaging and unpredictable negative press and online rumours can be in the age of social media.� Case 3: Ajisen. On 21 July, 2011, Ajisen, a fast-food noodle-soup chain, was involved in a food safety scandal that began with a single weibo post claiming that its broth was formulated from cheap chemicals. The allegation went viral on the internet and then received substantial coverage in traditional media. The affair ultimately culminated in a 30 per cent slump in Ajisen’s stock price at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

A company’s reputation can be destroyed on the Chinese internet and in the Chinese language media long before any foreign language coverage is published, writes Jeremy Goldkorn and Barry van Wyk of Danwei.com.

of the most valued brands in China, as conducted by research firm TNS. Master Kong was founded in Tianjin, China, in 1991 by two brothers from Taiwan, and listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 1996. Although the company’s board includes Taiwan-based and Japanese members, Master Kong has always existed and operated only in mainland China. The company is the leading player in China’s instant noodle restaurant market as well as a producer of drinks and snacks. In the last few months How do such media disasof 2012, Master Kong exters happen? It’s worth takperienced a PR crisis when ruing a detailed look at how one mours linked the company to scandal that started as an onthe wrong side of the Diaoyu line rumour ended up triggerThe slump in Ajisen’s stock Islands dispute. ing government involvement price at the Hong Kong On 5 September, 2012, and causing a company’s share Stock Exchange after one the Japanese government anprice to take a nose-dive. This single weibo post claiming nounced that it had reached story is typical of the different that its broth was formuagreement with the Kurihara forces involved in a company, lated from cheap chemicals. family, the so-called private media and internet scandal, owners of three of the five and neatly illustrates why it is Diaoyu Islands to “nationalise� the uninhabited now meaningless for companies to distinguish islands. On 15 September, the biggest antibetween social media and traditional media. Japanese protests since China and Japan norPerhaps more compellingly, the story shows malised diplomatic relations in 1972 broke out how a company’s reputation can be destroyed in cities across China. Over the next couple of on the Chinese internet and in the Chinesedays the protests turned violent, with protesters language media long before any foreignclashing with police, attacking Japanese-made language coverage is published. cars, and barricading Japanese restaurants. In September, rumours began to appear Case 4: Master Kong. The company in on Sina Weibo saying that Master Kong question is Master Kong, China’s best-loved was owned by Japanese capital and should brand of instant noodles. In 2011, Master therefore be boycotted. On 20 September, Kong ranked second only to Sony in a survey

30%

PHOTO: iStockphoto

TEXT: Jeremy Goldkorn, jeremy@danwei.com, and Barry van Wyk, barry@danwei.com

Master Kong issued a statement denying the speculation. By early October, however, the ownership speculation was eclipsed by a more explosive rumour claiming that the company had donated 300 million yen to Japan for its purchase of the Diaoyu Islands. A short blog post that appeared on 8 October read in part: “Tear off Master Kong’s outer layer, and a sheepskin of Japanese goods appears! It has been revealed online that the company, which calls itself Taiwanese, has actually been bought out by Japan’s Asahi Breweries. With Master Kong’s drinks and noodles visible everywhere on Chinese soil, this grieves us greatly! We are firmly resolved not to buy anything from Master Kong from now on. Everybody spread this message, let all our compatriots know! Asahi Breweries contributed 300 million yen for Japan to buy the Diaoyu Islands, this trashy company!� The rumour spread rapidly across the internet. Four days later, on 12 October, Master Kong’s stock price on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange began a steady decline that would continue into the new year. Master Kong continued to deny the rumours and even sought help from the Chinese government. On 31 October, the spokesperson of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, a PRC government body, denied that Master Kong was in any way a Japanese brand. On 3 November the plot thickened considerably when the mainland Chinese newspaper China Times published a story outlining the company’s opinions on recent events. A representative from Master Kong revealed in the article that his company had started noticing the strange rumours appearing online from 18 September, and that the evidence it had collected pointed to Uni-President, one of the company’s chief competitors in the instant noodle market, as the force behind the rumours. For its part, Uni-President denied any involvement when contacted by China Times for a response to Master Kong’s accusations. On 4 December, the Beijing Times also ran a piece on what it called “unfair competition� in the instant noodle market in China. It noted that the rumours regarding Master Kong were being spread by text message and social media. The next day, Global Times reported on the story for the first time in English. In the first week of January 2013, Master Kong’s stock price finally arrested the long decline that started in October. Yet even if Master Kong can now finally turn the corner from the rumours that have dogged it since September last year, its experience serves as a reminder of how damaging and unpredictable negative press and online rumours can be in the age of social media. b DRAGONNEWS t /0 7


CYBER S NIPPETS Cyber attacks from the West ■In February, the US web security firm Mandiant released a muchpublished report saying that it had traced many global cyber attacks to a crack team of Chinese hackers, sponsored by the People’s Liberation Army, and located in a building in the Pudong New Area of Shanghai. It was not long before China replied. According to China’s National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team Coordination Centre (phew!), 2,194 servers in the US hacked into and controlled about 1.29 million servers in China in the first two months of this year. More than 3,500 Chinese websites were attacked by hackers who were traced back to the US. The websites of more than 85 government agencies were breached between September 2012 and February this year. Almost half of these attacks originated from US servers.

QUOTE

“In 2008 when I’m 23, I resigned and come to Shanghai for a better future, but I can’t get a good job there. There was no way to get more income except publicise myself, so I became the hottest star in China in 2010 when I’m 25. I came to the USA in the same year ‌ over 300,000 Chinese men asked marry me, but none of them suitable.â€? Feng Luoyu, aka Sister Feng, one of China’s most well-known, and most hated, bloggers who has some 1.4 million followers on weibo, in her own unique English.

Did you know ‌ ■‌ that China Mobile’s 3G platform, TD-SCDMA, is a Chinese home-grown standard that was developed with the aim to compete with Ericsson’s and Nokia’s WCDMA so that the Chinese operator could avoid big royalties? Ericsson has delivered TDSCDMA systems to China Mobile but only on a small scale. Since there is only one operator in the world that uses this platform it is difficult for suppliers to invest in research and development, even if China Mobile is No 1 in the world.

Six types of social media users â– Chinese social media users can be segmented into six groups, based on motivation and behaviour, according to a study by McKinsey & Company. Social enthusiasts spend a large portion of their time maintaining friendship networks. They account for about 15 per cent of social media users. Resenders, who account for 15 per cent, actively repost messages, such as jokes, from other sources. Although they do not post original material, they often have large numbers of followers. Readers generally do not participate but read what others have posted. They make up about 14 per cent of users. Opinionated users, also about 14 per cent of participants on social media sites, express their own, often strong, opinions and build large personal followings. QQ spillovers gain access to social media sites thanks to their use of the QQ instant messaging service owned by Tencent. While this group accounts for 21 per cent of the audience for social media, participation by such users is minimal. Inactives belong to social media sites but do not participate in a meaningful way.

8 DRAGONNEWS t /0

M

Y

CM

Top 10 sites in China ■These are the leading websites in China, according to traffic and measured by the web information company Alexa: 1. Baidu.com – search engine. 2. QQ.com – portal. 3. Taobao.com – e-commerce (Taobao Marketplace). 4. Sina.com.cn – portal. 5. Google.com.hk – search engine. 6. 163.com – portal. 7. Weibo.com – social networking site (Sina Weibo). 8. Sohu.com – portal. 9. Soso.com – search engine. 10. Hao123.com – portal.

C

MY

CY

CMY

K

Online shopping takes its toll ■Shoppers in China are increasingly buying online rather than at stores. A report by JP Morgan has estimated that the gross merchandise value of China’s online shopping market will be equivalent to US$436 billion by 2015, accounting for 8.5 per cent of the country’s total retail sales. Online shopping is now taking its toll on foreign-owned chains. In 2012, the American giant Wal-Mart closed five stores, the British retail chain Tesco shut four and the French Carrefour supermarket chain closed two stores in China, according to the Southern Metropolis Daily. In 2011, the US-based electronic products retailer Best Buy closed all of its nine stores in China and this year, the German electronics giant Media Markt is expected to close or sell its seven stores in the country, including the gigantic flagship store on Huaihai Road in Shanghai, after huge competition from e-commerce rivals.

When one person connects, their life changes. With everything connected, our world changes.

Find out more at: ericsson.com/networkedsociety


PHOTO: iStockphoto

Four new modernisations

In

in 1998, when the Shenzhen-based media and entertainment giant Tencent Holdings started QQ (www.qq.com), a platform similar to MSN, ICQ and Yahoo Messenger. QQ became China’s largest and most used internet service portal, with its instant messaging and chat functions. A huge number of Chinese websites also started so called bulletin board systems (BBS) to exchange ideas, talk about trends in fashion and technology, and even to form groups for getting discounts on cars and other sought-after items. User review sites, such as Dianping, emerged around 2003. Millions of bloggers also popped up, almost from nowhere, and some became famous – some infamous – almost overnight. The word “netizen�, a portmanteau of the English words internet and citizen, started to become widely used in China. Meanwhile, in 2008-2009 Beijing-based Renren was launched as a Facebook lookalike. Shanghai-based Chinese online media company Sina launched its micro-blogging site, Sina Weibo shortly after. The location-based player Jiepang appeared in 2010, offering services similar to Foursquare IT, including mobile – in other words, helping telephones, computers and people find restaurants and networks, has played a great services wherever they happen part in China’s rapid transito find themselves. tion from a poor country YouTube has many simimostly populated by farmers lar sites in China, with now to a fast-growing urbanised merged Youku and Tudou and industrialised nation China’s internet population leading the pack. that has become the world’s by the end of 2012. When it comes to second largest economy. e-commerce, the businessToday, China is the to-business (B2B) marketplace Alibaba – world’s largest market in terms of internet founded by Jack Ma in Hangzhou in 1999 users, mobile phone users and e-commerce – is the overwhelming market leader with a activity. The country’s internet populahuge global presence. It also owns Taobao tion amounted to 564 million by the end Marketplace, a popular consumer-to-conof 2012, according to the China Internet sumer (C2C) online marketplace in China, Network Information Centre (CINIC). and the more upscale Taobao Mall. China, with a population of over 1.3 billion, had 1.1 billion mobile phone users in January this year, according to official data. Consumers in China are increasingly treating stores showrooms, before going home Also according to CINIC, some 309 miland buying the same products online, saving lion Chinese had micro-blog (weibo) accounts both time and money. at the end of last year. Most of them were operTransactions at Taobao Marketplace and ated through mobile phones. This corresponds Taobao Mall were valued at more than 1 trilto a quarter of the world’s social media users. lion yuan last year. “There has been a big migration from Young Chinese were very quick to physical stores to online shopping. Social embrace social media, including blogs, social media play a big role here since the credence networking sites, micro-blogs and other given to official channels is low in China. It online communities. feels more convincing if thousands of people Social media got a foothold in China in recommend a certain product on social 1994, with online forums and communinetworking sites,� says Mattias Erlandsson, ties, before migrating to instant messaging June 2011, Tianjin Airlines unveiled an aircraft that had been named “Sina Weibo� after China’s most popular microblogging platform. It was the first commercial airplane to be named after a website in China. Sina Weibo, which is similar to Twitter, partnered with Tianjin Airlines for this marketing campaign, as both companies celebrated their second anniversary that year. In 2011, Sina Weibo had around 140 million users. Today, the number of users at www.weibo.com has grown to more than 500 million, according to the company’s own figures – about equal to the combined populations of the United States and Brazil. Most of the users are individual but there are also many corporate accounts. For companies doing business in China, becoming active on Sina Weibo and other social networking sites (SNS) has become an increasingly urgent issue. SNS, after all, provides the leverage to give a brand a real boost. But there are also risks – doing the wrong things can quickly damage a brand’s reputation.

