Dragon News - No. 4, 2015

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 mm e r c e i n H o n g Ko n g a n d C h i n a

No.04

2015

Connecting China

6

Knut Anton Mork Wag the dog: Is China the new tail?

22

Michael Lantz Premium video for every platform

24

Gabriella Vondracek A Swedish community pioneer

China is on the move as never before, giving business travellers, tourists, exporters, importers and freight forwarders more alternatives to choose between.

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.

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: iStock 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 Email: chamber@swedcham.com.hk Web: www.swedcham.com.hk General Manager: Eva Karlberg Event Manager: Anna Reibring Finance Manager: Anna Mackel 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 Email: beijing@swedishchamber.com.cn Web: www.swedishchamber.com.cn Office Manager Beijing: Karin Roos Webmaster: Jaycee Yang Finance Assistant: Klara Wang Shanghai contact Unit 201, No 885 Renmin Road, Huaihai China Tower Huangpu District, Shanghai 200010 People’s Republic of China Office Manager Shanghai: Marianne Westerback Tel: +86 21 6217 1271 Mobile: +86 1368 179 7675 Email: shanghai@swedishchamber.com.cn

CONTENTS

No.042015 10

4

Editorial

6

Opinion: Knut Anton Mork

8

Snippets

10 Cover story: Connecting China 22 Executive talk: Michael Lantz

22

24 Feature: Gabriella Vondracek 28 Young Professional interview: Johnny Jiang 32 Chamber activities in Hong Kong

24

34 Chamber activities in Beijing 36 Chamber activities in Shanghai 38 Chamber news

28

42 New members 48 After hours 50 The chamber and I: Boarding the plane or taking the train?

Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong

Swedish Chamber of Commerce in China

ADVERTISERS APC Logistics page 35, Asia Perspective page 17, Bamboo page 49 B&B Tools/Teng Tools page 51, Finnair page 2, Ericsson page 19 Executive Homes page 46, Greencarrier page 43, Handelsbanken page 52 Iggesund Paperboard page 39, IKEA page 9, Mannheimer Swartling page 15 Norman Global Logistics page 37, Polarn & Pyret page 43, Port of Gothenburg page 33 PSU pages 26-27, Radisson Blu page 44, Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) page 29 SEB page 5, Segre page 48, Sigtuna Boarding School page 21, Swedbank page 45 Turkish Airlines page 31 and 47

Thank you!

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

Iggesund Paperboard for being the proud sponsor for the paperboard cover sheet of Dragon News magazine.

Cover printed on Invercote® Creato 220gsm.

The Swedish Chambers of Commerce in Hong Kong and China

DRAGONNEWS • NO.04/2015 3

EDITORIAL

Katarina Nilsson Chairman Swedish Chamber of Commerce in China

Ulf Ohrling Chairman Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong

Super connectors Dear Reader, Successful businesses require a number of super connectors. These can be of varied nature. Hong Kong has for decades served as a super connector for business to or from China due to its location, strong connections and developed service industry. Adding to that free flow of capital, information and a rule of law by an independent judiciary.

The Swedish exporting industry could in the 1950s and 1960s – and even later – to a large extent rely on the government to support the business overseas by extending political influence and networking. The importance of good political support for business has, however, been slightly neglected by Swedish governments the last decade or decades.

The government needs to take a look at how other countries are promoting themselves in China, and to also realise that this is something that Sweden cannot overlook. Of course, a case can be made that some newly formed Swedish companies have neglected to make use of governmental

4 DRAGONNEWS • NO.04/2015

support because traditionally only big Swedish exporters get the attention they deserve. But this is simply a way of saying that there is room for major improvements on both sides.

A diplomatic presence is essential, and we think it was a major mistake to close down the Consulate General in Guangzhou.

The signal that has sent to China is likely more costly than the meagre savings of shutting it down.

Meanwhile, promoting Sweden is not only important for Swedish companies but also in terms of providing visa services to Chinese business travellers and tourists wanting to visit Sweden. The Swedish government has to continue develop platforms for trade and investment. China is much more than simply Beijing and Shanghai, and you need to be in China to be relevant. Now that the Consulate General in New York has re-opened, we urge the Swedish government also to re-open in Guangzhou!

Good communications also assist business and the opening of direct flights between Hong Kong and Stockholm by SAS

last September has already showed tangible results, with more business visits to Hong Kong. Hopefully, a direct flight between Stockholm and Shanghai will materialize in the near future as well.

The importance of direct flights should not be underestimated. They are extremely beneficial for both business and tourism in Sweden, especially in the case of a country like China.

We have also seen how much our local Swedish representatives, such as the embassy in Beijing and the consulate generals in Shanghai and Hong Kong, have been able to do for supporting Swedish businesses, big or small. They have served as excellent super connectors for a large number of smalland medium-sized Swedish enterprises, for example in conjunction with the 2010 Shanghai World Expo and the 2014 Business of Design Week in Hong Kong.

Finally, we would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year whether you take a direct flight to Stockholm or not ...

Season’s Greetings!

Wag the dog: Is China the new tail?

The slowdown of the Chinese economy does not have to lead to collapse, but a continued growth slowdown seems increasingly likely, says Handelsbanken’s senior economist Knut Anton Mork.

The will to reform is being tempered by the knowledge that reforms tend to further slow growth in the short run.”

TEXT: Knut Anton Mork, Senior Economist, Handelsbanken, knmo01@handelsbanken.no

China is slowing down. Gross domestic product (GDP) growth rates have been declining from their dizzying peak of almost 15 per cent in the second quarter of 2007. True, the big investment programme initiated in response to the global crisis again. The currency has been devalued. Although I don’t produced a healthy recovery in 2009-2010. But it failed to think the risk of a crisis should be exaggerated, I have to break the negative trend. admit that a crisis is a real possibility.

Of course, nobody knows how reliable these numbers really are. The list of alleged distortions is long; and if we look at the regional figures, we are reminded of tired The government doesn’t quite know what to If Chinese growth falls do. The leadership realises that comprehensive reforms jokes about everybody being above average. Nonetheless, further, additional are needed to achieve sustainable growth. President Xi there is no reason to doubt the fact that growth is consequences seem Jinping presented quite an impressive reform agenda decelerating. If anything, the deceleration has likely been likely, says Knut after the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) plenary underreported.

Anton Mork. session two years ago, but implementation has been slow.

The story behind these figures is already well known.

Foreign policy issues and the clampdown on corruption After years of overinvestment, the manufacturing fighting (or is it an internal power struggle?) have taken the front seat. industry is suffering from excess capacity. The combination of Vested interests have resisted. Meanwhile, the will to reform is being rising wages and falling product prices means that profits suffer, tempered by the knowledge that reforms tend to further slow growth which makes it hard to service the corporate debt that has increased in the short run, even if it eventually makes it more sustainable. worryingly over just a few years.

Despite good intentions the government has thus lapsed into old At the same time, a large number of housing units remain unsold, habits of pump priming to maintain short-term growth. Directives have especially in the third- and fourth-tier cities. The Chinese stock market been given for credit and liquidity to be allocated to various purposes, doubled its value in six months, collapsed, was propped up by draconian benchmark interest rates have been cut (with diminishing results as policy measures, and has now perhaps started an uncontrolled rise

7%

6 DRAGONNEWS • NO.04/2015

Photo: iStock

M

ost of us have become accustomed to thinking of China as a kind of economic island. This does not mean that it is unconnected with the global economy – the trade figures tell us anything but that. It may have valiantly rode out the storm of the Asian financial crisis in 1997, but it didn’t entirely avoid the effects of the global financial crisis of 2007-2009.

Nevertheless, we are used to considering the development of the Chinese economy as mainly the result of forces within China itself. Aside from complaints that Western manufacturing jobs have moved to China, most of us give scant thought to the effects that the Chinese economy has on the rest of the world on a day-to-day basis.

During a visit to the United States in September, I sensed a difference, however. When we asked distinguished economists about the outlook for the US economy, they didn’t talk about the labour market or the Federal Reserve as they usually do. They talked about China.

banks are now free to set their own), and down-payment thresholds for home buyers have been lowered. Such measures help if the sole purpose is to maintain short-term growth, but the longer fundamental reforms are postponed, the harder they will be to implement.

Financial reforms present similar dilemmas. The government wants the RMB to be made part of the Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) basket of leading currencies, which requires deregulation and removal of capital controls. The foreign-exchange market has been reformed somewhat, but at the same time new measures have been introduced to prevent capital flight. Stock market deregulation was pushed through while the market rose, but have subsequently been replaced by a plethora of new rules – both written and unwritten.

This hesitation does not have to lead to collapse, even if a continued growth slowdown seems likely. But in the meantime the global economy is already feeling the effect of the Chinese slowdown.

The effects are clearest in the energy and commodities markets, with large price declines for coal, iron ore, copper, glass and cement. In

the oil market, Saudi Arabia’s fight for market share against US shale producers has been more important. However, weakening demand as a result of sluggish Chinese growth has likely also contributed to the large price drop since the summer of last year.

Cheap oil was supposed to be good for the global economy because it lowers the cost of living and the cost of production. All the same, it needs to be noted that the price of oil is relative and not really an indicator in any absolute terms. When relative prices change there will be winners and losers, so that the losers’ losses counteract the winners’ gains. Furthermore, relative price movements change incentives for human behaviour, and such changes typically result in costly frictions. Thus, the net effect can easily become negative.

That, at least, is the effect for many of the emerging economies, such as Brazil, Russia, Venezuela and Nigeria. Malaysia and Indonesia are managing better, although they also face headwinds. India has the advantage of not being a significant energy or commodity exporter, but many advanced economies are not so lucky: among them count commodity-exporting nations such as Australia, Canada and Norway.

Meanwhile, even the United States, usually considered the big winner when oil prices fall, is feeling the impact from falling emerging-market demand for US exports. The strong dollar has added to the problem, as has the significant slowdown in the US oil industry.

Until recently, Europe was somewhat less affected, but the German industry has started to feel the effects of the Chinese slowdown.