564 million

The power of

word of mouth China hosts a quarter of the world’s social media users. They are more active and trust word of mouth more than users in other countries. Today, social media is an essential part of brand building in China. TEXT: Jan HÜkerberg, Bamboo, jan.hokerberg@bambooinasia.com

10 DRAGONNEWS t /0

The overall theme for this year’s cover stories in Dragon News is the four new modernisations launched in November 2012 by China’s then premier-in-waiting, Li Keqiang. Li announced the party’s four new modernisation goals highlighting Beijing's push in the areas of industrialisation, information technology (IT), urbanisation, and agriculture. In China, the so-called four modernisations were first used by former premier Zhou Enlai in 1963 to strengthen the fields of agriculture, industry, national defence, and science and technology. And in December 1978 at the Third Plenum of the 11th Central Committee, paramount leader Deng Xiaoping announced an official re-launch of the four modernisations, marking the beginning of the reform era. In this year’s first issue, Dragon News will look into the IT and, especially, the social media scene in China.

managing director for China and Hong Kong at Nepa, a market research company. Nepa, founded in Sweden in 2006, conducts online surveys based on high-quality data and creates market research solutions. “Nepa was born in the online world, and everything we do is created for online use,� says Erlandsson. The company only recently launched in Shanghai, but has already managed to get two big customers: the Shanghai Media Group and the video website Tudou, for which Nepa manages big online panels. “An average visitor at Tudou spends about one hour on the site while a visitor at the Western equivalent, YouTube, spends around 10 minutes in average,� says Erlandsson. China’s social media users are not only more active than those of any other country, they also tend to have multiple social media accounts. They trust word of mouth more than users in other countries. Since many Chinese are somewhat sceptical of information that comes from formal institutions and authority figures, they disproportionately value the advice of opinion leaders in social networks. Even if Chinese social media resemble their Western equivalents – Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are all blocked in China – many of the leading sites are actually more innovative and advanced than the sites in the West. For example, Chinese Sina Weibo users were able to embed multimedia content more

DRAGONNEWS t /0 11


Social network for financial professionals A few years ago, the Swedish bank SEB launched an online community for financial professionals all over the world. Today, the network has some 5,500 registered members. In 2005, two SEB bankers, Lars Millberg and HĂĽkan Aldrin, bought their first Apple computers. They were confused at first because both were formerly PC users, and there were some things that had worked on a PC that didn’t work on a Mac. “I discovered a forum at a Swedish website where I could ask questions and was astonished to get a reply already within 10 or 15 minutes of posting a question,â€? says Aldrin, who today is senior vice president at SEB in Hong Kong. Millberg came up with the idea of putting together a network of financial services professionals on the internet. The idea was realised in the autumn of 2008 when SEB launched The Benche, an online community for financial professionals among corporations and financial institutions. The word bank is derived from the Italian word for bench, banca, as in a counter, which emanates from grain merchants’ trading back in the Middle Ages. “In the beginning, we limited the discussions to trade finance, but since 2010 it has been possible to discuss everything to do with transactions, such as cash management and custody,â€? says Aldrin. He was working at SEB’s branch in Shanghai when the site was launched. When he moved back to Sweden

“The Sheriffâ€? HĂĽkan Aldrin built the online community The Benche.

in 2009, the bank asked him to work full time on the project, which he then did for one-and-a-half years. “We got a great response but we also made some mistakes in the beginning,� says Aldrin. “First, we asked the participants to register their full names and their employers, but nobody really wanted to provide that information. We changed our minds, and let the readers call themselves whatever they wanted, and then the site took off.�

HĂĽkan Aldrin, aka “the Sheriffâ€?, SEB After its launch, The Benche got a lot of media attention. The Financial Times wrote a story about it, the Gartner Group conducted an analysis of it, and several financial online media did video interviews with Aldrin. “We had a lot of fun. We made webcasts, SlideShare presentations, videos on YouTube, started a Facebook site, etc. We invited analysts and had live discussions with them. We were active with a lot of different things and most of them didn’t cost much,â€? says Aldrin. It was good publicity for SEB, even though the bank had decided from the start to keep a low profile on the site since the intention was that it should be open for everybody. Today, The Benche has around 5,500 registered members coming from Sweden, Germany, the UK, India, the US and many other countries.

Since he was in charge of the community, Aldrin took the name “the Sheriffâ€? when he participated online. Sometimes, he organised gatherings with others in the community by posting on the site that, for example, “The Sheriff will be in Amsterdam [at a certain date and place]. Look out for a guy with a Stetson hat, that’s me ‌â€? The Benche started to become very popular within the financial community as a forum where it was possible to get hold of high-quality information, meet peers and share experiences. The Benche also reported live from financial conferences where people could post questions online and then these questions could be asked for real by Aldrin and his colleagues that were present at the conference.

than 18 months before Twitter users could do so in the US. Word of mouth is nothing new in China. “If one tells 10, 10 will tell 100,� is an idiom that is said to have originated in the Song Dynasty, which ruled China between the years 960 and 1279. Many decades ago in the Western world, direct selling emerged as a successful way of selling products to the customers face-to-face. With the internet this word-of-mouth marketing has moved from a local to a global scale. Today, consumers can easily ask friends on social networking sites for advice. Foreign-owned companies that are present in China have started to realise the importance of being active on the local social media sites to boost their brands. It is not an easy task, but what it all comes down to is to listen, be present, participate and engage. Companies need to find out what is said about their brands on the sites by doing searches on a regular basis. Then, they need to open one or several accounts on selected sites to build a community of followers. Many companies make mistakes because they focus too much on the coverage of the campaign instead of the quality of the communications, which is the real value of social media. It is not only the most well known brands, such as Starbucks, Adidas and H&M that are popular on China’s social networking sites. The US-based kitchen and bathroom

12 DRAGONNEWS t /0

If one tells 10, 10 will tell 100.� Idiom from the Song Dynasty

There has been a big migration from physical stores to online shopping.� Mattias Erlandsson, Nepa

We were active with a lot of different things and most of them didn’t cost much.�

Gaurav Mishra of MSL Group Asia created a number of offline events for a client and to attract consumers to these events they used social media.

products company Kohler, for example, has managed to get a huge number of followers on Sina Weibo, and so has the UK-based condom manufacturer, Durex. Since more than half of China’s internet users are active on micro-blogs, it can be a good idea to let a Chinese executive from the company write a personal and regular blog. It is also important to participate in discussions. One way for example, is to let the followers vote. The company should also have a social media manager who actively participates in writing blog posts, tweets and chats (see box, Dos and don’ts). At the strategic communications firm MSL China in Shanghai, the social media platform represents some 10 to 15 per cent of the company’s turnover. “It is definitely a growing part of our activities,â€? says Pär Uhlin, general manager. “We analyse what is said

about our clients on social media sites, we plan how to act, we build communities that we engage and manage, and then we also prepare our clients on new issues that could come up and on how to handle the accounts by themselves.� Over the past years, MSL has built communities for clients in China and other parts of Asia. The Italian candy company Perfetti Van Melle, which represents brands such as Alpenliebe, a milky caramel toffee, and the mints Mentos, for example, wanted to market Alpenliebe using social media. “We created a campaign that was built on kindness as a theme and created a number of offline events. To attract consumers to these events, we used Renren, Sina Weibo and Youku,� says Gaurav Mishra, vice president with a focus on social media at MSL Group Asia. “During the first year, the client’s sales increased by 16 per cent. Now, we are on the third year and the community has grown from 55,000 to 600,000 followers and 151,000 kindness stories were shared across Renren and Weibo,� says Wei Wang, digital director at MSL China Alpenliebe has also become one of the most visited brands at Sina Weibo, after Starbucks and Durex. In 2011, the Singapore Tourism Board hired MSL to attract more affluent people in China to go to Singapore. “The campaign was carried out through social media but with an integration of both online communication and offline efforts for events in mainland China,� says Mishra.

DRAGONNEWS t /0 13


Wei Wang and Pär Uhlin of MSL China have seen the company’s social media activities grow in recent years.

[Sina Weibo] is the centrepiece of Chinese social media today.� Wei Wang, MSL China It resulted in more than 250 news clippings, 150,000 SNS users participated in an interactive game on Kaixin001 and 70,000 followers participated on Sina Weibo. China’s social media sector is very fragmented and very local. McKinsey & Company concludes in a report that “each social media and e-commerce platform has at least two major local players: in micro-blogging (or weibo), for example, Sina Weibo and Tencent Weibo; in social networking, a number of companies, including Renren and Kaixin.� These players have different strengths, areas of focus, and, often, geographic priorities. For marketers, this fragmentation increases the complexity of the social media landscape in China and requires significant resources and expertise, including a network of partners to help guide the way. “Competition is evolving quickly – marketers looking for partners should closely monitor development of the sector’s platforms and players,� the report says. So, if a company plans to create a community on a Chinese social media account, where should it go? “Our recommendation to companies is to start with Sina Weibo because of its size and also since it is a site that offers free data and statistics. It is the centrepiece of Chinese social media today,� says Wang of MSL China. Listed below are the leading social networking sites in China: t 4JOB 8FJCP MJUFSBMMZ i4JOB NJDSP blog�) with 500 million users is largely a mobile phone-focused social network and mass communication platform often leveraged by celebrities, brands and industry experts through a Twitter-like usage model. t 2[POF B 'BDFCPPL TUZMF TPDJBM network owned by Tencent Holdings, is bundled with the popular QQ instant mes-

14 DRAGONNEWS t /0

Dos and don’ts about social media in China If you represent a company in China and plan to open up an account on Chinese social networking sites, then here is a checklist what you should do and what you should not do. You should: - Carefully select the media where you want to be present. - When you have an account, you should listen, be present, participate and engage. - Check if your customers and competitors are on the same site, then analyse what they are doing. - Let a native Chinese speaker who is used to social media be responsible. - Keep close attention to the topics that are being discussed. - Use pleasant and friendly content and sometimes arrange contests or games. - Be quick with replies to those who ask important questions. - Communicate with your followers as they are your friends. - Use eye-catching photos and videos. - Be active, only practice can help you stay in advantage. You should not: - Sign up on Sina Weibo without having a strategy for maximising its benefit for you. - Roll out traditional advertising campaigns on the site. - Let someone who has never been active on social media sites be responsible. - Share too many micro-blogs from other sites or people. - Publish too many blogs too often. - Be totally passive for longer periods. - Try to fool your followers because they are probably smart people. - Engage with sensitive political issues or scandals. - Say negative things about your competitors. - Be too preoccupied with the number of followers; the important thing is whether they are active and influential. Source: www.marketingtochina.com

Using social media is a good way to spread the image of Sweden, and Swedish core values to a broader group than only decision-makers.� Christina Linnarud, Embassy of Sweden


Companies need guidelines for social media People need to be more careful about what they disclose on social media, and companies need to create guidelines for what can be said, says security expert Lars-Ă…ke Severin of PSU, who also recommends top executives to use two laptop computers. Few companies have defined policies and guidelines for using social media to protect against information disclosure or leakage to outside parties. “Many companies have clear rules about who in the company that can act as a spokesperson in traditional media, but for social media most companies have no such rules,â€? says Lars-Ă…ke Severin, chief executive officer and founder of the security support firm, PSU, in Beijing. “Social media are here to stay and what we have seen is just the beginning. There is so much information in the social media and some of the information can be very harmful if it gets into the wrong hands. A competitor could, for example, quite easily put together pieces of information from different people at different sites, as if it were a puzzle,â€? he says.

It could be very innocent information, such as a teenager saying to a friend that his or her parent has to travel to a certain place for a very important meeting. This means nothing to the teenager, other than that the parent will not be home for a number of days, but for a competitor to the parent’s employer it could mean a lot. “Companies need to create guidelines for social media,� says Severin. “From a security perspective such guidelines should define what the employees are allowed to communicate with others on the internet and that this applies to their private life as well.� Most companies are positive about employees using social media, but they need to establish clear rules for what is ethically and morally right, and also inform employees about what they are not allowed to do.

When people interact there is always a risk that secrets are revealed to others, such as suppliers, clients, competitors and friends. In today’s world, it is also possible to “hijack� a person’s computer and get access to the contents. Emails that are designed to trick the recipient into giving out passwords, or opening attachments that contain viruses and spyware, have become a serious security threat to companies. Severin recommends top executives to use two laptop computers: one for external communications, such as searching the internet, sending emails, and another computer for internal use, and which is never connected to the internet, and on which all the important business documents are stored. He recommends employees use their private email addresses, not the company address, when they communicate on social media. It is also important to know who you actually share information with; whether the person is someone you know, or whether the person even exists in reality.

Some of the information [on social media] can be very harmful if it gets into the wrong hands.�

NO ONE FLIES TO MORE CITIES IN SCANDINAVIA

Lars-Ă…ke Severin, PSU

saging tools. This site is similar to MySpace in that it allows users to create their own web pages for posting updates, photos, and videos. t 5FODFOU 8FJCP JT WFSZ TJNJMBS UP 4JOB Weibo in terms of functionality and demographics, and has more than 500 million registered users. Tencent Weibo recruits users from its QQ instant-messaging base. Its base lies in third and fourth tier cities, while Sina Weibo has more influential users from first and second tier cities. t 3FOSFO XBT CPSO BT B OFUXPSL GPS SF connecting friends from school years. Ren means “people� in Mandarin, and the name Renren suggests people communicating with other people. Like Facebook, it began as a social-networking site exclusively for college students but is now open to a general audience. The company is listed in the US.

16 DRAGONNEWS t /0

t ,BJYJO o kaixin means “happy� in Mandarin – is also a Facebook-like site. The company started by offering online games; it targets white-collar office workers. It has been declining in popularity since Sina Weibo’s breakthrough. t 8FJYJO PS 8F$IBU JO &OHMJTI is a fast-growing voicemail-based social networking app, similar to WhatsApp. It reported 300 million registered users in January, not only in China but also in other parts of Asia. Today, many consider WeChat to be hottest social chatting app in China. t %PVCBO JT TPSU PG B $IJOFTF .Z4QBDF popular with special interest groups and communities, and for networking around specific topics, with over 100 million users. t 6TIJ JT B SFMBUJWFMZ OFX TUBSU VQ UIBU JT trying to be what LinkedIn is in the West,

IF WE’RE NOT GOING THERE, IT’S PROBABLY NOT IN SWEDEN

but faces competition since Sina Weibo already seems to be the site where professionals connect with other professionals. t -JOLFE*O JT OPU CMPDLFE JO $IJOB BOE is said to have some 2 million mainland Chinese users, even if the site does not have any China-specific functionalities and content. The Swedish embassy in Beijing has also realised the need to be active on social media. The embassy has opened an account at Sina Weibo and has hired a person who specialises in working with and following social media. “Using social media is a good way to spread the image of Sweden and Swedish core values to a broader group than only decision-makers,� says Christina Linnarud, counsellor and head of the political section at the embassy.

To Scandinavia with SAS

www.flysas.cn www.flysas.hk Beijing: +8610 8527 6100

* Flightstats.com

Shanghai: +8621 5228 5001

Hong Kong: +852 2865 1370


The eye doesn’t lie Sweden is at the forefront of information technology and has created many advanced companies. Tobii Technology is one of them. Sweden is a small country but has created many large companies that have emerged on the strength of epoch-making inventions. Sweden is considered in several reports to be the world’s foremost user of information technology. Sweden also has one of the world’s highest rates of internet usage and one of the fastest broadband networks. People, businesses and public authorities in Sweden are among the quickest to adopt new technologies, applications and services, and the country is often used as a test market for new products by technology companies from other countries. Last year, a Swedish exhibition that presented some 20 cutting-edge inventions, many of them IT-based, was touring the world including China. Tobii Technology was one of the exhibitors. The company is a world-leading provider of eye-tracking and eye-control technology, which makes it possible for computers to know exactly where users are looking. “Our eye-tracking technology has revolutionised research in many fields and has enabled communication for thousands of people with special needs,� says Peter Sandberg, general manager at Tobii Electronics Technology in Suzhou. Tobii is a young company; it was founded in 2001, with the vision of developing its eye-tracking technology to replace the computer mouse. Initially, Tobii’s eye-track-

The official Sweden has used online communication for a number of years. A special Chinese-language website, www.sweden.cn, was launched in conjunction with the 2010 Shanghai World Expo. “At Sina Weibo we cover activities, seminars, gender-equality issues, etc. When Carl Bildt, the Swedish minister for foreign affairs, visited Beijing in December last year he gave a one-hour live interview on weibo, where he got questions in Chinese that were translated,� says Linnarud. The embassy works actively with the Sweden Returned Alumni (SRA) network, which was founded in 2010 and has more than 600 members in Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing,

18 DRAGONNEWS t /0

ing technology was designed as a research tool and as an assistive communication device for people with disabilities. “There are broad fields of application where you can use eye-tracking technology,� says Sandberg. Tobii has released a range of products and solutions that help individuals with speech impairments, for example, or people born with cerebral palsy (CP), communicate by looking at sounds or words on a screen. “There are many people in China that have disabilities of this kind, and we hope to get access to the Chinese market in

Our eyetracking technology has ‌ enabled communication for thousands of people with special needs.� Peter Sandberg, Tobii Technology

Guangdong and Sichuan. Members of the SRA network often serve as “ambassadors� for Sweden in China. SRA posts job opportunities at Swedish companies on its website and publishes Swedish studyrelated information and news on its Sina Weibo account. In today’s world it is a fact that if you are not on the internet you don’t exist. In the West, Google, Facebook and LinkedIn are sites where employers go to find information about potential employees. But being active on the internet also means that you leave footprints that can be misused or falsified. Social media can be a

the future. However, China does not yet have a healthcare funding system like in the US and Europe,� says Sandberg. Another area where Tobii’s eye-tracking systems and software can be used is in analysis and research. The company’s eye trackers are used within the scientific community and in market research, to analyse vision, human behaviour, user experiences and consumer responses. “For example, eye tracking can be used in test panels to see exactly where the panellists are looking. The eye tracker records what people are looking at and generates a heat map. A panellist may not be 100 per cent correct in written or spoken answers, but the eye doesn’t lie,� says Sandberg. Tobii also sees a great potential for its products in many areas and in various industries, from baggage scanning at airports and hospitals surgeries to gaming. In 2008, Tobii started production at its factory in Suzhou and the company has around 85 employees in China out of 350 worldwide. “However, production is today a smaller part of our China business, it has been outsourced to other countries. Instead, we have, over the past one-and-a-half years, increased our research and development, sales and support in China,� says Sandberg.

threat both to individuals and companies. “Social media are, without doubt, here to stay and will be an even more important communications platform in the future. However, it seems like our normal defence mechanisms are not developed for the society we live in today. Without hesitation, we publish details about ourselves on the internet, details we would never dream of giving away to an unknown person on the street,â€? says Lars-Ă…ke Severin, chief executive officer and founder of the security support company PSU in Beijing (see separate article). This is something that companies should also bear in mind when they prepare for entering the social media scene in China. b

Expertise We use our superior knowledge, experience and expertise to ensure we always deliver the best, customized solution for each customer and for goods that need to be in time, every time.

www.apclogistics.com


Leading the way for 4G in Asia-Pacific Mats H Olsson heads Ericsson’s Asia-Pacific organisation from Hong Kong after more than 25 years working for the company in Asia, as the telecoms industry shifts from 3G to 4G. Olsson is optimistic: “No mobile technology has ever grown faster than 4G/LTE.â€? TEXT: Jan HĂśkerberg, Bamboo, jan.hokerberg@bambooinasia.com

A

fter nine years in Beijing as the head of Ericsson Greater China and later Ericsson Northeast Asia, Mats H Olsson has now established himself in Hong Kong as head of Ericsson’s Asia-Pacific operations. It seemed natural as a next step for Olsson since he has spent more than 25 years in the region for Ericsson. He is also back where his Asian career once started. In 1984, after having joined Ericsson two-and-a-half years earlier, he was sent to Hong Kong to acquire Ericsson’s distributor there. Later, he also set up a representative office in Beijing and operations in Indonesia. It is not a coincidence that Olsson chose to work for Ericsson; he grew up with telephones. He was born not far from Telefonplan in the south-western part of Stockholm, where Ericsson had its headquarters for 53 years. Most of his family worked at Ericsson. As head of Asia-Pacific, Olsson is the executive chairman for an organisation that includes three regions: Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia/Oceania and India. He is also a senior vice president and a member of the Ericsson Group’s executive leadership team. “Hong Kong was the most suitable location, since it is close to China and Northeast Asia, where we have the bulk of our business. There will also be a lot of inbound travelling and we wanted to avoid a place associated with comprehensive visa applications. Singapore is a great hub as well, but was not an option since our Southeast Asia region is headquartered there,� says Olsson. When he started his job in Beijing in 2004, Ericsson had gone through a couple of weak years from a global perspective. But already that year, China became Ericsson’s second largest market. He spent the following nine years in Beijing and has seen many changes for the telecommunications industry in China. “Our customers’ way of handling procurement changed from being decentralised to province-level to becoming centralised, with 90 per cent of all procurement being handled 20 DRAGONNEWS t /0

by the operators’ head offices in Beijing. It meant that most of our customer contacts took place in Beijing, so we needed to rapidly restructure and build a very strong organisation there,� says Olsson. After long delays, the third generation of mobile phone technology (3G) was finally rolled out in China in 2009 and included three 3G mobile standards: WCDMA (built on GSM technology and operated by China Unicom), CDMA2000 (based on technology used in the US and some Asian countries and operated by China Telecom) and TDSCDMA (the home-grown Chinese standard which is operated by China Mobile). “China had intended to balance the size and market share between the three operators. China Mobile, which had dominated the 2G market and was considered to be the strongest of the operators, had to shoulder the responsibility of introducing TD-SCDMA, a standard that had not been deployed anywhere else in the world. This journey has involved many challenges for them. But frankly speaking, the telecom reform in China has been successful in that sense that it has created a more even-level playing field, especially within 3G,� says Olsson. China Mobile remains Ericsson’s biggest customer in China, since the company has continued with big investments in 2G equipment based on GSM, but China Unicom is today not that far behind. Today, there is a new technology shift in the industry, with operators and suppliers of-

fering 4G systems for high-speed wireless data communication for mobile phones and other devices. There is only one 4G global standard, and it is called LTE, which stands for longterm evolution (LTE). This LTE standard has two modes: frequency-division duplexing (FDD) and time-division duplexing (TDD). “Ericsson is committed to both FDD and TDD, and future handsets will support both modes. So far, all big LTE networks in North America, South Korea and Japan are all based on FDD. The most important TDD development will probably be the one developed by China Mobile called TD-LTE, which is the same as TDD,� says Olsson. “For China Mobile in Hong Kong, Ericsson has built the first combined FDD and TDD network to be commercially launched,� adds Olsson, who thinks that China will move faster into the 4G world than it did with 3G. China Mobile and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) have announced that they will build a huge trial network covering 150 cities. “We believe that 4G/LTE licenses will be issued sometimes between the fourth quarter this year and the middle of next year,� says Olsson. Ericsson has been a global industry leader as a supplier of telecoms equipment for a long time but its position has over the past decade been increasingly challenged by the Chinese competitors, Huawei and ZTE. In 2012, Huawei reported revenues that were even larger than Ericsson’s, but Huawei’s sales of mobile phones were also included.

We believe that 4G/LTE licenses [in China] will be issued sometimes between the fourth quarter this year and the middle of next year.�

“It is true that Huawei has established itself as a global competitor. It is, however, important to understand that we have very different strategies and product portfolios. Huawei has a growing mobile phone business and has become the third largest smart phone supplier in the world. They also have a huge fixed-network business, which Ericsson doesn’t have.� says Olsson.

We have only seen the beginning of the mobile broadband development.� He sees several future growth areas for Ericsson Asia-Pacific. “We have only seen the beginning of the mobile broadband development, where the devices are used for sending mobile data. It hasn’t really started to happen in China yet, but there has been tremendous growth in South Korea and Japan. All available industry forecasts show that traffic will grow rapidly over many years from now,� he says. Ericsson also has a vision called The Networked Society, in which “everyone, everything and everywhere will be connected in real time� and machines can talk to machines. By 2020, the company expects that there will be more than 50 billion connected devices, including cars, refrigerators and heaters. Olsson also believes that managed services for operators, like the work Ericsson undertakes in Hong Kong for Hutchison Telecom by managing its IT network, is a future growth area, along with Ericsson’s well-proven operations and business support systems for servicing the customers in operations, maintenance, charging and billing. New developments in the telecommunications industry sometimes get off to a slow start, but when they start to make headway it is often much faster than expected. Perhaps that is why Olsson is so optimistic about the future. “The most successful mobile technology in terms of growth is not GSM or 3G, it is actually 4G/LTE,� he says. “No mobile technology has ever grown faster than 4G/LTE. The best example is South Korea, where all networks have provided nationwide coverage since October 2012, and where 30 per cent of the population already had LTE subscriptions at the end of last year. For this year, the figure is expected to be 60 per cent. It is just amazing!� b DRAGONNEWS t /0 21


Corporate governance

n e m o w e Mor ! s m o o r d r a o b e h t n i

The executive search firm Harvey Nash has initiated a programme in Hong Kong to enable more women to become board directors. ‘Hong Kong has a great opportunity to become a board governance hub in Asia,’ says managing director Nick Marsh. TEXT: Jan HĂśkerberg, jan.hokerberg@bambooinasia.com

22 DRAGONNEWS t /0

T

he proportion of women on corporate boards is generally much lower in Asia than, for example, in Europe and the United States. While gender-balanced boards are proven to result in greater business success, women are still hugely underrepresented in boardrooms across the world. “Hong Kong needs to improve and it has a great opportunity to become a board governance hub in Asia,� says Nick Marsh, managing director at Harvey Nash Ltd in Hong Kong. Earlier this year, he initiated a programme with the aim of addressing this imbalance by enabling more board-ready female leaders to rise to the challenge.