This is a world in which Chinese growth reportedly plateaus out at 7 per cent. If it falls further, additional consequences seem likely. b

Knut Anton Mork has served as a macroeconomist at Handelsbanken since 1996, until May 2015 as chief economist Norway. He holds a PhD in Economics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and had a distinguished academic career in the United States and Norway before joining Handelsbanken. He has followed the Chinese economy closely since its entry into the global arena in the late 1990s.

DRAGONNEWS • NO.04/2015 7

T r a n s p o rtat i o n Sn i p p e t s Chinese pitch for Swedish high-speed rail n A Chinese state-owned enterprise has made an offer to build a high-speed railway in Sweden in record time and at a much lower price than previously estimated, Swedish media reported last August.

The China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC) was said to have offered to build a planned railway that would connect Sweden’s three largest cities – Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö – to Sweden’s Parliamentary Standing Committee for Transport.

According to the reports, the cost for CRRC to build the railway would be limited to SEK145 billion (US$16.6 billion), which is SEK25 billion lower than the Swedish Transport Administration has estimated.

CRRC also said that the railway would take just five years to build.

The railway would be built on concrete pillars above the ground, a method which is common in China and Japan, and which brings down the costs.

Railway construction on bridges is supposed to involve less material consumption, virtually no land purchases and less expensive construction techniques.

CRRC is the world’s largest train builder. It was formed on 1 June 2015 with the merger of China CNR Corporation and China CSR Corporation.

Rail construction on concrete pillars is common in China.

QUOTE

“As one of the achievements of China’s innovation effort, the high-speed railway has become our country’s label and representative in the international community.”

Jia Shirui, vice president of China CNR Corporation, which merged last summer with China CSR Corporation, to The Telegraph.

Chinese airports least punctual in the world n Chinese airports were the worst in the world for punctuality in 2014, according to the US-based aviation monitoring company FlightStats.

Among the world’s 61 largest airports, the seven worst performers for on-time departures were all mainland Chinese airports. Shanghai took the two bottom spots. Only 37.17 per cent of flights from Hongqiao Airport left on time and the Pudong Airport’s score was just slightly better at 37.26 per cent.

Shanghai’s two airports were closely followed at the bottom of the list by Hangzhou Xiaoshan, Shenzhen Bao’an, Guangzhou Baiyun, Chongqing Airport and Beijing Capital International Airport. Even Hong Kong International Airport only managed 62.25 per cent punctuality.

8 DRAGONNEWS • NO.04/2015

Sea and air freight rates take a hit n Sea and air freight rates for the busy trade routes between Europe and China have been tumbling in 2015.

Analysts blame it on slower growth in China combined with a sluggish eurozone economy.

Containers to and from China and Hong Kong represent 30 per cent of global traffic, according to the shipping consultancy Drewry, which in July cut its 2015 growth forecast for boxes moving through Chinese and Hong Kong ports to 4.9 per cent from 5.8 per cent.

Average rates for Asia to Europe maritime freight were more than US$1,100 per 20-foot container (TEU) at the end of 2014, and the price has dropped roughly two thirds over the past 11 months.

Meanwhile, the addition of scheduled passenger flights by airlines has resulted in downward pressure on air-cargo prices, amid shrinking demand in Asia.

Did you know … n … that China has a larger high-speed rail network than the entire European Union or the United States, according to a new World Bank report?

The train network is set to double by 2020 and is a big part of China’s economic strategy – enabling companies to trade directly with Central Asia and Europe.

As of December 2014, China had over 16,000 km of track in service, including the world’s longest line, the 2,298 km Beijing-Guangzhou railway.

High-speed rail is defined as commercial train service at the speed of 200 km/h or higher.

Much to China’s annoyance, its more organised neighbour Japan did incredibly well in the survey. Tokyo’s Haneda tops the list of large global airports with an on-time rate of 89.76 per cent. Among all the 374 airports of all sizes, Osaka’s domestic Itami Airport is the best performer with an on-time rate of 94.56 percent.

The Chinese Dream (4) The Chinese Dream is President Xi Jinping’s collective vision of how to transform China into a “moderately well-off society” by 2021 – the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party – and the more long-term goal of becoming a fully developed nation by about 2049, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic.

For this year’s four issues of Dragon News, the Swedish Chambers of Commerce in Hong Kong and China will use the Chinese Dream as a guiding star for analysing how China will develop over the next five years when it comes to overall trends, working-life conditions, global interaction and modernisation of transportation and logistics.

Connecting China China is on the move as never before, giving business travellers, tourists, exporters, importers and freight forwarders more alternatives to choose between.

Text: Jan Hökerberg, Bamboo jan.hokerberg@bambooinasia.com

W

hether it comes to passenger air traffic or shipment of goods to and from China, things have become much smoother lately with another direct flight between Sweden and Greater China and another direct weekly container line service between Sweden and Asia.

Add to that the huge expansion of China’s railways, both internationally for freight through Asia to and from Europe, and domestically with the world’s largest high-speed train network, and the conclusion is that China is better connected to the rest of the world than ever.

China is rolling, sailing and flying as never before, giving business travellers, tourists, exporters, importers and freight forwarders more alternatives to choose between.

China is today the world’s largest trading nation in terms of goods and the largest trading partner for more than 100 countries in the world.

President Xi Jinping has initiated the One Belt, One Road (OBOR) – or New Silk Road – strategy, which will connect China with Europe, and China hopes will further boost trade and Chinese investments abroad.

An important part of this strategy is to expand infrastructural networks for roads, railways, sea and in the air.

That is why the new weekly direct container line service between Sweden and Asia, which was launched in August, was very much welcomed both by companies that export from Sweden, and by those that import from China or other Asian ports.

Previously, there was only one regular route from Gothenburg to Asia. The new line is operated by six international shipping companies in the G6 Alliance.

Exporters prefer direct lines at sea to avoid reloading the cargo, making transportation faster, less expensive and more secure and reliable.

“We’re very happy that this could finally become a reality. We’ve been working on this to happen for about six or seven years and we’ve had talks with all the

NO.02/2015 10 DRAGONNEWS • NO.04/2015

big four alliances,” says Claes Sundmark, vice president for sales and marketing at the Port of Gothenburg (see separate article).

In September, Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) opened a direct flight between Stockholm and Hong Kong, becoming the only airline offering non-stop travel between Scandinavia and Hong Kong. SAS also has direct flights between Copenhagen and Beijing, Shanghai and Tokyo.

In the past, Air China direct flights between Beijing and Stockholm were the

We’re very happy that this [new weekly container line service] could finally become a reality.”

Claes Sundmark, Port of Gothenburg

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Our new office in Hong Kong gives us an opportunity to compete better and position Stockholm Arlanda as the leading airport in Scandinavia.”

100

To ship by train is more an alternative to air freight than [it is] to sea freight.”

Stefan Gustafsson, APC Asia Pacific Cargo

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Photo: Port of Gothenburg

only choice for travellers in China who prefer to fly non-stop to and from Sweden.

Swedavia, a state-owned company that owns and operates the major airports of Sweden, worked for many years to make the direct flight between Stockholm and Hong Kong a reality. Today, Swedavia has an office in Hong Kong to focus on the growing Asian aviation market.

Marie Linghoff Lehnert, Swedavia “Our new office in Hong Kong gives us an opportunity to compete better and position Stockholm send them to Ningbo for shipping. The goods would then arrive in the Arlanda as the leading airport in Scandinavia,” says Marie Linghoff port of Valencia, to be taken either by train or by road to Madrid. This Lehnert, senior business development manager for aviation business at would take roughly 35 to 40 days, whereas the new freight train only takes Swedavia (see separate article).

21 days. The new route is cheaper than air, and faster than sea transport.

Direct flights also make Sweden more inviting, bearing in mind that An added benefit is that the railroad stops in seven different in 2014 more than 66,000 Chinese people visited Sweden. countries, allowing these areas to be serviced as well. The rail route is “We’re working on offering them more destinations and more also safer than shipping, as a ship has to go past the Horn of Africa and variety in their travel,” says Lynn Li, country manager for VisitSweden the Malacca Straits, which are dangerous areas. in Beijing (see separate article).

However, while eight fully booked trains on this route go to Europe every month, the trains that return do not contain much cargo.

European-bound freight trains have become a key “Only single-digit containers return every month so we can’t element in the OBOR strategy to stimulate rail trade even fill a train. Yiwu’s products are very popular in Europe, between Chinese inland cities and Europe. but for a small town like us, we don’t have a huge demand for It started in 2011 with the 11,170 km railroad European products,” Gong Qing-hua, a freight forwarder sales route, Chongqing-Duisberg, which was mainly launched China is the largest director, recently told the South China Morning Post. with the aim of shipping Hewlett-Packard products trading partner between China and Germany, which now only takes 11 for more than 100 Logistics companies targeting Scandinavia see days compared to 20 or more days by sea. countries worldwide. the new train routes as little tested logistics possibilities, This has been followed by 10 other freight routes, since there is no direct rail connection to Sweden. Their among them these: Wuhan-Pardubice (Czech Republic), customers are used to sending their cargo either by sea or air.

Chengdu-Lodz (Poland), Zhengzhou (Henan province)-Hamburg “To ship by train is more an alternative to air freight than [it is] to (Germany), Suzhou-Warsaw (Poland), Hefei (Anhui province)sea freight,” says Stefan Gustafsson, president of APC Asia Pacific Cargo Hamburg (Germany) and the flagship route from the third-tier city of in Hong Kong. “We’ve seen great interest in shipment by train from our Yiwu in Zhejiang province all the way to Madrid in Spain. customers but they still know little about it.” (see separate article) The Yiwu-Madrid route, which started in December 2014, is the Norman Global Logistics managing director Stefan Holmqvist world’s longest railway. Previous railroads from China to Europe only agrees: “The new freight train routes are a positive development. It included Germany and Eastern Europe but this route also includes means that we’ll have more choice in our offerings for customers,” he France and Spain. says (see separate article).