Corporate governance

Harvey Nash is a global professional recruitment and outsourcing consultancy with 41 offices around the world and some 1,500 employees. It was founded in London in 1987. In 2007, the company acquired the leading Swedish executive search firm called Alumni, which is also strong in leadership services and board improvement programmes. In February 2012, Harvey Nash established an office in Hong Kong. Five years earlier, Harvey Nash set up a women’s executive network called Inspire, with the idea of bringing senior women together and help them to network. Today, this network has about 4,000 women executive members around the world. “Executive women are outstanding in their job, but tend to put less emphasis on networking. Many have family responsibilities on top of business responsibilities and not much time to network,� says Marsh. When Marsh came to Hong Kong, he discovered that there were no programmes in Asia for board governance. He contacted the University of Hong Kong, and they liked the idea to set up such a programme and suggested to give it a female twist, creating an entire course exclusively for women. So in February this year, the Women’s Directorship Programme was launched as a sixday course – half of it in April and the other half in June – with some 35 participants. “This is a unique programme since it is the first of its kind in Asia. We will have 16 international business leaders from the likes of General Electric, Schneider Electric, Philips and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, to talk about how the role of director needs to be improved, how mergers and acquisitions affect the board work and how to deal with committees, etc,� says Marsh. He was inspired by an initiative in the United Kingdom called The 30% Club, a group of chairmen and CEOs at leading companies and organisations who have publicly committed their support for a voluntary goal

This is a unique programme since it is the first of its kind in Asia.� 24 DRAGONNEWS t /0

BVg`Zi^c\ ^h a^`Z

Studies show that there is a real link between financial performance and balanced boards.� of 30 per cent representation of women at UK In 2011, the Asian average percentage of women on corporate boards was as low corporate boards. as 6 per cent, while the European average When the club started three years ago, was 17 per cent with Norway topping the women had a representation of just 12 per list at 35 per cent, according to a study by cent on the boards of the FTSE 100 index McKinsey & Company. Hong Kong’s percompanies – that is the top 100 companies formance is actually among the better ones listed on the London Stock Exchange. in Asia with Japan and South Korea having “Today, there has been an increase to only 1 or 2 per cent women representation 25 per cent. And in the last 12 months, on the boards. some 40 per cent of all new board member “These studies also show that there is appointments among the UK’s leading coma real connection between panies have been women,� financial performance and says Marsh. balanced boards,� says Marsh. The 30% Club was also “A board or management recently launched in Hong team performs better if there Kong by The Women’s FounOn average, only one out is a mix between men and dation, a Hong Kong-based of 12 directors in all public women in the team, so if you non-profit organisation dedicompanies in Hong Kong is are an investor you should cated to the advancement of a woman. look for companies with a women. The 30% Club aims balanced board.� to meet its goal not through quotas, but by inspiring company leaders to appoint more women to directorships, improvSome companies defend themselves saying that the talent pool of females is not that ing the pipeline of women to widen and build big. Marsh objects strongly, he firmly believes the available talent pool, and supporting and that there are plenty of women that want to encouraging successful women in business. become board members. “If half of the employees are women and There is strong interest in this issue at half of the customers also are women, then a the moment in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong company’s management team and board of Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEx) has directors should better reflect that, since it will recently announced that it will introduce a help the company to make better decisions,� new Code Provision in the Corporate Govhe says. ernance Code to be effective on 1 September “Men and women have different mind2013 requiring every public company to sets. Even if a woman has, let’s say, 80 per report on their board diversity policy. cent of the needed skills, she hesitates, while a “Most companies probably do not have man who may only have 50 or 60 per cent of such a policy, but this initiative raises the issue the skills says he can easily become a director. to a much more visible level,� says Marsh. Women need to gain the confidence to push Hong Kong is lagging behind Europe and themselves forward,� says Marsh. the US in this field. Almost half of the 48 The ambition of the Women’s Directorcompanies that are included in the Hang Seng ship Programme is to run it twice a year for index and represent the leading companies two years and create a visible pool of 150 on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange have no talented women at a senior level. The initial women at all on their corporate boards. response has been very positive. “And if you look at the executive and The next step is to export the programme non-executive directors of all publicly listed to other parts of Asia – for example to Shangcompanies in Hong Kong there are only 8.5 hai, and also to run a programme for both per cent women, which means only one wommale and female directors. b an in a group of 12,� says Marsh.

8.5%

fbWdj_d] XWcXee BVg`Zi^c\ ^h cZXZhhVgn ^[ ndj lVci ndjg Wjh^cZhh id \gdl# 7ji bVg`Zi^c\ ^h a^`Z eaVci^c\ WVbWdd# >c i]Z Ă’ghi h^m nZVgh! i]Z hZZYa^c\h dcan \gdl VWdji &' ^cX]Zh ]^\]# I]Zc hjYYZcan ^c i]Z hZkZci] nZVg i]Z WVbWdd hegdjih id h^m [ZZi iVaa# >c bVg`Zi^c\! ^i Vahd iV`Zh i^bZ [dg gZhjaih id VeeZVg# EgdheZXih cZZY id hZZ ndjg cVbZ bVcn i^bZh WZ[dgZ i]Zn gZbZbWZg ndj VcY gZXd\c^hZ ndjg kVajZ# Djg XdbeVcn! 7VbWdd! XVc ]Zae ndj l^i] i]Vi# >i ^h djg Wjh^cZhh ^h id ]Zae djg Xa^Zcih Wj^aY adc\" iZgb gZaVi^dch]^eh l^i] i]Z^g XjhidbZgh! hiV[[ VcY di]Zg hiV`Z]daYZgh# * The similarity between marketing and planting bamboo was originally conceptualised by George Torok, a marketing expert and co-author of the book HZXgZih d[ EdlZg BVg`Zi^c\.

8WcXee 8ki_d[ii 9ecckd_YWj_edi BjZ >ed] Aed] -*' '-(- )**( 8WcXee 8ki_d[ii 9edikbj_d] I^Wd]^W_ 9e" BjZ -+ '& +),' .&,( @Wd >Â?a[hX[h] bVcV\^c\ Y^gZXidg jan.hokerberg@bambooinasia.com @e^Wd EbWkiied hVaZh VcY bVg`Zi^c\ bVcV\Zg johan.olausson@bambooinasia.com mmm$XWcXee_dWi_W$Yec


Many environmental activities in Hong Kong â– The environmental committee of the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong has put together a spring programme for 2013 with the objective to continuously contribute in improving the environment in Hong Kong and beyond. The spring programme includes a waste management seminar with Christine Loh, participation in the China Nordic Clean Tech Bridge, a roadside air pollution panel discussion, a beach cleaning at Po Toi and a Waste Management Focus day with a landfill visit in the northeast New Territories.

Environmental Committee - Spring Programme 2013 26 February WASTE MANAGEMENT CHRISTINE LOH

Date: Tuesday 26 February Time: 3pm-5pm Where: Club Lusitano, 24/F, 16 Ice House Street, Central, Hong Kong Cost: HK$300 members HK$400 nonmembers

26 DRAGONNEWS t /0

7 March CHINA NORDIC CLEAN TECH BRIDGE Date: Thursday 7 March Time: 2pm-6pm Where: Hong Kong Science & Technology Park, No. 2 Science Park West Avenue, Shatin, New Territories Cost: no cost, Open seminar

23 March BEACH CLEANING PO TOI

Date: Saturday 23 March Time: 9am-5pm Where: Tai Wan beach, Po Toi Island Cost: no cost, lunch all equipment and education provided

3 May WASTE MANAGEMENT FOCUS DAY

Date: Friday 3 May Time: 1pm-5pm Where: NENT (the North East New Territories Landfill) meet up at City hall for a minibus transfer to the site. Cost: no cost

14 May ROADSIDE AIR POLLUTION PANEL DISCUSSION Date: Tuesday 14 May Time: 12.30pm-2pm Where: The Hong Kong Bankers Club, 43-44th floor, Gloucester Tower The Landmark, Central Cost: HK$550 member HK$600 non member


="/ */$3&%*#-: )"3% 803,*/( "/% 1&340/"#-& -"8:&3 8)0 )"4 ."%& (3&"5 453*%&4 */ #6*-%*/( 61 " 13"$5*$& "/% " 3&165"5*0/ */ )*/" < 0/& 1&&3 3&."3,4 5)&3 4063$&4 /05& 5)"5 =)& )"4 5)& "#*-*5: 50 L/% 5)& %&5"*-4 0' &7&3: $"4& "/% 03("/*4& 5)&. */ " -0(*$"- 8": < -*&/54 8&3& 1"35*$6-"3-: *.13&44&% 8*5) )*4 (3"41 0' */5&3/"5*0/"- $"4& -"8 ?

4 3210 / .-3,

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ispute Resolution 13"$5*$& )".#&34 83*5&4 3&(*0/ */ 07&3 HJ 41&$*"-*45 13"$5*$& "3&"4 *%&/5*':*/( 5)& >M*4 13"$5*$& 01&3"5&4 065 0' )"/()"* "/% 0/( 0/( "/% -&"%*/( -"8:&34 "/% -"8 L3.4 5)306() */5&37*&84 8*5) %*41-":4 40-*% &91&35*4& */ )"/%-*/( %*4165&4 3&-"5*/( 50 +0*/5 5)064"/%4 0' -"8:&34 "/% 5)&*3 $-*&/54 7&/563& 4611-: $0/53"$54 "/% 5&$)/0-0(: 53"/4'&34 ".0/(45 05)&3 "3&"4 54 6301&"/ /&5803, *4 "-40 " ."+03 "44&5 ' 5)& L3.<4 Corporate/M&A 13"$5*$& )".#&34 83*5&4 " --08*/( *5 50 4&37*$& #05) */#06/% */7&45034 "/% 065#06/% > 4 " -&"%*/( -"8 L3. */ $"/%*/"7*" 5)*4 13"$5*$& '0$64&4 &/5*5*&4 5 *4 */$3&"4*/(-: "$5*7& */ 3&13&4&/5*/( */ 1"35*$6-"3 0/ "44*45*/( $-*&/54 '30. 5)*4 3&(*0/ 4&&,*/( $-*&/54 */ 0/( 0/( 4&"5&% "3#*53"5*0/4 063$&4 4": =M&: "$$&44 50 5)& )*/" ."3,&5 5 *4 "-40 */$3&"4*/(-: #64: 0/ 6/%&345"/% %&7&-01.&/54 */ 5)& "3#*53"5*0/ ."3,&5 "/% "3& 065#06/% ."55&34 "/% *4 406()5 065 #: )*/&4& $03103"5&4 8&-- 13&1"3&% 50 .&&5 *54 /&8 %&."/%4 < *-4 -*"440/ *4 M& )*/&4& ."3,&5 $0/5*/6&4 50 #& 0' 4*(/*L$"/5 *.1035"/$& '03 063 $"/%*/"7*"/ $-*&/54 "/% 8& "3& 4&&*/( */#06/% "/% 065#06/% */7&45.&/5 "$5*7*5: 3&563/*/( 50 )*()&3 -&7&-4 "("*/

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

333 )1..2-()-+/31+0'(.& /-


The secret of success

Promoting Swedish berries in China

Are you considering expanding or starting up your business in Sweden or China? Let Vinge assist you by downloading our apps free of charge. Take advantage of our expertise and many years´ experience. “Business in Swedenâ€? is designed to help you when you are about to start your business in Sweden. Available on Android market in English and Chinese. “Vinge Chinaâ€? is designed to help you when you are about to start your business in China. Available on Appstore in English.

Olov Norlander is marketing healthy products made from Swedish berries on the Chinese market through the company Wildberries of Sweden.

Vinge has Swedish lawyers and Chinese legal consultants based in Shanghai, Hong Kong and in Vinge’s offices in Sweden. For more than 20 years Vinge has assisted clients in their business activities in China and has advised foreign clients in all matters regarding trade and investments between Sweden and China.

TEXT: Jonas SĂśderstrĂśm, soder.jonas@gmail.com

M

any types of berries grow wild in the abundant forests of Sweden. According to Swedish law, everyone has the right to access and roam freely throughout the Swedish countryside, for example to pick berries. With the aim of establishing a premium brand on the Chinese market, selling high-end products made exclusively from wild berries growing in Swedish forests, two young Swedes, Olov Norlander, 27, and Mikael Livas, 25, recently founded the company Wildberries of Sweden. They are now living in Beijing, where they are promoting their brand. How did you end up in China? “Quite randomly. I had to do something after completing

I am confident we can beat our competitors on quality.� STOCKHOLM

30 DRAGONNEWS t /0

GOTHENBURG

MALMO

HELSINGBORG

BRUSSELS

HONG KONG

SHANGHAI


Sweden, and the information we use in media for example, is very much about Sweden as a country. How clean the air is, the beauty of the landscape, the forests where the berries are growing. Sweden has got a good reputation here, associated with good quality and safety – and in the food market that is everything.�

Doing business in Sweden?

-

What difficulties do you face in your day-to-day work here in Beijing? “It’s always the language barrier, but I speak pretty fluent Chinese. Still, even if you live 20 years in China, it’s probably very hard to enter Chinese society. But you can still get pretty far though, and I think the language is the best tool to achieve that.�

A brand that connects to Sweden is valuable in China, according to Olov Norlander.