Yiwu hosts the world’s largest small commodity wholesale market Sea freight is by far the least expensive way to ship goods from Asia and its products, such as inexpensive jewellery and other items, are to Europe. The rates have fluctuated over the past years from US$300 very popular in Europe. to US$3,000 per 40-foot container compared with around US$8,000 The railway cuts transport time between the two cities in half. To send for railway transport and around US$30,000 for air freight. b a container of goods from Yiwu to Madrid, you previously had to first

The Port of Gothenburg has made big investments to expand its services.

Better shipping options between Sweden and Asia A second container line service between Sweden and Asia got underway last August. The ships will call at the Port of Gothenburg once a week.

“We have the capacity to handle 3 million containers on a yearly basis,” says Sundmark. “Another advantage for the port is that we have a good balance in in terms of exports and imports – almost 50/50. For example, ports in the UK have plenty of imports but less exports, causing a great imbalance.”

Furthermore, about half of the shipments arriving in Gothenburg will be distributed by rail, which is more environmentally-friendly, while for example in China almost all the distribution to and from the ports is handled by trucks.

“All these things worked in our advantage to be recognised by the G6 Alliance as a freight hub that can expand,” says Sundmark.

Last August, Swedish companies that export and import from Asia got a big boost with the launch of a new weekly direct container line service between Sweden and Asia.

Before that, Sweden only had one direct container line service to Northeast and Southeast Asia, operated by Maersk Line and the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC).

The new direct line is operated by the international G6 Alliance, Sweden’s main exports by sea to Asia are forest products, chemicals which comprises the Singapore-based APL, Hapag Lloyd of Germany, and plastics, machinery, cars and metals. The imports are more Hyundai of South Korea, Japanese MOL and NYK and Hong Kongdiversified, with garments and textiles, electronics, machinery, based OOCL. furniture, chemicals and plastics, and food and beverages topping The ships to operate the direct line will be rotated among the G6 the list. companies and each ship will be able to carry “This new direct line is very important around 14,000 20-foot containers (TEU). for Sweden since 42 per cent of all container “We’re very happy that this could finally shipments from Sweden are going to Northeast become a reality. We’ve been working on this to or Southeast Asia and around two-thirds of happen for about six or seven years and we’ve The number of 20-foot containers that those go to China,” says Sundmark. had talks with all the big four alliances,” says the G6 ships can carry on each trip.

The rotation covers the following ports: Claes Sundmark, vice president for sales and Qingdao-Shanghai-Hong Kong-Yantianmarketing at the Port of Gothenburg.

Singapore-Rotterdam-Hamburg-Gdansk-Gothenburg-AntwerpSouthampton-Singapore-Yantian-Qingdao.

A direct container line service from Sweden to Hong Kong and China It will take around 30 to 35 days for a ship to carry containers means that the transportation of goods will be faster, safer and from Gothenburg to Hong Kong or Yantian in Shenzhen. more reliable. The alternative is to reload the goods at another port, Sundmark regards the railway lines that have opened between which can lead to problems associated with port congestion, strikes China and Europe more as a complement than as a competitor. or bad weather. It is also more expensive.

“A full train can load around 100 containers, while a ship can load The direct line is a big decision for the G6 Alliance, since the 14,000 to 19,000 containers. The railway probably competes more overall Asia-Europe trade lane has been marked by weak demand and with the air freight,” he says. overcapacity, resulting in plunging spot rates. Apparently, they seem to believe long term in trade to and from Sweden.

The Port of Gothenburg is trying to motivate the shipping companies At the Port of Gothenburg, which is the leading Swedish port, to do more when it comes to sustainability. big investments have been made by the container terminal operator “We give a 10 per cent discount on the port fee for ships that APM Terminals, so that it is now able to welcome even the world’s comply with the Environmental Ship Index (ESI) or the Clean Shipping largest container ships, such as one belonging to MSC that can carry Index (CSI),” says Sundmark.

19,000 containers.

The port is also using a so-called sniffer, which was developed

by Chalmers University of Technology, for tracking incoming ships’ The port and APM Terminals have invested in new cranes and new emissions from their chimneys and to determine whether they are straddle carriers, and have upgraded land areas so that it has the running on clean low-sulphur fuel or not. capacity to handle vessels of this size rapidly and efficiently.

14,000

DRAGONNEWS • NO.04/2015 13

Working smarter is key After many golden years of huge growth, logistics companies such as APC Asia Pacific Cargo now work smarter with a focus on increased productivity and value-added services.

had capacity problems, taking care of all the new business,” says Gustafsson.

“However, from 2009, in conjunction with the global financial crisis, customers began to cut back their shipping and we could feel pressure on costs and lower prices, as well as increased new competition in a shrinking market,” he says. “It meant that the industry had to work smarter, increasing productivity and valueadded services such as warehousing support and IT solutions.”

APC Asia Pacific Cargo is a logistics provider with offices in Asia-Pacific, Sweden and Norway. It handles shipments primarily by air and sea with specific tailor-made logistics and APC maintains a balance between sea and air freight services pick-and-pack services. and a good client spread.

APC started its activities in 1966 as a joint venture “Exports are still bigger than imports, under the name of Schenker-ASG (Hong but we are focusing on developing imports Kong) Ltd. In 1981, the joint venture was coupled with brokerage, warehousing and split into separate entities, one of which distribution services,” says Gustafsson. operated under the name of ASG (Hong APC has its focus on freight to and from Kong) Ltd. In December 1999, following a APC has been in Hong Kong Europe, but Gustafsson believes that the management buy-out by the entrepreneur for almost 50 years.

Intra-Asia trade link will grow stronger in the Bengt Sjöberg, the company officially coming years. became APC Asia Pacific Cargo, with The e-commerce boom has given APC a boost. The headquarters in Hong Kong. Since 2012, it has been owned company works closely with Direct Link in Hong Kong for

by Nippon Express of Japan. business-to-consumer (B2C) distribution. Direct Link is part APC’s president Stefan Gustafsson has spent many years of PostNord, the holding group behind postal services in in Asia, and especially in China. He worked for Ericsson in Sweden and Denmark.

Chongqing from 1996 to 2000 and after that he had a long “Our business for small- and medium-sized companies career in the logistics industry in China and Singapore. He within e-commerce has grown substantially over the past joined APC in March 2015. couple of years. We’re offering order fulfilment – from when “The big trend during this period of time has, of course, an order is placed online until it is delivered and paid. We’re been China’s tremendous growth. From 2002 to 2008, our connected with our customers’ web shops so that an order industry showed double-digit growth year after year. The goes directly to our warehouse,” says Gustafsson. existing customers grew and new customers invested. We

APC trucks have been on Hong Kong roads since 1999.

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Photo: Gerhard Jörén

1966

Focused on services Logistics companies that managed to get through the global financial crisis, such as Norman Global Logistics, have come out stronger and are now developing the industry through more services.

Norman Global Logistics is an international freight forwarding and logistics service provider with offices in Hong Kong, China, Vietnam and Europe. The company is privatelyowned and focuses on small- and medium-sized customers, ordered a variety of goods from several different suppliers. providing logistics solutions in Asia and Europe.

After the goods have been delivered, we sort them, put them “Over the past 10 or 15 years, the industry has become together with labels and price tags and then we ship them. much more developed,” says Stefan Holmqvist, managing When the customer receives the product it can go directly director of Norman Global Logistics Hong Kong, who has over into the store.”

25 years of experience in the logistics industry, of which the last 15 years he spent in China and Hong Kong.

Up until the global financial crisis in 2008-2009, the logistics “Today, the focus is very much on services, such as industry in China, and Asia, had been booming, tracking, order follow-ups, warehousing, growing by some 30 per cent year after year. assembly service and how to combine “The financial crisis brought about a transportation modes to get the best solution wake-up call for the industry and companies for the customer.” had to work hard to get more efficient. Many Sea freight is still the bulk of the company’s The average growth for companies went under and disappeared from business, followed by air freight. A combination the logistics industry in the market, but those that had their house in of sea and air is also quite common.

China before the global order before the crisis were able to come out Norman Global also provides bonded financial crisis. stronger afterwards,” says Holmqvist. warehousing in China, for example for

30%

After the crisis, customers became more cautious, trying to eliminate risk by, for example, reducing their stocks and ordering lower volumes.

However, the industry also benefited from the boom in e-commerce.

“It was a totally new product that hadn’t been there before,” says Holmqvist. “Companies within e-commerce require the same services as our traditional customers do, such as warehousing, tracking, assembly, labelling and so on.”

“Before the e-commerce boom, the logistics industry in China was mainly focused on the tier-1 and tier-2 cities. The growth of e-commerce has meant that the distribution network has become much more efficient and expanded, since it has to cover the whole China,” says Holmqvist.

China’s efforts to expand both the domestic high-speed train network and the international railway freight network through Asia to Europe are other factors that benefit the logistics industry.

“It is a positive development. It Stefan Holmqvist, means that we’ll have more choice in Norman Global Logistics our offerings to the customers,” he says.

customers who import products but do not yet know where their end-customer will be. The products are stored in a warehouse and when the customers get an order they can deliver quickly.

Another service, provided by Norman Global, is prepacking, which can include labelling, tagging, or splitting the products to different destinations.

“It’s a way for us to provide more value-added services to our clients,” says Holmqvist. “The customer may have

The new freight train routes mean that we’ll have more choice in our offerings to customers.”

16 DRAGONNEWS • NO.04/2015

Photo: Micke Bayard

Arlanda airport in Stockholm is welcoming Chinese visitors.

Asia leads aviation growth Sweden is working hard to secure more flights to Stockholm Arlanda airport, which will next year become a sister airport to to Beijing’s international airport.

“Our new office in Hong Kong gives us an opportunity to compete better and position Stockholm Arlanda as the leading airport in Scandinavia,” says Linghoff Lehnert.

Visitors at Arlanda may have noticed that the airport has become more Chinese-friendly, with information signs in Chinese, a digital map of the terminal in Chinese, a Chinese restaurant in When Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) in September the transit area and menus in Chinese at other restaurants.

2015 opened a direct flight from Stockholm to Hong Kong five Furthermore, UnionPay is accepted for payments and days a week, it was much welcomed by the Swedish business welcome hosts have gone through special service training in community in Hong Kong and South China.

Previously, the only direct flight between Sweden and Greater Chinese culture.

Special sales campaigns will also be held in shops ahead of China had been the Air China flight between Beijing to Stockholm.

“Airline passenger traffic in Asia is expected to grow annually Asian holidays, such as the Chinese New Year.

“We’re developing Arlanda into a sister airport to Beijing by 11 per cent until 2030. Then, almost half of the world’s traffic International Airport in partnership with will be between Asia and the rest of the world.

Capital Airports Holding Company (CAH), This is one reason why it’s very important which operates 30 airports in China. We’re also that Sweden works to secure more traffic to sharing information with CAH about how to run Stockholm Arlanda airport,” says Marie Linghoff airports in an environmentally friendly way,” Lehnert, senior business development manager The expected annual says Linghoff Lehnert. for aviation business at Swedavia, a stategrowth until 2030 of airline Swedavia is also part of the collaborative owned company which owns and operates the passenger traffic in Asia. project Connect Sweden, which is working to major airports of Sweden. strengthen Sweden’s international air links.

“Since 2010, the Stockholm Arlanda The project is supported by representatives from Swedish airport has grown by 35 per cent and, since 2013, 13 new intercontinental flights have been added. This is a very positive businesses, the City of Stockholm and a number of other national and regional organisations, including VisitSweden. trend,” she says.

“Hong Kong was a prioritised destination for Connect “Good connectivity is crucial for Swedish exports and for Sweden and now we are working on getting a direct flight attracting investments and tourists to Sweden,” she adds. between Shanghai and Sweden. However, to convince an Recently, Swedavia decided to set up its first international airline to start a new direct flight takes many years and it is a office in Hong Kong – with Linghoff Lehnert as its large investment for the airline,” says Linghoff Lehnert. representative – to focus on the growing Asian market.

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Bringing Chinese tourists to Sweden Most Chinese tourists that go to Sweden have been abroad before and the official marketing organisation VisitSweden is now working to get them to stay longer and visit more destinations.

Photo: Traveler Weekly

VisitSweden, the official Swedish organisation for marketing the Sweden brand internationally, has recorded a significant jump in the number of Chinese tourists visiting Sweden since 2008.

“As Chinese have become wealthier and the Chinese currency has grown stronger, more and more Chinese choose to go abroad,” says Lynn Li, country manager for VisitSweden in Beijing.

Nevertheless, even though 66,600 Chinese visited Sweden in 2014, it only represents 0.3 per cent of all foreign visits to Sweden that year. Similarly, Sweden’s share of all Chinese bed-nights abroad is very low at 0.1 per cent.

“Sweden is normally not the first choice for Chinese on their first international trip. Most Chinese that go to Scandinavia have been abroad before,” says Li.

We are working to offer [Chinese tourists in Sweden] more destinations and more variety in their travel.”

Lynn Li, VisitSweden

introduce a variety of experiences – for example, bringing them in smaller groups to enjoy nature and the fresh air,” says Li. VisitSweden also wants to break the seasonal and geographical patterns. Most Chinese go to Sweden in summertime and very few go there during winter. They visit Stockholm and sometimes Gothenburg and southern Sweden but not many go north.

“We are working to offer them more destinations and more variety in their travel,” says Li.

VisitSweden markets Sweden through Chinese tour operators and media by inviting them to go to Sweden, where tours and workshops are organised.

So far, the market focus has been on China first-tier cities, To get a Schengen visa normally takes 15 where people are more wealthy, but from days, but from 2014 Swedish authorities next year the campaigns will also include in China could offer a fast-track scheme to second-tier cities. bring down the waiting time to just seven “We are also actively leveraging Chinese days. social media to enhance Sweden’s awareness The increase of the number of However, the visa issue can still be a as a travel destination in order to attract guest nights by Chinese tourists hurdle for Chinese tourists, especially after more visitors to Sweden,” says Li. in Sweden 2008-2014.

12 October 2015, when fingerprints became Chinese groups that visit Sweden often mandatory. stay for a night and then continue to another Meanwhile, since the Swedish government closed its country. VisitSweden wants to change that behaviour and at consulate general in Guangzhou several years ago, Sweden the same time increase the number of Chinese visits. is only represented through its embassy in Beijing and the “Instead of just a quick sightseeing tour, we want to consulate general in Shanghai..

“People who don’t live in Beijing and Shanghai now need to go there personally to provide their fingerprints. Previously, the tour operator could take care of the paperwork locally and send it to the embassy or the consulate general,” says Li. However, Norway’s consulate general in Guangzhou will continue to handle visa applications for Sweden. In addition, Sweden has applied to open Chinese visa application service centres in the cities of Chongqing, Wuhan, Shenyang, Jinan, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Chengdu, Xi’an, Kunming and Changsha.

Photo: Kidd Fu

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Premium video for every platform Ten years ago, Michael Lantz and a partner saw that a technology shift would take place in the premium video services market. They founded Accedo to support the media industry with software development, and this fast-growing company is now the global market leader.

Text: Jan Hökerberg, Bamboo, jan.hokerberg@bambooinasia.com

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uilding a company normally takes a long time but for Accedo it only took 10 years to go from nothing to delivering premium video service applications that reach more than 100 million consumers on a vast amount of devices all over the world. Over those same 10 years, Accedo has grown to employ 300 people in 12 offices around the world, of which Hong Kong is the second biggest after the Swedish headquarters.

“When we founded our company in 2004, most videos were just shown on big TV screens. Today, the market has shifted to an online consumption

The more fragmented the market is, the more difficult it is to do what we do on a global scale and this definitely benefits us.”

22 DRAGONNEWS • NO.04/2015

across all kinds of devices, such as mobile phones, tablets, smart-TVs, game consoles, settop boxes, and so on. Since new technologies require new vendors, we’ve been able to be at the forefront of this change,” says Michael Lantz, chief executive officer of Accedo.

Lantz recently visited Hong Kong for the annual CASBAA convention for the broadcasting industry. At the same time, he held an appreciated breakfast seminar organised by the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong.

“We focus on the user experience, things that are visible for the consumer, and in this field we’re the global market leader. We add value to our customers’ subscribers by developing more features and functions that fit all different devices. The more fragmented the market is, the more difficult it is to do what we do on a global scale and this definitely benefits us,” he says.

Accedo is responsible for handling software development for its clients. The company powers some 2,500 to 3,000 applications all over the world for media companies such as Disney, Fox, HBO, MediaCorp, Netflix, Samsung, Spotify and many more.

“Fragmentation among service providers has also emerged. The days of service monopolies are over. Today, consumers divide their time and money over multiple premium video services, which has increased competition among broadcasters and operators, and which also benefits us,” he says.

Lantz, who is 43, grew up in Skåne, the southernmost county in Sweden, and graduated in both engineering physics and economics at Lund University. He found his first job at CellaVision, a medical technology company founded by the Swedish inventor and entrepreneur Christer Fåhraeus.

“We were developing software for analysing blood cells, an advanced idea to replace the traditional microscope with digital microscopy,” says Lantz, who first worked as programmer and then project manager.

In 2000, he moved to Stockholm together with his wife-to-be Helena and there he switched careers to become a management consultant at a company called Digiscope, a consulting group specialising in interactive media across digital TV, wireless and internet platforms.

“We acted as advisors to TV companies and helped them prepare for next-generation

applications. My background in software was very useful for me in that job,” says Lantz.

At the consulting company he had a colleague, Fredrik Andersson, who had a similar background. They started to talk about setting up a company together.

“We felt we fit very well together but we weren’t sure about what to do. We wrote down different ideas in Excel and rated them, and found that in some cases the ideas were good but we didn’t have the knowledge to execute them. So we went back to what we knew we were good at, which is TV and media,” says Lantz.

“We knew that the industry would go through a technological shift and that customers would become more open to listen to new suppliers,” he adds.

Scandinavian market was too small and that they needed to go global. In Hong Kong, PCCW had become a pioneer by aggressively launching Internet Protocol television (IPTV) through its brand Now TV. “Hong Kong was extremely early with IPTV and had some 25 per cent of the global IPTV market. We got the opportunity to work with PCCW and therefore we opened an office in Hong Kong in 2007,” says Lantz who moved to London at the same time.

Today, Hong Kong is Accedo’s second biggest office, with 75 employees covering the Asia region.

Meanwhile, at the same time Accedo set up its Hong Kong operations, the company also received its first real funding – to the tune of €1 million – from Swedish governmentowned venture capital investor Industrifonden.

Today, Industrifonden and another investor, Acacia, owns around 40 per cent of the shares, while the founders have 45 per cent and business angels together with employees own the remaining 15 per cent.

They founded Accedo and started to launch smaller niche-oriented services based on the fact that broadband would soon move from the computer into the living room’s TV set. However, the big change came when 3G made it possible to watch video Since the global financial on mobile phones. crisis, the market has The number of “Then, all the companies in skyrocketed and Accedo has for consumers around the industry began to allocate a six consecutive years been in the the world that Accedo budget for applications, so we Deloitte Sweden Technology can reach with knew they had money and it was Fast 50 ranking. their premium video up to us to convince them to use “We have grown rapidly, even service applications. our services and ideas,” Lantz says. faster than the overall market, However, Lantz and and our turnover today is US$35 Andersson had to work without salaries for million. We expect 40-50 per cent growth over the first one and a half years. the coming three years since the underlying “We made many mistakes at that time,” market is growing very rapidly. Our biggest admits Lantz. “We learnt the lesson that we problem today is to find the right kind of should have had our personal finances in software engineers,” says Lantz. order before we started the company, since it He believes that the payment was difficult to get funding from an investor arrangements the industry has today will before we had our first customer.” gradually be broken down. “Consumers will “Furthermore, as founders, we continued no longer be prepared to pay a certain amount too long to try to do everything in the for a pay-TV subscription with hundreds of company. It was impossible and we lost channels, and instead they will choose several growth. We didn’t get a proper chief financial smaller packages of services from several officer until we’d reached SEK50 million in different providers,” he says. turnover and that should have been adjusted Recently, Lantz moved back from much earlier.”