Mikael Livas is Olov Norlander’s partner in Wildberries of Sweden.

military service, so I signed up for a Chinese course at Uppsala University, and started to like the language and the culture. In order to learn the language better, I decided to move to China.�

father’s company which imports industrial products from China to Sweden.�

Tell me about your company and your ideas? “The name of the company is Wildberries of Sweden. We are promoting Swedish products that are made out of wild berries that grow in Swedish forests. After being in China the first time, I went back to Sweden and studied business. But the idea was always on my mind, that there is a huge demand for wild blueberries and other natural products in China.� What about your products? “Initially we will focus on products made from wild blueberries, rather than start with berries that are less known to Chinese consumers like lingonberries or cloudberries, even if we also have them in mind for the future. The Chinese know about blueberries and their health effects, so we intend to get into the market with our extremely healthy 100 per cent wild blueberry juice straight from the Swedish forests. The juice market has a great potential, but there is also stiff competition. However, I am confident we can beat our competitors on quality.� How come you decided to enter the Chinese market? “Because of its potential. It might be a bit more difficult with the bureaucracy here, compared to the US perhaps. But it is still cheaper to live here. I also work for my 32 DRAGONNEWS t /0

What makes the Chinese market differ from the markets in Sweden or the US? “We put a lot of effort into looking at conspicuous behaviour when we studied the Chinese market, and discovered that Chinese consumers want to buy expensive stuff to show off and outshine their friends. We believe this is a typical consumption behaviour in emerging markets.� Do you find anything else challenging, specifically with entering the Chinese market? “I think the hardest part is to find the right channel for your products. We are looking for good partners, but it’s all about the right relations with the right people.� How has the reception of your products been so far? “First, we tried big bottles for our juice, but [we realised] it was probably going to take a long time to teach the Chinese consumers to drink blueberry juice from a big bottle. Blueberry juice is not a beverage you quench your thirst with. You have to know about the health effects. So we are in the process of redesigning, and will be selling it in smaller bottles, more like an easy to go ‘health-shot’.� How are brands from Sweden received in China? “I think it is a very good thing to have a Swedish brand. Our name is Wildberries of

What do you enjoy most about your work here? “I certainly enjoy my work here! It’s a new thing for me, but nice to have my own business. If I get an idea, I don’t have to ask my boss about it; I can just go and try it out and see if it works.� What do you do when you are not working? “I try to work out, play football and hang out with friends. I love the food culture here in China; love going out for dinner with friends.� What are our plans for the future? “I hope to stay here long term. I am done with my studies in Sweden and I have my own company here. I really hope that it can develop into something big, but also to help my father in his business and get closer relations with suppliers here in China.� Do you recommend other students in Sweden to do the same thing as you did, and set up a business here in China? “Yeah, take a chance! It will take one or two years perhaps, but then you will see if there is a potential in it, and you will still have a good time and learn a lot on the journey. Moreover, study Chinese really hard, don’t just learn how to order food. I think language is the key to the society and the market.� b Olov Norlander in brief Name: Olov Norlander. Age: 27. Work: Entrepreneur. Lives: In Beijing. Time in China: Three years Best thing about Beijing: The food. Worst thing about Beijing: The air.

Lawyers you want on your side

How many monkeys are you carrying tonight?

(AVE YOU READ ABOUT THE MANAGER WHO CONSTANTLY TOOK ON ALL PROBLEMS HIS STAFF DELIVERED DURING THE DAY AND THEY SYMBOLICALLY BECAME hSCREAMING MONKEYSv ON HIS SHOULDERS )N THE END OF THE DAY HE WAS CARRYING LOTS OF MONKEYS AND A NEW ONE APPEARED AS SOON AS HE TRIED TO GET RID OF ANOTHER !T (ENRIKSSON WE DEVELOP PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONS TO HELP THEM GET RID OF THE SCREAMING MONKEYS ,ET US HELP YOUR MANAGERS TO BECOME SELF GOING AND TO GET THE SKILLS AND CONFIDENCE NEEDED TO BE EFFECTIVE LEADERS FOR OTHERS #ONTACT US TO LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR ,EADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS


f success

Hong Kong & Taipei

Sweden’s education system a model for China

considering expanding or starting up your business Swedish anddownloading Opportuni■“The n or China? Let New Vinge assistModel you by ties for Chinaâ€? was the title of Peje Emilsson’s free of charge. advantage our expertise muchTake appreciated lunchofpresentation to aand full house on 12 March 2013. The presentation ars´ experience.

was followed by an extended Q&A session due to engaged participants. s in Sweden�Emilsson, is designed help youchairman when you are who to is executive of the communications consultancy, Kreab Gavin start your business in Sweden. Available on Android Anderson, pointed out that the specific publicn English and Chinese. private model that has transformed Sweden’s education system is a model that has immediate applicability for China. China� is designed to help you when you are about to Emilsson leads Kunskapsskolan Educabusiness in China. Available on Appstore in English. tion System AB, one of the world’s leading independent providers of public education, which so farChinese are established in the US, the UK, s Swedish lawyers and legal consultants based Sweden. He is also chairman of the hai, Hong India Kongandand in Vinge’s offices in Sweden. Stockholm Chamber of Commerce.

e than 20 years Vinge has assisted clients in their activities in China and has advised foreign clients in participation rs regardingSwedish trade and investments between Sweden TEXT: Susanne Palm na.

USSELS

From left, Walter Jennings, Charlotte Erkhammar, Peje Emilsson (all from Kreab Gavin Anderson) and Ulf Ohrling (SwedCham HK).

at book fair in Taipei

■“Incredible Sweden – Travelling, Food and Pippi Longstockingâ€? was the theme of the Swedish booth at the recent Taipei International Book Exhibition (TIBE). Organised by Swedish Chamber of Commerce Taipei, the Swedish pavilion showcased the natural beauty of Sweden, Swedish cuisine, minimalistic design and in-depth Swedish culture through a variety of books in Swedish, English and Chinese. The exhibiting books included travel books, historical adventures, cookery books, business books and children’s books. “This was the first time the Swedish Chamber of Commerce Taipei was part of a big international event. With limited time and resources we did a great job,â€? says a satisfied Louise BystrĂśm, CEO at SwedCham Taipei. IKEA furnished the booth, and Electrolux provided a coffee maker and a water kettle – both very important to create a Swedish atmosphere. The Swedish restaurant Flavors in Taipei, Blue Air, SAS, Handelsbanken and Enspyre all contributed to the booth in various ways. TIBE is a big and important book event in East Asia, with over half a million visitors this year. Publishers, authors and book enthusiasts from all over the world come to enjoy this week of books, reading events and culture.

HONG KONG

Louise BystrĂśm of SwedCham Taipei was satisfied with the event.

Elias Ek, managing director at Enspyre and a SwedCham member, achieved a lot of interest about his book How to start a business in Taiwan. The book was presented to Taiwan’s president, Ma Ying-jeou, at a press conference, who said it could be a good idea for the book to be more widely distributed so as to attract foreign investment to Taiwan. The SwedCham booth was busy, and visitors stopped by to have a gingerbread biscuit and a chat about Sweden. Young visitors were attracted by the beautiful children books by the author and illustrator Elsa Beskow, and students asked questions about the possibilities of studying in Sweden. “I hope this event can show our members that the chamber can do many different things that one way or the other will benefit them,â€? says BystrĂśm.

Susanne Palm of SwedCham informed visitors about Sweden.

SHANGHAI

Thank you, Vinge! 34 DRAGONNEWS t /0

■Thank you, Vinge law firm, for generously sponsoring the storage of SwedCham Hong Kong’s documents in numerous boxes all these years from when the chamber started in 1986. SwedCham HK is immensely grateful, and will keep up with the times from now on and transfer all important documents to electronic format.

Tel: +86 10 8446 3162


Beijing

Antique road show ■On Sunday 20 January, the Swedish chamber invited its members to an exclusive antique road show with BjÜrn Gremner’s antique exhibition at Liu Li Chang. BjÜrn Gremner is a leading Scandinavian dealer for Chinese antiques, porcelain, carpets and works of art, and a regular exhibitor at the leading antique shows in Hong Kong and Beijing. The Swedish public, in particular, knows Gremner as an expert crew member on the famous Antikrundan (Antiques Road Show) on the Swedish television. Gremner gave us a short history of Chinese porcelain in Europe from the 17th to the 20th centuries, and we learned how initially the porcelain

BjĂśrn Gremner gave a short history of Chinese porcelain.

was used as ballast on ships bringing tea back to Europe. It was not long before people began to take an interest in the porcelain itself. At that time, most of the tea-ware on the European market was made from silver or silver alloys. Porcelain was cheaper than its metal rivals. But Europeans preferred the blue and white classical Chinese porcelain, while the Qing-era Chinese preferred more colourful decorations you see from that era. Gremner displayed examples of the various styles, including even some of the Emperor´s own porcelain in yellow – a colour exclusively reserved for the Emperor’s use. After the presentation Gremner examined objects brought to the store by the participants.

Workshop about purpose driven leadership

From left, Lars-Ă…ke Severin, Fredrik Ektander (moderator), Thomas Lagerqvist, HelĂŠn Waxberg and Ulf Ohrling.

Short-term gain, long-term pain â– Some 30 members attended morning seminars called “Short-term Gain, Long-term Painâ€? on 6 March in Shanghai and 7 March in Beijing. The topic was the very relevant subject of corruption, with China placed at 80 out of 182 countries in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index. The speakers were HelĂŠn Waxberg, Thomas Lagerqvist and Ulf Ohrling, all from the Mannheimer Swartling law firm, along with Lars-Ă…ke Severin, CEO of the security support company PSU. Together they discussed the question of whether corruption is in fact a problem. The four speakers had a common agenda about how to minimise the risks of getting involved with corruption and how to act in situations that can lead to being involved with it. The method, they suggested was to prevent, detect and correct. For an organisation, it is crucial to identify risks it faces. An example of such a risk may be that a country has a high level of corruption and a business opportunity there is of high value and involves many contracts. Key, the speakers argued, is that it is important that you know who you’re working with and their history. “You can never outsource a risk,â€? said Lagerqvist during the Q&A section of the seminar. Organisations have much to gain by implementing processes to counter corruption and handle situations in which it can arise seriously. Organisations can avoid corruption with training and monitoring. “Trust is good, but follow-up is better,â€? argued Severin. Keeping risks at bay can lead to expenditures – in particular in the form of implementing new policies and monitoring – but the cost of a corruption scandal will harm an organisation or a trademark even more, the speakers agreed.

36 DRAGONNEWS t /0

â– On 10 January, seasoned trainers and executive coaches Linda Wang and Birgitta SĂśderstrĂśm co-led an experiential workshop called “The New Way of Winning: The Heartware and Soulware of Leadershipâ€?. In short, the workshop was about purposedriven leadership. It launched with a game in which participants were divided into two teams. The game raised important questions about “winningâ€? and “losingâ€?, “trustâ€?, and “how to play a winwin gameâ€? (taking the losing out of winning). The game certainly generated arguments, disagreements, thoughts – and some laughs. Wang and SĂśderstrĂśm then used reflections, experience sharing and visualisation in order for the participants to find, or clarify, their individual signature strengths, and, deepheld values, in order to find their purpose. The participants were encouraged to share their personal thoughts and experiences. The openness of the participants really created a courageous, creative and powerful morning, a great start to the New Year. Linda Wang and Birgitta SĂśderstrĂśm taught about winning and learning.


Shanghai

CSR seminar about children’s rights ■On 29 January, representatives from Swedish companies were invited by the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai to the consul-general Viktoria Li’s residence to listen to and discuss corporate social responsibility (CSR) issues in China with Sanna Johnson, who is in charge of Save the Children’s CSR centre in Beijing. The CSR centre provides considerable support and help to companies working with social challenges when it comes to children’s rights in China. The centre has developed practical tools and educational courses to facilitate this.

Executive functions predict success â– On 17 January in Shanghai and on 26 February in Beijing, TorbjĂśrn Vestberg, a licensed psychologist and a brain researcher, held a presentation of his ground-breaking research, showing that elite football players do not need specific football skills to become successful. Rather, it is a general ability that all people possess that makes the difference. What Vestberg found was a strong linear correlation with some of the brain’s executive functions – cognitive processes that control other processes in the brain. The better the executive functions the more goals or passes the player will score or make. In this way, it is possible to tell in advance who will have the best ability to become a striker or playmaker. Vestberg´s study can also be used to tell who can become a good leader. As a leader you also need to make quick and correct decisions, and

Breakfast with the Swedish customs attachĂŠ

Tuomas Liikavainio discusses customs issues at a breakfast event.