London and now lives with his wife Helena and daughter Eleanor, two-and-a-half years, in a flat in Stockholm. But he will continue At the end of 2006, the market took off.

“We had the early market advantage of having to travel and open more offices. Right now, spent two years trying to get clients among Accedo has plans to open in Singapore, Dubai the approximately 20 companies in the and São Paulo.

Scandinavian TV industry,” Lantz comments.

“In our business, we need to be close to They knew from day one that the our customers,” he says. b

100 million

DRAGONNEWS • NO.04/2015 23

The veteran

A Swedish community pioneer Having worked for Ericsson, Sony Ericsson and now Sony, Gabriella Vondracek has followed the development of mobile phones since the mid-1990s.

She is a long-time Beijing resident who has spent half of her life there.

Text: Jan Hökerberg, Bamboo, jan.hokerberg@bambooinasia.com

Bicycles dominated the roads and there was not much you could buy in the stores.”

24 DRAGONNEWS • NO.04/2015

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ot many foreigners have lived so long, continuously, in Beijing as Gabriella Vondracek and her husband Jens Olsen. Vondracek came to Beijing already in 1991 when Deng Xiaoping was the paramount leader of China and the Chinese capital was a city that had no skyscrapers, neon lights and ring roads.

“It was very exciting but also very primitive.

Bicycles dominated the roads and there was not much you could buy in the stores. There was a limited number of foreigners and we took every opportunity to meet – for example, when

the Jianguo Hotel served tacos every Thursday or when a new hotel or coffee shop opened,” Vondracek recalls.

Born in 1965 in Stockholm, Sweden, of a Swedish mother and an Austrian father, she grew up in Stockholm until she was five, then moved to Austria’s second-largest city, Graz, for another five years, before returning to Stockholm. There, she completed her uppersecondary school and postgraduate studies at the Frans Schartau Economic and Business School.

In parallel with her studies, she worked as an assistant teacher at primary and secondary schools in Stockholm, teaching immigrant children Swedish.

On weekends, she liked to drive around the city and explore its surroundings, even though there were no good maps to be found and the signs were only in Chinese.

After four years, her assignment had come to an end and she had already accepted a move to Zambia’s capital, Lusaka. But she had also met Danish businessman Jens Olsen, who worked at a DanishChinese property development joint venture company in Beijing. When he was offered the opportunity to stay on in Beijing, Vondracek took the decision to stay on as well. They married one year later and have two sons, Carl Christian, who is now 16, and Alexander, who has just turned 15.

But she wasn’t sure if she wanted teaching to be her future, so she took a temporary job “I knew that Ericsson were coming to set at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where her up their first factory in China to manufacture mother also worked. Vondracek had always mobile phones and I managed to get a job been excited about the idea of working abroad with them – first as quality co-ordinator, and within a short time she managed to get a later as quality manager and, from 1998, permanent job at the ministry. operational development manager,” she says.

After two years, it was time She is still in that position, for her first assignment abroad. which means that she is “I wasn’t so interested in Asia responsible for the company’s at that time, actually Lima in management systems for quality, Peru, Santiago de Chile and environment, and occupational The number of Washington DC were my first health and safety, as well as years that Gabriella choices. But the ministry sent me other control and improvement Vondracek has lived to Beijing instead and I started programmes such as Six Sigma. in Beijing. to work at the Swedish embassy’s “There were only 10 people commercial section in April in the joint venture company 1991,” says Vondracek, who was only 25 at when I started there in 1995 and production that time and didn’t know that this would hadn’t even commenced,” she says, recalling change her whole life. how mobile phones looked 20 years ago.

She bought a car from a colleague “They were large and heavy, with big who was returning home, and she buttons and antennas. Very few people acquired a Chinese driving license. owned a mobile phone but it was a fast“It was a rather simple process. growing market and a very exciting time.”

I didn’t have to take any driving lessons; just go At that time, Ericsson was a through a health check, world market leader not only in which included a telecommunications networks but also in vision test, and, for mobile phones together with the US-based some odd reason, Motorola and, later on, Nokia of Finland. a lung X-ray,” But it was a competitive market and, in she says.

2001, Ericsson merged its handsets business with Japanese Sony. In 2012 Sony took over as sole owner and the Beijing factory is now a Japanese-Chinese joint venture.

“We didn’t notice so many changes when we became Sony Ericsson other than the fact we had Japanese members in our management team. It was good to have a mix of cultures, and the Japanese are perhaps more formal and detail focused,” says Vondracek, who is proud to have only ever owned first Ericsson, then Sony Ericsson and then Sony handsets.

24

Top Cyclists dominated the streets of Beijing when Gabriella Vondracek arrived in the early 1990s.

Middle Vondracek was asked to hold a speech when Beijing SE Potevio Mobile Communications (BMC) celebrated its 20th anniversary since she has worked at BMC all these 20 years.

Bottom Gabriella Vondracek and Jens Olsen with their two sons Alexander (left) and Carl Christian (right).

“Today, there are less and less Swedes. At the moment, there are only about eight or 10 Swedes in the company,” she says.

The family keeps regular contact with both Sweden and Denmark. They own a house in Båstad in southern Sweden, close to Denmark, where they travel every summer.

The children speak both Swedish and Danish as well as Chinese and English.

“I can speak and understand Chinese fairly well, but I regret slightly that I haven’t learnt to become fluent,” says Vondracek.

In her leisure time she likes to play golf, go skiing and visit Thailand for family holidays.

The family does not intend to stay in China forever. “Eventually, when our sons have finished their studies, we’ll probably return to Scandinavia,” she says.

“It’s been a privilege for me to have had the opportunity to be part of this amazing evolution – both in China and within the mobile phone industry – for over more than two decades. My first years at the embassy were also really exciting since China had just started to open up and I was able to meet many Swedish business leaders that came to China to set up business here,” concludes Vondracek. b DRAGONNEWS • NO.04/2015 25

Security in China This is the fourth article in a series about risk and security-related challenges in China, describing a number of actual cases. We analyse the problems, the solutions, and how the problems could have been avoided.

This is an advertisement from PSU.

Are you paying too much for your purchases?

PHOTO: PSU

Many foreign-owned companies in China could pay much more for their purchases than they should because of unethical behaviour from the company’s procurement department. Now, there is a proven method to find out if you have been overcharged – or even cheated.

A

bout a year ago, a general manager of a foreign-owned company in China had a gut feeling that the company paid much more than it should for the protective cotton gloves that it was purchasing from a local supplier.

He checked prices on the internet and realised that he was right. Attempts were made to solve this internally, resulting in a symbolic saving, but the company realised it was almost impossible for the internal team to achieve transparency in its dealings with the market.

The company assigned security consultancy firm PSU China to create impartial market transparency in their purchases, which in total amounted to 20 million yuan annually.

PSU has reinforced its services with a specialised management and business unit in order to create a full-spectrum approach. In this case, the combination was applied as an in-house developed method called pointed

benchmarking, which is a combination of a fraud investigation and benchmarking activities. It also includes open-source intelligence (OSINT).

This method is a tool that can be used to identify whether there are any unethical practices within a sourcing and purchasing organisation in a company.

PSU let its own business team compare the prices the company paid for a number of specified products with the normal market prices for identical products. The team found out that the company had been overcharged from 10 to 90 per cent, depending on the product, compared with the market prices.

Furthermore, the security firm ran a personal check on the key persons in the company and concluded that the company purchasing manager’s standard of living was far beyond his income level.

PSU couldn’t prove that the purchasing manager had taken kickbacks from the suppliers, and neither could the company file a complaint to the police since the police would consider this an internal business issue, not a criminal issue, and wouldn’t interfere.

What the company’s general manager could do – and did do – was to dismiss the purchasing manager and his team by referring to poor performance that had hurt the company. After this action was taken, the company let PSU’s project team temporarily take over the company’s procurement processes.

Five months later, PSU’s team had maintained the orders and deliveries and in the meantime screened, negotiated, developed and implemented new suppliers with new contracts independently.

PSU could then conclude that the company had saved an astounding 30 per cent of the purchasing costs – or 6 million yuan!

By using PSU’s services, the company achieved a significant surplus on the same year’s budget.

“While most purchasers in foreign-owned companies in China are honest and hardworking people, we also know that it’s quite common for procurement departments to develop behaviour that benefits themselves over time,” says Lars-Åke Severin, chief executive officer (CEO) of PSU China.

It is PSU’s experience that foreign-owned companies in China often ignore the risk of insufficient control over the procurement process. They tend to say that, even if there might be minor issues with the quality or late deliveries from a long-time supplier, they prefer to continue using this supplier since they have a good relationship and the problems that occur are easy to fix.

“However, we can investigate this, look at the people and the processes. We can use open sources to trace the purchasing manager’s activities on social media and find out how the person lives, consumes, travels and so on.

If we can conclude that the person’s lifestyle is far beyond his or her means, then the question is, where does the money come from?” says Severin.

As part of such an investigation, PSU selects a number of products that the client purchases and compares the paid prices with market prices. A small deviation of up to 5 per cent can be excused because companies are often willing to pay slightly more to a good supplier that they can always trust, but if the deviation is 10 per cent or more and the company purchases many millions units per year, then this can seriously hurt the company’s business.

The consequences not only include lost profitability and local competitiveness, but a whole range of other issues, such as distorted reporting information, bad decisions and strategies, non-transparency in operations, all the way through to complete supplier and competitor control in the worst cases.

Severin’s recommendation to foreignowned companies in China is that they should undertake regular risk assessments of their procurement functions.

“It’s my firm belief that plenty of foreignowned companies in China lose big money

from lack of control over the purchasing process,” he says.

“Many companies’ domestic purchases in China exceed 100 million yuan, while some companies spend up to 1 or 2 billion.

If an unethical purchaser who is allied with a supplier, decides to add just 3-5 per cent on the price, several million will be going into their pockets every year. Kickbacks like this are not easy for a company to detect,” says Severin.