38 DRAGONNEWS t /0

Representatives from Swedish companies discuss CSR issues.

when doing this you use the brain’s executive functions. In other words, by measuring a person’s executive functions, it is possible to predict his or her ability to handle many variables, and whether he or she has the ability to make quick and correct decisions that are not simply impulsive. Vestberg concluded that success is very much about having the ability to know how and where to find the most important information, understand how to value the information, make the best decisions based on the information, and then simply execute. The combined name for these decision-making abilities is executive functions. In general, these abilities do not correlate with education or IQ. The next time you recruit staff, you might want to consider using some novel methods and tests, rather than the conventional ones. Psychologist TorbjÜrn Vestberg talked about what makes a footballer, or leader, successful.

â– The newly appointed Swedish customs attachĂŠ, Tuomas Liikavainio, met in Shanghai with representatives from Swedish companies at a breakfast event hosted by the Swedish Chamber of Commerce on 6 February. The obstacles to importing goods to China were discussed, and the participating members were able to bring up their own issues in regard to imports and exports in China. Swedish and Chinese customs have signed a joint action plan, making it possible for Liikavainio to be able to raise issues discussed at this kind of meeting directly with Chinese customs. Sweden is the first European country to have its own customs attachĂŠ to be part of an action plan of this kind. Member companies that were not able to participate on this occasion can contact the Swedish customs attachĂŠ through the Swedish Chamber of Commerce, on any relevant issues they might have.

Studies show that deviations of 5°C regarding the ideal indoor temperature have an enormous effect on people: The work efficiency decreases with up to 30 percent and the accident risk increases with 10 percent. Furthermore, polluted air coming into our buildings can become a dangerous hazard for our health and well-being. A well-balanced, energy efficient and modern ventilation system made in Sweden is the solution. Swegon is one of the leading suppliers of clean air and healthy indoor environments. The company is specialized in intelligent and energy efficient ventilation systems with solutions for all needs, putting the environment and the people as their first priority. Calculations show that all the systems Swegon delivered in 2011 contributed to a reduction in energy consumption corresponding to

www.swegon.com

the annual energy production from nearly 360,000 wind turbines. Counted since 1994, all Swegon products and systems contributed to a reduction in energy consumption corresponding driving 2.5 million times around the equator with a car or the annual electricity consumption of 12,200,000 houses. In monetary terms, the total savings since 1994 are up to 37.3 billion CNY. Swegon’s innovative and ground-breaking systems and solutions always aim to achieve a comfortable, energy giving and healthy indoor climate with the lowest possible energy consumption and the lowest possible environmental impact. We create the world’s best indoor climate for people and the environment.


HONG KONG ORDINARY MEMBERS >>>

Excella Travel (HK) Ltd 20/F, 152 Queen’s Road Central Hong Kong Tel: +852 2810 7588 Fax: +852 2868 4290 Email: amrit@excellatravel.com Web: www.excellatravel.com

Stora Enso (HK) Ltd Room 1101, 88 Hing Fat Street Causeway Bay, Hong Kong Tel: +852 2187 3400 Email: veli-jussi.potka@storaenso.com Web: www.storaenso.com Activities Stora Enso is the global re-thinker of the paper, biomaterials, wood products and packaging industry. We are constantly rethinking the old and expanding into the new to offer our customers innovative solutions based on renewable materials. The Group has some 30 000 employees in more than 35 countries worldwide, and is a publicly traded company listed in Helsinki and Stockholm. Our customers include publishers, printing houses and paper merchants, as well as the packaging, joinery and construction industries. Stora Enso will focus more on growth markets in China and Latin America, and on fibre-based packaging, plantation-based pulp and selected paper grades.

Activities For over 50 years, Excella Travel has been using its deep knowledge and experience of the travel industry to help clients handle all of their travel planning and needs. Finding a good deal may be easy thanks to the Internet, but what’s really important is travelling the way that suits you. Take advantage of our full suite of services. From tickets to tours, hotels to conventions, special occasions and honeymoons – we have you covered. We have helped a variety of companies with their travel needs. From multinational corporations to small businesses across a variety of industries, our clients can rely on our multi-lingual staff’s personal touch and service. Chamber representative Amrit Sethi, Director

Chamber representative Veli-Jussi Potka, SVP, Business Development and M&A, Renewable Packaging Asia

The Hong Kong Hive Ltd 21/F, The Phoenix Building No 23 Luard Road Wan Chai, Hong Kong Tel: +852 3568 6343 Email: info@thehive.com.hk Web: www.thehive.com.hk

Imagination Asia Ltd 32/F, Cambridge House 979 King’s Road Quarry Bay, Hong Kong Tel: +852 3513 1300 Email: matthew.chak@imagination.com Web: www.imagination.com

Activities The Hive is a co-worker space designed for those in creative industries. It is located in Wan Chai, has an inspiring design, an open plan work space, a sun terrace and a meeting room, custom-made furniture, high-speed Internet, 24-hour access, flexible memberships and no long term contracts. Each floor plan has been laid out to encourage new connections and creative energy; perfect for creative freelancers, entrepreneurs and dynamic start-ups. The Hive is open 24 hours, with staff on reception 8am to 8pm weekdays.

Activities Launched in London in 1968, Imagination is an independent creative communications agency, specialising in creating integrated brand experiences. Imagination has 18 offices with over 400 employees around the world, including Stockholm, and the full complement of in-house talent, from event producers to investor communications, brand consultants to architects, advertising specialists to interior designers, and retail specialists to digital experts. As one of the region’s leading creative agencies, the Imagination Hong Kong Office has been established for more than 10 years, successfully managing numerous of exciting projects with positive results to our clients across Asia-Pacific.

Chamber representative Constant Tedder, Founder

Chamber representative Matthew Chak, Senior Account Manager

40 DRAGONNEWS t /0

* & ! ! ! ! ' " ! ' ! & % ' ! * !' ,"( '" ' & ' & % ! &' %"* ! % ' & % &( ' "% ! "% ! ! ) ! " # ! & ! ! ! &" (' "!& &( & & ! !' .! ! ! ! " ! "% ! (%% ! & '% .! ! ! '% &(%, &" (' "!& ! ! # ,"( - % ! ! "(% , %& " +# % ! " (& ! && ! ! ,"( ) ' "##"%'(! ', # & ) & ' (& ! ! * % * ) ! " ' & !

* ! ! ' %"(# "* %

( ,( !& $ " ! !


KPMG 8/F, Prince’s Building 10 Chater Road Central, Hong Kong Tel: +852 2555 6022 Email: enquiries.hk@kpmg.com Web: www.kpmg.com/cn Activities KPMG is a global network of professional firms providing audit, tax and advisory services, with an industry focus. We use our expertise and insight to cut through complexity and deliver informed perspectives and clear solutions that our clients and stakeholders value. KPMG China has around 9,000 professionals working in 13 offices: Beijing, Shanghai, Shenyang, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Fuzhou, Xiamen, Qingdao, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Hong Kong SAR and Macau SAR. Our client focus, commitment to excellence, global mindset and consistent delivery have helped us build trusted relationships, which are at the core of our business and reputation. Chamber representative Mark Kemper, Partner

HONG KONG OVERSEAS MEMBERS >>>

1

2

Gaia Leadership AB 12/F, Sail Tower No 266, Hankou Road Shanghai 200002 PR China Tel: +86 186 0210 1421 (Jan BostrĂśm), +86 155 0210 8421 (Karla Sahlin) Email: jan.bostrom@gaialeadership.se, karla.sahlin@gaialeadership.se Web: www.gaialeadership.se, www.gaialeadership.com

Activities Since we launched in 1998, we have, in partnership with our customers, created outstanding results for organisations and individuals. We have supported thousands of leading managers to create a Gaia Business Culture, in the trade, in the industry and in the public sector. A business culture with a leadership that focuses on interaction within the organisation and with the market, for growth and sustainable results. We have 30 senior consultants with extensive experience in top management positions and in leadership. Our assignments involve business development, management team development, individual coaching, and leadership training. We work with customers all over the world; in China, Sweden, and other countries in Europe and in North America.

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

Chamber representatives Jan BostrÜm, Chairman of the Board Karla Sahlin, Senior Leadership Adviser HellstrÜm Advokatbyrü KB PO Box 7305 SE-103 90 Stockholm Sweden Tel: +46 8 22 09 00 Web: hellstromlaw.com Email: thomas.macdowall@hellstromlaw.com Activities Lawyers you want on your side – this is our motto. We offer a business-integrated law service that adds value by knowhow, experienced and engaged lawyers, taking our clients’ business forward. We provide cost efficient, relevant and accurate advice. We take pride in providing fast innovative and to-the-point legal solutions. We have set our minds to always be a leading business law firm in Scandinavia, with industry know-how, close client engagement and an international client base. Our working formula is very simple. Our clients expect engagement and results. We commit and we deliver. We are sure you want us on your side. Chamber representative Thomas MacDowall, Senior Counsel

42 DRAGONNEWS t /0

Shop No.65, 1/F, Admiralty Centre, 18 Harcourt Road, Hong Kong Shop No.65, 1/F, Admiralty Centre, 18 Harcourt Road, Hong Kong Tel: 852-2877-2227 Fax: 852-2877-2120 Tel: 852-2877-2227 Fax: 852-2877-2120 Mobile: 9051-9499 E-mail: johnnysphoto@live.hk Mobile: 9051-9499 E-mail: johnnysphoto@live.hk Opening Hour: Mon – Sat 9:00am – 7:00pm Opening Hour: Mon – Sat 9:00am – 7:00pm Sunday 2:00pm – 6:00pm Sunday 2:00pm – 6:00pm

1 2

K


Jan Skoglund Email: jan.skoglund@live.com Tel: +852 9170 9558

Hatt et SÜner Skeppargatan 8 SE-114 52 Stockholm Sweden Tel: +46 709 77 90 90 Email: andreas@hatt-soner.com Web: www.hatt-soner.com Activities Hatt et SÜner is a champagne house with the global ambition of producing champagne of the utmost quality. The vineyard spans several hectares of the famous Mont AimÊ terrain and is located in the top-rated champagne village of Bergères-les-Vertus in Côte des Blancs. Only grapes from 95 per cent Premier Cru to 100 per cent Grand Cru are used in the production of the champagne. Hatt et SÜner offers several different types of champagne, each of which represents a perfect composition of viniculture, precision, design and quality. All this contributes to the production of some of the most delicious champagnes in the world.

Emma Cosmo Email: emmaviktoria.cosmo@gmail.com Tel: +852 5180 1044

Petter Sternby Email: psternby@gmail.com Tel: +852 9680 3001

Chamber representative Andreas Wadensten, Partner

CHINA ORDINARY MEMBERS >>>

HONG KONG INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS >>> Tanja Sobko Email: tanja.sobko@cuhk.edu.hk Tel: +852 5181 6160

Morgan Persson Email: morganpn@hotmail.com Tel: +852 9258 2253

! ! ! !

Activities Creative strategy and media relationship; Nordic design & lifestyle; brand market entry consultant service; design and operate creative event; marketing material (VI, promotional video and PR material) production service. Chamber representative Yanling Duan Email: yanling0909@gmail.com Mobile: +86 138 0104 0321

44 DRAGONNEWS t /0

#FKAĂąLKBĂą-OFS>QBĂą >KHFKDĂą >ASFPLO ĂąQEBKĂąJ>HBĂąPROBĂąEBĂą HKLTPĂąJ>KVĂąPMB@F>IFPQP

Dui’A COMmunication Loft 1 East, I-Culture Park No 29 Baiziwan Road Chaoyang District Beijing 100022 Tel: +86 10 6776 4102 Fax: +86 10 6776 4102 Web: www.duiacom.cn

#ONTACTĂ´.ORDEAĂ´INĂ´3INGAPOREĂ´ONĂ´ Ă´ Ă´ Ă´ORĂ´ E MAILĂ´JONAS BERGQVIST NORDEA COM

+LOAB>Ăą >KHĂą0 Ăą>KAĂą+LOAB>Ăą >KHĂą#FKI>KAĂą-I@ Ăą0FKD>MLOBĂą O>K@EĂą>OBĂąM>OQĂąLCĂą+LOAB>Ăą$OLRM ĂąQEBĂąIB>AFKDĂąhK>K@F>IĂąPBOSF@BPĂąDOLRMĂąFKĂąQEBĂą+LOAF@Ăą>KAĂą >IQF@Ăą0B>ĂąOBDFLKP Ăą BFKDĂąQEBĂąIB>AFKDĂą+LOAF@ĂąM>K