Purchasers in China need to be local since they deal with local suppliers and must be able to read contracts in Chinese. If a foreign general manager challenges the procurement department, asking why the company pays such a high price for a certain product, the purchasers are often already prepared with all kinds of arguments to defend themselves.

“That’s why a company needs to use a professional external firm that has the skillset to be prepared to face such a discussion,” says Severin.

However, as is the case with everything in China, you need to know where to step next before you put your foot there.

“If a company starts a process like this, it cannot open all the doors and windows at the same time. It needs to take a step-by-step approach. If this is carried out without a good strategy, then the company might suddenly not have the supplies that are critical for its business,” he says.

Conclusions Below are some conclusions about what a foreign-owned company in China should think about when they suspect that they are paying too much for their purchases.

• Undertake regular risk assessments of the company’s procurement processes to identify potential sources of risk and to ensure organisational integrity. If this is performed in a structured and systematic way, combined with follow-ups, it can save the company huge amounts of money.

• Even if a company does not have any suspicions of unethical behaviour, it is recommended that employees with key functions in a company, such as purchasing manager, quality control manager or financial manager, should not stay too long in their positions and be regularly rotated after a couple of years.

• Using open sources to investigate key people’s lifestyles compared with their income levels and their connections with the suppliers can prove to be a very cost-efficient process that also can be performed in quite a short period of time.

• Challenging the environment by actively applying appropriate risk management can benefit company results significantly, quickly and positively.

“It’s my firm belief that plenty of foreign-owned companies in China lose big money from lack of control over the purchasing process.”

Lars-Åke Severin, PSU China

Facts about PSU PSU was established in 2006 and is one of the leading security consultancy firms in China, with offices in Beijing and Shanghai. PSU has strategic partnerships in Asia, Europe and the US. We protect our clients' most valuable assets: people, brands, reputations and business operations.

Our support and advice enables clients to manage the security, operational and integrity risks that come with doing business internationally.

PSU creates value through preventive strategies and actions. PSU also optimises clients’ businesses by identifying and reducing risk, and by providing support in the form of operational resources during natural disasters, operational challenges and other disruptions to business.

www.psuchina.com.cn info@psuchina.com Beijing PSU (China) Consulting Co, Ltd B201, North 01 Business Building, No 2 Jiuxianqiao Road Chaoyang District Beijing 100015 PR China Tel: +86 10 5130 5675 Fax: +86 10 5130 5676

Shanghai PSU (China) Consulting Co, Ltd Room 502, Building B, Far East International Plaza, No 317 Xianxia Road Changning District Shanghai 200051 PR China Tel: +86 21 5212 5970 Fax: +86 21 5212 5972

A return ticket to China Johnny Jiang moved from South China to Sweden when he was 10 years old. A decade later he is back and based in Shenzhen as social media manager for the Swedish watch company Daniel Wellington.

Text: Anna Reibring, anna.reibring@swedcham.com.hk Edin Colak, edin.colak@swedcham.com.hk

It

is a Saturday morning and we are on our way to conduct an interview with Johnny Jiang, a polyglot young talent who has got off to a flying start in his professional career at the Swedish watch company Daniel Wellington.

Hong Kong has chosen to show of its better side by drenching the city in sunlight – it is no wonder this is where he stays every weekend rather than Shenzhen. We meet up at the IFC in Central, the heart of Hong Kong Island’s financial district, and sit down at a cosy café for a chat about his life.

Jiang was born in Zhanjiang, China, a city in southwestern Guangdong province. He moved around a lot, living with his cousins and close relatives. At the age of 10, he moved to stay with one of his relatives in Sweden.

He initially went to Västerås, a city in central Sweden, and shortly after he moved up north to Hudiksvall. Having lived in what he considered one of the smaller cities in China, Sweden made him quickly understand what a real small city looks like. After some time in Hudiksvall, Jiang moved to Uppsala, a city close to Stockholm, where he studied at Eriksbergsskolan. His goal during school was to learn Swedish as he wanted to become integrated into the society. Tackling other subjects was not so hard since his Chinese education had given him a good foundation in the basics.

“The mathematics I learned in fourth grade in China sufficed all the way to ninth grade in Sweden,” he says with a smile. “I even thought – do people in Sweden even study?” His early years may have been turbulent but they were nonetheless valuable because they resulted in him becoming highly independent 28 DRAGONNEWS • NO.04/2015

from an early age, making him highly disciplined and fuelling his ambition.

Jiang went to Katedralskolan in Uppsala, where he studied natural sciences. He engaged in many extracurricular activities, such as treasurer of the student council, a member of the activity committee and head of the PR committee. Despite a packed schedule during upper-secondary school, little did he know what was awaiting him after he finished.

Like many youngsters at his age, his target was to go to university, but first he wanted a summer job and he applied for everything possible. Among them was Daniel Wellington, a newly established Swedish watch company. Daniel Wellington started its business during Jiang’s first year of upper secondary school and quickly became “the watch to own”.

“The watch I’m wearing today is actually one of the first ones they made and is no longer sold,” says Jiang.

At that time, Daniel Wellington had its office in a basement opposite Jiang’s school. “When almost all my hopes of getting a job for the summer were gone, the company called me.

They were impressed by the languages I speak and told me they were about to start going after the Asian market,” he says.

Speaking Swedish, English, Mandarin and Cantonese fluently, and having lived in both China and Sweden, made Jiang well suited for helping Daniel Wellington out.

When Jiang started at

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The mathematics I learned in fourth grade in China sufficed all the way to ninth grade in Sweden.”

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Daniel Wellington, the marketing department had moved to a new office in Stockholm. His task was to manage the online marketing in China, a so-far untouched gem, which Daniel Wellington wanted to collect. The fact that the Chinese market was somewhat of a blank slate meant that Jiang, given his background, could play a significant role in making Daniel Wellington a success in China.

In the beginning, he travelled frequently to China and attended various fairs and fashion shows to create awareness about the brand. During his time at the Stockholm office he got to learn how all the departments of the company functioned – warehousing, supplier relations and CRM systems. When Daniel Wellington started to take off in China, Jiang and a colleague were asked whether they wanted to move to China and set up an office in Shenzhen, an offer they gladly accepted.

In February this year, Jiang made the move back to China, to the city of Shenzhen.

Setting up office for the Asian market was more difficult than he imagined as it was 30 DRAGONNEWS • NO.04/2015

Johnny Jiang in brief Age: 20 Occupation: Social media manager for Asia at the Daniel Wellington watch company.

Lives: In Shenzhen, but usually spends the weekends in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong or Shenzhen?: “Hard to choose. Hong Kong for its vivid life and for being much easier to meet people from different parts of the world – it’s perfect for a weekend getaway. Shenzhen for its soothing atmosphere, which is great for everyday life during the weekdays.”

Favourite place in Hong Kong: “The Wanchai Wooloomooloo rooftop bar in Hong Kong for its great views.”

Favorite place in Shenzhen: “The OCT Loft [a complex that houses creative businesses] with its cosy vibes and independent designers’ popup stands every other Saturday.”

difficult to recruit people. It was a time in which Jiang learnt many new things and came to understand how the significance of cultural differences can affect a business – in particular the difference between hiring people in Sweden compared to China.

On the question of where he sees himself in the future, he answers, “I haven’t thought about it. Daniel Wellington offers an inspiring work environment and sells products within the fashion sector, so I am pretty happy with the situation as is – but one never knows where and what one will be in the future, just like I never imagined that I would move to China half a year after graduating,” he says.

His journey at Daniel Wellington has been short, but has still offered Jiang the opportunity to learn a lot of dos and don’ts.

Don’ts? You cannot do everything yourself, he says. Dos? Be constantly curious and be upfront about what you want.

As he puts it, “If I hadn’t said what I wanted to do in China, I would never be where I am today.” b

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Seminar on social media marketing for SMEs n InterCham’s latest InterSME Seminar, organised by SwedCham and the Norwegian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, was a success. The fully booked event focused on how SMEs ought to use social media marketing to achieve significant growth and featured speakers from LinkedIn, iProspect and Fluid. Many thanks to our sponsor KPMG for supporting this event. Further big thanks to the speakers Timothee Semelin, regional account director at LinkedIn, Gary Cheung, digital performance director at iProspect, and Aquin Dennison, social media strategist at Fluid. Thanks also to Joshua Han Miller, CEO at OKAY.com, who moderated the event.

Aquin Dennison of the strategic brand solutions agency Fluid was one of the speakers.

Experts share their views on the investment climate in China.

Investing in China n Many were interested in coming and getting first-hand opinions when SwedCham announced its Investing in China seminar. Guests could listen to investors active in different asset classes in China on what they really think about the current investment climate and the economic environment.

With speakers like Martin Mok, partner at EQT, Karine Hirn, partner at East Capital, Markus Puusepp, head of investor relations at White Peak Real Estate and Sebastian Leotta, director for private equity at KPMG, the turnout was nothing less than a great event. Biggest thanks to them for taking their time.

Also thanks to Richard Harris, chief executive at Port Shelter and a sought-after financial commentator, for moderating the panel discussion.

Seminar on risk management n Global business dynamics create a complex environment of risk and uncertainty, leaving us to ask the question: how do we begin to navigate such uncertainty? How do we navigate complex new risks such as those posed by cyber crime? To help straighten out such questions SwedCham held a breakfast seminar on risk management chaired by consultants from PSU (China) Consulting Co, Ltd. In a simple way, Erik J Engstrand and Andrew Houlbrook, talked about the steps involved in risk management and gave some inside advice on how to navigate uncertainty and slay the so-called Dragon Kings. Thanks to both of them for enlightening us.

32 DRAGONNEWS • NO.04/2015

YP After Work at Three Monkeys From left, Erik J Engstrand, Lars-Åke Severin, Andrew Houlbrook (all from PSU China) and SwedCham’s chairman Ulf Ohrling.

n Once again Three Monkeys opened their doors for SwedCham’s Young Professionals and the turnout was great as usual. With beer and pineapple and passion-fruit sake-gria at good prices, interesting and inspiring people, as well as a good atmosphere, little can go wrong. See you next time!