"ROLMB>Kù?>KHFKDùBKQFQVùFKù)RUBJ?LROD ù+LOAB>ù >KHù0 ùCL@RPBPùLKùFKQBOK>QFLK>Iù4B>IQEù*>K>DBJBKQ ù#RKAù!FPQOF?RQFLKù>KAù#RKAù*>K>DBJBKQùPBOSF@BP ù,ROù ùBJMILVBBPùPBOSBù>ùTFABùPMB@QORJù LCùFKQBOK>QFLK>Iù@IFBKQPùFKùJLOBùQE>Kù ù@LRKQOFBP ù0LJBùMOLAR@QPù>KAùPBOSF@BPùJ>V ùARBùQLùIL@>IùOBDRI>QFLKP ùKLQù?Bù>S>FI>?IBùQLùFKAFSFAR>IPùOBPFABKQùFKù@BOQ>FKù@LRKQOFBPù>KAùQEBFOù>S>FI>?FIFQVùJ>VùABMBKA ù >JLKDùLQEBOùQEFKDP ùLKùQEBùFKSBPQJBKQùOFPHùMOLhIBùLCùMBOPLKPùFKùOB@BFMQùLCùQEFPùMR?IF@>QFLKùLOùLKù>KVùIBDFPI>QFLKùQLùTEF@EùQEBVù>OBùPR?GB@Q ù+LQEFKDùFKùQEFPùMR?IF@>QFLKùPELRIAù?Bù@LKPQORBAù>Pù>KùLCCBO ùLOùQEBù PLIF@FQ>QFLKùLCù>KùLCCBO ùQLùMRO@E>PB ùPR?P@OF?BùQLùLOùPBIIù>KVùFKSBPQJBKQùLOùMOLAR@Q ùLOùQLùBKD>DBùFKù>KVùLQEBOùQO>KP>@QFLKùLOùMOLSFABù>KVùHFKAùLCùhK>K@F>IùLOù?>KHFKDùPBOSF@BùFKù>KVùGROFPAF@QFLKùTEBOBù+LOAB>ù >KHù0 ù>KAù+LOAB>ù >KHù#FKI>KAù-I@ ù0FKD>MLOBù O>K@EùLOù>KVùLCùQEBFOù>ChIF>QBPùALùKLQùE>SBùQEBùKB@BPP>OVùIF@BK@B ù-R?IFPEBAù?Vù+LOAB>ùù >KHù#FKI>KAù-I@ ù0FKD>MLOBù O>K@E ù ù KPLKù/Aùô ù 0MOFKDIB>Cù1LTBO ù0FKD>MLOBù ùTTT KLOAB>MOFS>QB?>KHFKD @LJùPR?GB@QùQLùQEBùPRMBOSFPFLKùLCùQEBù*LKBQ>OVù RQELOFQVùLCù0FKD>MLOBù TTT J>P DLS PDù ùù


Clean Healthy Air 24/7

= Life insurance and Higher Performance 1

2

Carlsberg Sverige Bryggerivägen 10 SE-161 86 Stockholm Sweden CNF Trade Co., Ltd. Ningbo Free Trade Zone 1/F, Imported Food Area Building No 5, Xing Ye Yi Road, Ningbo Free Trade Zone Zhejiang Province 315800 Tel: +86 574 8699 5119 Web: www.cnfood2010.cn.alibaba.com

Activities Food and beverage. Our company is agent of Carlsberg Sweden in China. The main products are Pripps BlĂĽ, Falcon and Carnegie Porter. Chamber representatives Zhou Yang, Sales Manager Email: china999@hotmail.com Mobile: +86 187 5894 9459 Cathy Chen, Sales Manager Email: cathy-ego@hotmail.com Mobile: +86 188 5791 8965

1

2

Beijing Solutions Ltd Room 801, Unit 2, No 72 Building Yang Zhuang Nan Li, Tongzhou District Beijing 101121

Activities We offer trade and distribution, consulting and e-commerce services. We work with import/export, marketing and sales and development of web-based software. Chamber representatives Fredrik YderstrĂśm Email: beijingsportsplus@gmail.com Mobile: +86 135 2192 0038 Daniel Westerberg Email: daniel_westerberg_1979@hotmail.com Mobile: +86 139 1174 8851

1

At Home Kindergarten/School/High School/University • At Work 2

1

www.easab.com

2

Fjällräven B-707, Jianwai SOHO No 39, East 3rd Ring Middle Road, Chaoyang District Beijing 100022 Tel: +86 10 5900 9392 Fax: +86 10 5869 9566 Email: marcus.solberg@fjallraven.se Web: www.fjallraven.cn

Activities CLC Projects Ltd is a network of project freight forwarders established in Hong Kong. Currently we have 67 members worldwide, and with one member in each country we have an exclusive network. Customers can entrust their global shipments to us and our members.

Activities Fjällräven is a Swedish outdoor clothing and equipment company that was founded in Ă–rnskĂśldsvik, Sweden, in 1960, and which today is a multinational company with outlets worldwide. In 2008, Fjällräven entered the Chinese market and today has 15 stores – four of which are situated in the western districts of Beijing – as well as a network of resellers throughout China: from Urumqi in the west, to Heilongjiang in the north, to Yunnan in the south. Fjällräven’s aim in China is to grow with the market and – just as in other countries, including Sweden – encourage and make it easier for people to access the outdoors and to lead an outdoor lifestyle.

Chamber representative Bo H Drewsen Email: bo.drewsen@clcprojects.com Mobile: +852 5100 0759

Chamber representative Marcus Solberg, Deputy General Manager, China Email: marcus.solberg@fenixoutdoor.se Mobile: +86 150 0066 3068

CLC Projects Ltd Suite 2202, Tung Chiu Commercial Centre No 193, Lockhart Road, Wan Chai Hong Kong Web: www.clcprojects.com

46 DRAGONNEWS t /0

EAS Beijing Office, China, Mr Shangyou Dong, Manager, Ph: 0086 10 85322147,Cell: 0086 135 2199 5330, Mail: shangyou.dong@easab.com

SWEDEN HQ Environmental Air of Sweden AB. Mr GĂśran Hertzberg, M D, Ph: 0046 761 048 350, Mail: info@easab.com

High school and Middle school +,*#, ((!- %) 1! %-$ *, )#'%-$ $! %+'*( $ - !!) !-. '%-$! . "*, *0!, 3! ,- 1%.$ +,*0!) ,! *, *" -/ !-- /(!,*/- ",!! .%(! .%0%.%!- ) '*-! *). .- 1%.$ /)%0!,-%.%!- ) %) /-.,3 /, - $**' %- '* .! %) % 3''% %#./) *) .$! -$*,!- *" &! 4' , '*-! .* .* &$*'( /'./, ' '%"! ) ,' ) %,+*,. Come and visit SSHL ) %).!,) .%*) ' 0!,-%*) *" 1! !) ! ,! $ ++3 .* -$*1 3*/ .$! - $**' ) */, .%0%.%!- . )3 .%(! ! '-* *""!, .,% ' +!,%* #%0%)# 3*/ .$! *++*,./)%.3 .* !2+!,%!) ! - $**' ) * , %)# '%"! During the summer 1! *""!, -/((!, */,-!- %) 1! %-$ ) .$!( .% -

!'!+$*)!

111 --$' -!


Gambro Medical Sales (Shanghai) Co, Ltd 23/F, Unit A, The Headquarters Building No 168, Xizang Road (M) Shanghai 200001 Tel: +86 21 2322 1888 Fax: +86 21 6350 6053 Web: www.gambro.com

Smüland’s China Support Office 12/F, Sail Tower No 266, Hankou Road Huangpu District Shanghai 200001 Tel: +86 21 5228 0293 Fax: +86 21 6267 5980 Web: www.smalandshanghai.com

Activities Gambro is a global medical technology company and a leader in developing, manufacturing and supplying products and therapies for kidney and liver dialysis, myeloma kidney therapy and other extracorporeal therapies for chronic and acute patients. For decades, Gambro has been first to market with many ground-breaking innovations. By designing and delivering solutions to dialysis clinics and intensive care units, Gambro offers not just improved treatment quality, but also improved efficiency. Gambro was founded in 1964 and has today 7,500 employees, 13 production facilities in nine countries and sales in more than 100 countries.

Activities As the first governmental agency at regional level in Sweden that has opened its own representative office in China, we represent two provinces and one state university in the region of SmĂĽland in Sweden. These are Kalmar province, Kronoberg province and Linnaeus University, respectively. We actively support and assist Swedish companies in establishing business relations with or in China, as well as to promote Linnaeus University as a popular destination for overseas studies among Chinese college students.

Chamber representative Erik Trock-Jansen Email: erik.trock-jansen@gambro.com Mobile: +86 138 1627 2379

Chamber representative Zhi Wang, Director Email: zhi.wang@rfkl.se Mobile: +86 134 7241 0475

MANDARIN STAR PRIMASIA CORPORATE SERVICES LIMITED

Grow HR 14D, East Tower, East Ocean Center No 588, Yan’an Road Shanghai 200021 Tel: +86 21 5307 9790 Web: www.growhr.com

Viab Precision (Suzhou) Co, Ltd Room 3001-3004, Block 3 No 21, Heshung Road, Suzhou Industrial Park Suzhou, Jiangsu Province 215122 Tel: +86 512 6706 7986 Fax: +86 512 6706 7983 Web: www.varnamo-industri.se

Activities Grow HR is a Shanghai-based human capital consulting firm specialising in executive search and consulting services in Greater China and East Asia. We have a dedicated team of local and international consultants whose backgrounds and work experiences span North America, Europe and Asia. Our core business is identifying and assessing outstanding talents and recruiting them into leadership roles.

Activities A member of Värnamo Industri and belonging to Xano Group, Viab Sweden is one of Scandinavia’s leading manufacturers of precision-turned components. Viab is TS16949/ISO14001 certified and supplies parts to all industries in Northern Europe. Viab produces precision components short lead-times and high flexibility. Viab Precison Suzhou was established as a business hub in 2012.

Chamber representative Mette Leger Email: mette.leger@growhr.com Mobile: +86 159 2136 5040

Chamber representative Jerry Hultquist, General Manager Email: jerry@viabprec.com Mobile: +86 180 1558 5808

48 DRAGONNEWS t /0

Swedish founded – 24 years in Hong Kong

Suite 2909 China Resources Building, No.26 Harbour Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong. Email: johnbarclay@primasia.hk [+852 3588 0000] / winniechan@primasia.hk [+852 3588 0012] General Line: +852 2882-2088 Fax: +852 2975-8042 www.primasia.hk


Dragon News on your tablet 1

2

SXL Group Room 2103, Dongbo Mansion No 168, Shangwen Road Huangpu District Shanghai 200010 Tel: +86 21 6372 0100 Web: www.sxlgroup.com

1

Activities Managed by an international team of dedicated professionals, SXL Group is spearheading a student-consulting model in China. Working with talented students from top universities in China, coupled with our versatile in-house project managers, SXL Group is able to deliver valuable projects that have flexibility and price/quality ratio for a wide spectrum of areas. We support companies with market research, competitor analysis, benchmark studies, market entry strategies, and much more. Chamber representatives Gustav Ă…strĂśm Email: gustav.astrom@sxlgroup.com Mobile: +86 158 0086 2274 Ola Källqvist Email: ola.kallqvist@sxlgroup.com Mobile: +86 136 0171 4708

1

2

2

Wildberries of Sweden HB Centralvägen 63c SE-79146, Falun Sweden Web: www.wildberriesofsweden.com

Activities Wildberries of Sweden aims to establish a premium brand on the Chinese market by selling high-end products made exclusively from wild berries growing in Swedish forests. With a young and fresh approach, Wildberries of Sweden targets sophisticated Chinese food-lovers. By entering the market with well-known products, such as jam and juice, brand awareness can be created, makig it possible to introduce further products. Wildberries of Sweden is a new company based in Beijing and founded by Olov Norlander and Mikael Livas. Chamber representatives Olov Norlander Manager of Operations – China and Co-founder Email: olov@wildberriesofsweden.com Mobile: +86 186 1280 1930 Mikael Livas Manager of Operations – Sweden and Co-founder Email: mikael@wildberriesofsweden.com Mobile: +86 183 1143 4835

■Starting from this issue, the Swedish Chambers of Commerce in Hong Kong and China will publish a tablet edition of Dragon News, which is being launched during spring as apps for both iPad on Apple’s AppStore and for Android on Google Play. “Sweden is in the forefront of information technology (IT) development, so it is natural that two chambers that are representing Sweden in Greater China should have an app like this to create more interactivity with our readers and attract more advertisers,� say the chambers’ chairmen, Ulf Ohrling and Mats Harborn.