Beijing Nordea’s Amy Yuan Zhuang is warning that a credit or a property bubble – or even both – will burst within the next three to five years.

China at the crossroads n At a breakfast meeting on 27 October, Amy Yuan Zhuang, senior analyst at Nordea Markets Singapore, provided an interesting update on the Chinese economy and the various challenges the Chinese government is facing.

China’s financial markets were volatile in the summer of 2015.

Stock market and foreign-exchange rollercoaster rides have increased concerns about Chinese growth.

For the near future, 2015-2017, the main scenario is a socalled “soft landing”, with growth averaging 6.5 per cent, but with no imminent collapse. There will be a downward pressure from structural challenges, both “natural”, as in changes in terms of the labour force and productivity growth, as well as “man-made” challenges, such as overcapacity and an inventory overhang that suppresses growth in industrial output, which will require adopting a new growth model.

Furthermore, Zhuang pointed out that the structural adjustments have been delayed due to fear of a sharp slowdown.

The “old” driver – credit-fuelled investments – will maintain relatively strong growth in the short term, but will aggravate the existing imbalances.

The “new” drivers, such as tourism and consumption, are emerging, but not rapidly enough.

The risk, according to Zhuang, is a credit crunch or the bursting of a property bubble – or possibly even both – leading to a “hard landing”. The probability of such a risk has increased significantly, especially in the medium term of three to five years, she said.

Be prepared for a government dawn raid n Due to enforcement of China’s anti-corruption drive, unannounced government investigations have become more common.

“It’s very important to have a plan for how to proceed in case your company becomes a target,” stressed Kate Yin, a leading lawyer in anticorruption practice in China at Fangda Partners, at a Swedish chamber breakfast meeting on 10 November.

Companies should prepare themselves for how a so-called dawn raid by the government might be conducted. “This could be due to investigations into a third party, and it may not be your company the government wants to investigate,” she said, while also providing some advice on how companies should react under such circumstances.

The advice included: be cooperative with the investigators, do not obstruct them or do anything that can be seen as obstructing the investigation. Ask for authorisation papers and get as much information as possible from the investigators. Notify senior management at appropriate levels. Seek legal advice and assistance promptly to the extent permitted by law. Respond to investigators’ requests in a timely and appropriate manner.

She recommended putting together a manual and training the employees. A manual could contain the following items: • Establish a localised crisis management protocol for possible dawn raids.

• Establish a well-organised task force team that includes designated personnel and external legal support.

• Form a damage control strategy for quickly understanding what is being investigated by the government and conducting an internal investigation.

34 DRAGONNEWS • NO.04/2015

From left, Samuel Yu, speaker Kate Yin and Mikko Harju of Fangda Partners law firm.

• Make use of public relations (PR) measures to control exposure.

• Cooperate properly; for example by using a “dos and don’ts guideline” when cooperating with the investigating authority.

• Ensure that employees know what to do.

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Shanghai

How to give and receive feedback n Good communication skills are increasingly important in today’s business. On 22 October, the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in China held a workshop on how to present and receive feedback. By improving our feedback skills, we can be more effective in getting our message through and become better at listening to what others have to say.

The facilitator, Stéfanie Vallée, has a wealth of experience as an executive coach, facilitator and public speaker. Her workshop was much appreciated and left the participants with new tools for becoming better communicators.

Stéfanie Vallée inspires people to communicate better.

Inspirational talk by a veteran entrepreneur n Three failures, three successes: serial entrepreneur Josh Garner shared his experience about what eventually made him successful. The Swedish Chamber of Commerce in China hosted an evening event at the Four Seasons Hotel to an inspired crowd. With experience from managing startups on two continents, Josh Gardner is the typical modern entrepreneur. He is the

founder and CEO of Kung Fu Data, a data analytics and optimisation firm with a unique lens on success in China’s largest e-commerce platform. The event turned into a great Q&A discussion in which the participants and Gardner enjoyed great exchanges.

Speaker Josh Garner together with Mette Leger, Grow HR.

After work in Shanghai n October was a great month in Shanghai, with sunny days and warm weather. During one of October’s splendid evenings, the Swedish chamber hosted an after-work gathering at Mayita’s rooftop bar. The event was much appreciated by the large number of people who came to socialise over a drink and Mexican finger food.

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We believe in being close to our partners, being handson, and solving their every need – all the way to the door or the store.

Finding the best solutions for our clients is in our DNA. Participants enjoying a drink at the rooftop.

36 DRAGONNEWS • NO.04/2015

Norman Global Logistics Hong Kong Limited Room 811, 8/F, Tower 1, Cheung Sha Wan Plaza, 833 Cheung Sha Wan Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong Tel: +852 3582 3440 Email: hongkong@normanglobal.com www.normanglobal.com

How virgin fibre can add a sweet scent of success.

Spotlight on the Environmental Committee

Photo: Gerhard Jörén, gerhardjoren@mac.com

n SwedCham Hong Kong has for many years worked actively with environmental protection issues. Numerous members – individuals and corporations – are committed to improving the environment in Hong Kong and beyond. SwedCham has also successfully lobbied the Hong Kong government on various environmental policy issues.

SwedCham’s Environmental Committee, with Kristian Odebjer of the Odebjer Fohlin law firm as chairman, also organises events with environmental experts as guest speakers and arranges visits to companies and organisations that are leaders in the environmental sector.

Another type of activity is beach cleaning. On 22 November, SwedCham visited its ”very own” beach in Big Wave Bay, near Shek O on Hong Kong Island. Over the past year-and-a-half, the chamber has partnered with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Hong Kong natureawareness organisation Ecovision to look after one of the territory’s lesser known beaches. Since it is not cleaned on a regular basis by the government, unlike its next door “gazetted” neighbour, it literally fills up with tonnes of litter in between SwedCham’s visits. The SwedCham crew enjoyed each other’s company and the privilege of spending the day outside on an unseasonably hot November day.

Interested in joining the committee? Please contact the chamber office in Hong Kong.

Thank you, Bengt! n The Swedish veteran businessman and entrepreneur, Bengt Sjöberg, has recently retired from his executive role as CEO of APC Asia Pacific Cargo, a company he built and developed for almost four decades.

Sjöberg came to Hong Kong in 1977 to work for the Swedish logistics company ASG. In 1986, ASG was one of the 44 founding members of the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong.

Through a management buyout in 1999, Sjöberg took over ASG’s business in the Far East and started APC. In 2012, APC was acquired by the Japanese company Nippon Express.

SwedCham Hong Kong thanks Sjöberg for all the work he has done for the chamber over the years and wishes him all the best for the future.

38 DRAGONNEWS • NO.04/2015

Get in touch with Iggesund Paperboard Asia, tel: (852) 2516 0250 fax: (852) 2516 0251 or visit iggesund.com

New rules to apply to offshore bank accounts

According to a new law, residency is the most important thing concerning inheritance.

Photo: iStock

In

New inheritance law in Sweden As a Swede living abroad, it may be time for you to consider modifying your will to stipulate that your affairs after death are subject to Swedish law.

Text: Fredrik Lager, General Manager, SEB Private Banking, Singapore, Fredrik.Lager@sebprivatebanking.com.sg

O

n 17 August 2015, a new regulation concerning inheritance came into force within the European Union (EU). The new regulation will have a direct impact on inheritance for Swedish nationals living abroad.

Since the incorporation of the new EU regulation into Swedish law on 17 August 2015, the law of the country where the deceased lived at the time of death will govern succession to his or her estate as a whole. Prior to this date, Swedish law was applicable given the Swedish citizenship of the deceased. In legal terms, this is known as change from the principle of nationality to the principle of habitual residence.

The main purpose of this new regulation is to try and harmonise the inheritance and succession process for people living abroad. Historically it has been quite complicated to determine which country’s law should apply when, for example, the deceased lived in one country, was a citizen of another, had assets in a third country and sometimes heirs in a fourth country. Under the new rules, one country shall have sole jurisdiction over the estate and thus determine succession according to its rules.

Swedish law does not differentiate between Swedes living in an EU country and Swedes living in, for example, Hong Kong. But under the new EU rules, a Swede who has his or her habitual residence in Hong Kong at the time of death will be subject to Hong Kong inheritance rules on succession. If, however, the deceased states in his or her will that 40 DRAGONNEWS • NO.04/2015

Fredrik Lager of SEB Private Banking urges Swedish citizens to think over their wills.

Swedish law should apply and govern the estate, then Swedish law applies the same way as it did prior to the introduction of the new regulation.

The new Swedish law does not affect how the estate shall be taxed. Taxation of the inheritance will still be determined by the country where the deceased lived or where the inherited property is located.

Dying intestate in some countries mean that the surviving spouse’s right to inheritance can be quite limited compared to what would be the case under Swedish law. A major consequence of the new regulation is that through a local will, a Swede living in, say, Singapore, can disinherit his or her children by choosing Singaporean law to govern the estate. This is not allowed under Swedish law.

Given that there are aspects of succession that are unknown to most of us if we die in a foreign land, drawing up a will and nominating Swedish law is a relatively simple measure to take to ensure that our loved ones are taken care of in the best possible way, or at least in a way that we know and understand. b

recent years, governments and tax authorities have become increasingly concerned that tax payers have evaded tax by having undeclared bank accounts outside their country of residence. In an attempt to combat such fraudulent behaviour, the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) was developed by the OECD in 2014.

Many countries around the world have strict banking secrecy rules.

These rules generally prevent banks from sending account information to tax authorities in the countries where the account holder lives. Over the years, many people have used this lack of transparency to hide money in undeclared offshore bank accounts. CRS will put an end to this.

Around 100 of the world’s countries have committed to automatic exchange of information. Of these, over 50, including the EU countries and Gibraltar, Jersey, Isle of Man, Cayman Islands and Indonesia to name a few, are referred to as “Early Adopters”. Early Adopter countries will commence automatic information change by September 2017, based on 2016 account information.