1

2

CHINA ASSOCIATE MEMBERS >>> Oskar Sundberg Room 2502, Unit 8, Huili Garden 45 Zhi Nong, 822 Nong, Changshou Road Shanghai 200060 Mobile: +86 150 2679 6372 Email: oskar.sundberg@hotmail.com

Fredrik Blomqvist Hotel Manager No 500, Weihai Road, Jing’an District Shanghai 200041 Mobile: +86 138 1896 5823 Tel: +86 21 6256 8888 Email: fredrik.blomqvist@fourseasons.com

50 DRAGONNEWS t /0

Eric Hessler No 25, XituCheng Road, Haidian District Beijing 100088 Mobile: +86 182 1018 4536 Email: cehessler@yahoo.com

Welcome, Johan! Sigrid Horn af Ă…minne 57-101, Lane Bridge No 9, Lai Guang Ying East Road, Chaoyang District Beijing 100102 Mobile: +86 139 1184 3438 Email: sigrid.horn@ovi.com

■The Swedish Chamber of Commerce in China warmly welcomes Johan Trennestam. Johan will do an internship at the Beijing office. The internship is a component in finalising his Master ‘s in Public Administration at the University of Gothenburg. Johan is looking forward learning more about the chamber’s work in China and getting to know Chinese business culture. Johan started his internship this spring and will stay until June 2013. DRAGONNEWS t /0 51


AFTER HOURS â– Books

â– Bars

Swedish snaps song book

SGL Textile Handling

Want a different bar experience? Visit some of Beijing´s new microbreweries for a beer tasting. Even if you are not a beer drinker, you will probably find a visit to the Great Leap Brewery or the Slow Boat Brewery a lot of fun, not only due to the friendly staff but also the convivial atmosphere. Pop in and try a beer or spend a long evening trying as many of the 12 different brews you can without falling down. Great Leap Brewery Address: Doujiao Hutong No 6, Dongcheng District, Beijing. Phone: +86 10 5717 1399 Web: www.greatleapbrewing.com Slow Boat Brewery Taproom Address: Dongcheng Qu, Dongsi Batiao No 56-2, Beijing, near Zhangzizhonglu metro station. Phone: +86 10 6538 5537 Web: www.slowboatbrewery.com

– Experts in individual preparation

The Swedish Chamber of Commerce

SNAPS SONG BOOK ■Restaurants Organic restaurant in Hong Kong The organic food craze is taking Hong Kong by storm, with more and more restaurants seeking to serve quality organic food. One restaurant that is proud to be part of this trend, serving eco-friendly food, is recent arrival, the charming Wild Grass, which is part-owned by Swedish culinary connoisseur Kristoffer Luczak, vice president for food and beverage at Melco Crown Entertainment. The wooden interior gives the place a tranquil cottage-like feel with mismatched yet beautiful furniture. Another detail not to be missed is the unique pieces of art that are showcased in the restaurant – a result of a collaboration with prominent art galleries around Hong Kong. Address: 1/F, 4-8 Arbuthnot Road, Central, Hong Kong Phone: +852 2810 1189 52 DRAGONNEWS t /0

■Sports Football league in Beijing Sign up now for the Spring 2013 season of the Etihad Airways Club Football, five-a-side League, Beijing’s biggest yearround five-a-side league! The league is open to men’s amateur and corporate teams of all levels. Matches consist of two halves of 15 minutes, with a five-minute break for halftime. They are held on the artificial pitches at Side Park and Chaoyang Park, in the evenings from Tuesday to Thursday. Read more at www.clubfootball.com.cn/cms5.

PHOTO: HĂĽkan Aldrin, Hong Kong

Two of Sweden’s most promising jazz artists, Magnus Lindgren (saxophone) and Erik SÜderlind (guitar) gave three concerts in Hong Kong as part of a four-city tour. The concerts were sponsored by the Consulate General of Sweden in Hong Kong. In addition to performing in Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Macau the two musicians gave master classes as well as a TV recording at RTHK in Hong Kong. Magnus and Eric are part of Nordic Light Quartet a new jazz project initiated by Rickard Malmsten, a Hong Kong based jazz musician.

C

CO

Swedish jazz in Hong Kong and China

M

IB

R NT

Y

Our world is logistics

â– Music

CM

TO

MY

Let us pack, label, price tag and quality control your products in Asia

12926-SGL- Textil annonce.indd 1

E UT

CY

Turn Fixed costs into Variable costs ..! K

PHOTO: Great Leap Brewery

Microbreweries in Beijing

CMY

Singing is an essential part of Swedish culture. Take all the drinking songs sung at parties, such as the midsummer celebrations, crayfish parties and Christmas dinners. Singing creates happiness and a sense of belonging. In China, singing is also close to everyone’s hearts, as anyone who has been to a karaoke evening knows. To get the singing going at parties song lyrics are often distributed at the table. Sometimes booklets of lyrics are produced, and this is exactly what the Swedish chamber is about to start doing. The Swedish Chamber of Commerce in China cordially invites all members and staff to bring us specially written songs, or clever translations of existing songs into Chinese, which will become the joint treasure of the chamber for use at our parties. We hope that the songbook can become an asset for Swedish companies in China for customer dinners, staff events and private gatherings. Let your creativity and inspiration flow! Look at old songbooks and sit down with friends and staff and come up with new classics. Please send an email with you contribution to info@swedishchamber.com.cn. When we have enough submissions, the first songbook will be printed. As songs are added, new editions will be printed. For each edition that is sold, the proceeds will be donated to charity. All proceeds from the first songbook will go to the charity Change for Life.

Kasper Svane Kristensen Sales Manager Hong Kong & China +86 139 1609 7764 kskr@scangl.com www.scangl.com

05/03/13 08.10


THE CHAMBER AND I

Looking for bigger projects Johanna AlmstrĂśm of Tiandi Rongtong says she has had the good luck to be part of the Swedish chamber, but she wants the chamber to look for bigger projects together with the embassy and Business Sweden.

J

ohanna AlmstrĂśm is the general manager of Tiandi Rongtong, a company that offers foreign companies consulting services, to help grow their presence in China. The company acts as a bridge between Sweden and China and the other way around. Furthermore, they also offer office space, office services and human resources (HR) management. When did your company become a member of the Swedish chamber and why? “In 2009, as soon as all paperwork was done and as we were established as a formal company, we became members of the Swedish chamber. We didn’t hesitate, since in our view we had a lot to gain by signing a membership and definitely nothing to lose. Through the chamber we quickly got a good network, and our company logo could be seen in the directory and on the chamber’s web page.â€? What is member value for you? “Through the chamber, we give Tiandi Rongtong a face and the possibility to be seen in connection with activities arranged by the chamber. The photo with all participants together with Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel, which was taken at the chamber event when the couple was visiting Beijing is one good example. By having that picture on the wall at our office, our customers make the conclusion our company is important and a company they want to make business with.â€? In what way has the Swedish chamber and its network been of value in your work? “The chamber has a broad and varied spectrum of activities, always with important and interesting subjects, and always presented in an easy to understand context that keep us updated about what’s going on in China. “Since our company is small, and I am the only full-time Swedish employee, the Swedish chamber’s network is very important for me,

and I feel I am always welcome to call or visit the chamber and give my view of things and engage in good dialogue.� For the future, how do you think the chamber can develop and bring more value to the members? “I would like to see more of the different kinds of companies that are members of the chamber. It would be interesting to have member-tomember presentations with companies from different areas. We see many smaller, innovative companies establishing in China, and these kinds of presentations will give them an opportunity to communicate what they do and also share and exchange knowledge. In the long run, this will help Swedish companies do business with each other. “I would also like to see bigger projects to promote Sweden and Swedish companies in which the Swedish embassy, the Swedish chamber and Business Sweden cooperate, preferably every year.�

Get Get organized organized with with Teng Teng Tools! Tools!

What has been your favourite experience in the chamber so far? “The possibility to mingle with and meet the Swedish king at the Gala Dinner in 2010. and meeting Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel. This was an opportunity that our company would not have had in Sweden, and it is something we could not arrange by ourselves. We invited high-level Chinese and Korean guests to the Gala Dinner with the king and they were very impressed by it.� What do you think about Dragon News? “In my opinion, the best Dragon News was the Chinese issue produced for the Shanghai Expo 2010. I would like to see articles in Chinese, in the regular editions. “A Dragon News in Chinese should give us added value since we could also use it as promotion material for our Chinese customers. I would also like to see more interviews with women and smaller, upcoming companies. But as a whole I think Dragon News is good.� b

Meeting Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel was an opportunity that our company would not have had in Sweden.�

Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong

Swedish Chamber of Commerce in China

DIRECTORS OF THE BOARD Ulf Ohrling, Chairman [Mannheimer Swartling] Carl Christensson [Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken] Eva Henriksson [Henriksson Consulting] Dan Lindwall [Handelsbanken] Staffan LĂśfgren [ScanAsia Consulting] Gunnar Mansfeld, Treasurer [Troy Solutions] Laurence McDonald [Ericsson] Kristian Odebjer [Advokatfirman Odebjer Fohlin] Per Ă…gren [APC Asia Pacific Cargo]

DIRECTORS OF THE BOARD Mats Harborn, Chairman [Scania] Katarina Nilsson, Vice Chairman [Advokatfirman Vinge] Fredrik Ektander, Vice Chairman [SEB] Erik Ek, Treasurer [Swedbank] Yvonne Chen [GM, Swedish Chamber of Commerce in China] Birgitta Ed [Springtime] Karine Hirn [East Capital] Daniel Karlsson [Asia Perspective] Tom Nygren [Ericsson] Martin Pei [SSAB] Lars-Ă…ke Severin [PSU] Thomas SĂśrensson [B&B Tools] Sara Wramner [Associate member]

54 DRAGONNEWS t /0

ÂŽ

Great Great value value for for money money without without compromising compromising quality quality Teng Tools Shanghai Tel +86 21 546 511 55 Email: jacob.sandelin@bbtools.cn www.tengtools.com


#+#. ) + %#. .# 0#. &'+ +" . +!& + %#. ,+% ,+% . +!& #+#. ) + %#. .# 0#. &'+ +" . +!& + %#. ,+% ,+% . +!&

#-105 . +!& + %#. & +%& ' . +!& #-105 . +!& + %#. & +%& ' . +!&

. +!& + %#. & +%& ' . +!& . +!& + %#. & +%& ' . +!&

# & 2# ##+ ,-#. 0'+% '+ .# 0#. &'+ $,. 5# ./ ," 5 3# .# 0&# ,."'! +( 3'0& 0&# # & 2# ##+ ,-#. 0'+% '+ .# 0#. &'+ $,. ) .%#/0 -.#/#+!# '+ 0&# .#%',+ 5# ./ ," 5 3# .# 0&# ,."'! +( 3'0& 0&# ) .%#/0 -.#/#+!# '+ 0&# .#%',+ / 5,1. +('+% - .0+#. 3# .# &#.# 0, &#)- 5,1. 1/'+#// /1!!##" +('+% 3'0& 1/ 5,1 #+#60 / 5,1. +('+% - .0+#. 3# .# &#.# 0, &#)- 5,1. $.,* ),! ) (+,3)#"%# +" #4-#.'#+!# / 3#)) / 1/'+#// /1!!##" +('+% 3'0& 1/ 5,1 #+#60 &'%& )#2#) ,$ 7#4' ')'05 +" -#./,+ ) /#.2'!# $.,* ),! ) (+,3)#"%# +" #4-#.'#+!# / 3#)) / &'%& )#2#) ,$ 7#4' ')'05 +" -#./,+ ) /#.2'!#

# /0.,+%)5 #)'#2# '+ ),+% 0#.* 03, 3 5 .#) 0',+/&'-/ '+ 0&# 0. "'0',+ ) 3 5 # /0.,+%)5 #)'#2# '+ ),+% 0#.* 03, 3 5 .#) 0',+/&'-/ '+ 0&# 0. "'0',+ ) 3 5 1. ,$$#.'+% '+!)1"#/ $1)) /#.2'!# !,.-,. 0# +('+% $.,* )) 05-#/ ,$ 6+ +!'+% 0, 3'"# . +%# ,$ ! /& 1. ,$$#.'+% '+!)1"#/ $1)) /#.2'!# !,.-,. 0# +('+% * + %#*#+0 /#.2'!#/ / + #4-#.'#+!#" *#* #. $.,* )) 05-#/ ,$ 6+ +!'+% 0, 3'"# . +%# ,$ ! /& ,$ 0&# ),! ) !)# .'+% /5/0#* ,1. - 5*#+0 /#.2'!#/ * + %#*#+0 /#.2'!#/ / + #4-#.'#+!#" *#* #. .# /#!,+" 0, +,+# ,$ 0&# ),! ) !)# .'+% /5/0#* ,1. - 5*#+0 /#.2'!#/ .# /#!,+" 0, +,+#

,+0 !0 1/ 0, 6+" ,10 *,.# ,10 &,3 3# ! + &#)- 5,1. 1/'+#// ,+0 !0 1/ 0, 6+" ,10 *,.# ,10 &,3 3# ! + &#)- 5,1. 1/'+#// + '+"3 )) 0#-&#+ & + ,& + +".8+ 0&#.'+# , + '+"3 )) 0#-&#+ & + *5 &#+ ,& + +".8+ 0&#.'+# , /,+ +% *5 &#+ /,+ +%

333 & +"#)/ +(#+ !+ 333 & +"#)/ +(#+ !+


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.