Another 30-40 countries, including Switzerland, Hong Kong, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, China, Russia, Malaysia and Australia, will join the Early Adopters one year later, based on 2017 account information.

So what kind of information are financial institutions required to submit to the regulatory authorities when CRS comes into force?

Well, apart from the more obvious such as name, address and tax

Photo: iStock

Text: Fredrik Lager, General Manager, SEB Private Banking, Singapore, Fredrik.Lager@sebprivatebanking.com.sg

It will be much more difficult to hide away money from tax, according to new OECD rules.

identification numbers for each client, banks will also report the year-end account balance, any interest received, dividends and sales proceeds from financial assets. Where private holding companies are being used, the same information will be reported for each controlling person to the tax authority where he or she lives.

Whilst client confidentiality will remain in all other aspects when it comes to client/bank relationships, CRS will effectively bring an end to banking secrecy being used as an unlawful method to avoid paying tax on offshore assets and gains. Persons who have not yet declared offshore accounts are best advised to do so to the tax authorities where they live before CRS takes effect. This can be done in most countries by way of voluntary disclosure. Failure to comply after CRS comes into force will be costly and may lead to criminal prosecution for tax evasion. For more information about this, readers should speak to their tax advisors. b

Swedish Career Fair 2016 After last year’s successful event, with over 1,300 visitors and 34 exhibitors, the Swedish Young Professionals (YP) would like to invite our member companies to participate in the SW E D I S H second Swedish Career Fair. 瑞典 CAREER The aim is to increase the visibility of FAIR企业招聘会 Swedish companies and to enable them to interact with potential employees residing in China. This event also functions as a forum where Swedish companies and institutions can reach both foreign and Chinese talents and promote the shared benefits of Sweden’s distinctive business culture.

For the 2016 career fair, YP will be introducing the theme of Green Sweden, highlighting Swedish environmental innovation, how Swedish companies address environmental issues and their CSR-related activities. Join us in creating a platform to promote Swedish employers to young professional talents in China enabling them to build long-term relationships.

The career fair will take place on 9 April in Beijing and on 16 April in Shanghai 2016.

Feel free to contact Helena Storsten, chairman of YP Shanghai, at Helena@swedishchamber.com.cn or Felicia Lindoff, chairman YP Beijing, at yp@swedishchamber.com.cn.

Let’s get in touch!

DRAGONNEWS • NO.04/2015 41

HONG KONG ORDINARY MEMBERS >>>

Cibes Lift Asia Ltd 9/F, Central Building 1-3 Pedder Street Central, Hong Kong Tel: +852 3975 2655 Web: www.cibeslift.com

About us Swedish Cibes Lift AB, one of the world leaders in manufacturing of exclusive home lift/platform lift solutions, continues its expansion by establishing an office in Hong Kong. Since its founding in 1947, the group has experienced strong growth, reaching a turnover of €50 million in 2014. The company has 240 employees spread across 10 subsidiaries in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Holland, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Spain, France, China and now Hong Kong. A network of more than 200 distributors enables global coverage of nearly 50 countries. To improve our visibility and boost our sales, our next step is to set up direct sales in Asian markets with a Hong Kong hub.

The goal is to rapidly increase sales volumes by focusing on the fast-growing markets of Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand.

Chamber representative Michael Hagen, Sales Director Email: michael.hagen@cibeslift.com

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The Nordic Centre Room A10, 9/F, Silvercorp International Tower 707-713 Nathan Road Mong Kok, Hong Kong China address: 13B, Venke Dream Park Qianhai, Shenzhen, PR China Tel: +852 9757 3516 Web: en.nordic-centre.com

About us Qianhai Vast Bright Nordic Ltd purchased Norway’s pavilion from the Norwegian government after the Shanghai World Expo 2010. With the support of the Shenzhen government, the pavilion is to be relocated to Qianhai, Shenzhen, and it will then become an integral part of the Nordic Centre. The purpose of the Nordic Centre is to enhance communication and cooperation between Nordic countries and China in areas such as culture and education, business and the economy, science and technology. The Nordic Centre has a hotel, restaurants, retail outlets, a nursery, a medical centre, a club house and a language school, and is a single platform to provide legal, finance and accounting advice, as well as consultancy services and translation for Nordic enterprises entering China.

Chamber representatives Michael Yu, Deputy General Manager Email: myu2619@gmail.com Peter Ho, Senior Consultant Email: peter.ho@nordic-centre.com

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We call our long-term responsibility the Greencarrier Spirit

HONG KONG OVERSEAS MEMBER >>>

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Stockholm School of Economics Box 6501, SE-113 83 Stockholm, Sweden Visiting address: Sveavägen 65 Stockholm, Sweden Tel: +46 8 736 9000 Web: www.hhs.se

About us The Stockholm School of Economics (SSE) is the leading business school in northern Europe. For more than a century, SSE has educated talented women and men for leading positions within the business community and the public sector. SSE offers Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programmes along with highly regarded PhD, MBA and executive education programmes. SSE has earned a reputation for excellence both in Sweden and around the world.

The School is accredited by EQUIS (European Quality Improvement System), certifying that all of its main activities – teaching as well as research – are of the highest international standards. SSE is also the Swedish member institution of CEMS (The Global Alliance in Management Education) and PIM (Partnership in International Management).

Chamber representatives Jessica O’Mary, Head of Alumni & Foundation Relations, Email: jessica.omary@hhs.se Edin Colak, Stockholm School of Economics Ambassador, Email: ssehk@hhs.se

42 DRAGONNEWS • NO.04/2015

International transportation the Greencarrier way www.greencarrier.com

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Ad Dragon News June 2014.indd 1

2014-05-28 09:39:45

HONG KONG INDIVIDUAL MEMBER >>> Bengt Johansson Tel: +852 6799 0044 Email: bengt.johansson@newcontext.se The Essential Learning Group No 19-20, Lane 209, Zhennan Road Putuo District, Shanghai 200333 PR China Tel: +86 21 5206 6273 Web: www.chinaelg.com

CHINA COMPANY MEMBERS >>>

1 2015/10/19 9:33:21

About us Nordic Water provides equipment and systems for water and wastewater treatment to process industries and public utilities.

About us We are a social enterprise that has two divisions.

The Innovative Learning Center (ILC) is the only multidisciplinary, international daily programme in China for children and adults with special needs. We provide services from birth through adulthood for clients who cannot get their needs met through international or local schools or other service providers.

The clinic at The Essential Learning Group is a multidisciplinary educational practice that provides a wide range of assessments, therapy sessions, screenings, observations and consulting services.

Chamber representative Christian Eklund, General Manager Email: eklund@nordicwater.com Mobile: +46 70 420 21 88

Chamber representative Andrew Benson Hill, Founder, Director Email: Andrew.hill@chinaelg.com Mobile: +86 139 1666 3867

Nordic Water Products (Beijing) Co, Ltd Room 611, No 33 Dengshikou Street Dongcheng District, Beijing 100006 PR China Tel: +86 10 8511 8120 Web: www.nordicwater.com

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Guanghua-Kellogg Executive MBA Programme Room 209, Building 2 5 Yiheyuan Road Beijing 100871, PR China Tel: +86 10 6274 7290 Web: guanghua.kellogg.northwestern.edu

C

About us Toll Global Forwarding provides a comprehensive suite of international freight forwarding and advanced supplychain management services. Our service offerings range from complex supply-chain solutions through to door-todoor freight-forwarding movements within ocean, air, seaair, road and rail services.

Headquartered in Hong Kong with around 17 offices in China, from Dalian in the north to Shenzhen in the south, Toll offers a worldwide network of more than 120 offices in 30 countries throughout Asia, Europe, North America, Africa, Australia, New Zealand and the Middle East.

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Chamber representative Fredrik Barner, Trade Lane Manager, Greater China Email: fredrik.barner@tollgroup.com Mobile: +86 156 0189 3497

Dragon_News_2013.pdf 1 14-2-27 下午5:49

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Chamber representatives Jennifer Gerrard Email: j-gerrard@kellogg.northwestern.edu Mobile: +1 847 467 2236 Tyler Berry Email: t.berry@gsm.pku.edu.cn Mobile: +86 135 2020 5357

CMY

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About us The Guanghua-Kellogg Executive MBA programme is a joint venture (educational) mandated by Peking University’s Guanghua School of Management and Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. The programme conducts executive education from its core campuses in Beijing, Shanghai, Xi’an and Chicago. It is fully accredited, and graduates receive two MBAs, one each from both universities.

Toll Global Forwarding 22/F, Wangjiao Plaza 175 East Yan’an Road Shanghai 200002, PR China Tel: +86 21 2327 9000 Web: www.tollglobalforwarding.com

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After hours

Abraham Lincoln reads for his son.

n Design Swedish pop-up store at PMQ EuroPop! is an initiative that unites more than 25 European designers and entrepreneurs in pop-up stores from Sweden, France, Holland and Germany at the PMQ creative hub building in Hong Kong. The Swedish pop-up store was organised by Creative Swedes and SwedCham Hong Kong.

The doors opened upon 25 November with a festive opening party on the fourth floor and more than 300 people in attendance. The store, located in shop S413, is open – at no cost – every day until Christmas, from 1pm to 8pm Monday-Friday and from 11am to 8pm Saturday-Sunday.

In the store you can find all kinds of brands from designers such as Boris Design Studio, C’Monde Studios, Dienastie Eyewear, Frida Hultén, Happy Rabbit, Malin Ohlsson Jewellery, Richmond Design, Sägen, Viktoria Chan, Void Watches, Triwa and Xiko Art. Creative Swedes and SwedCham Hong Kong would like to extend a big thank you to its sponsors: the Consulate General of Sweden in Hong Kong, IKEA, Rahmqvist, Small Sake and Direct Wines.

n Restaurants Scandinavian cuisine at the Bund Do you miss Sweden’s delicious food? Shanghai will soon see the grand opening of Stockholm on the Bund, a restaurant focusing on Swedish and Scandinavian cuisine. The restaurant will feature a smoking chamber for salmon, a long bar with crafted beverages and a Swedish pastry section with contemporary and traditional pastry and sweets. Stockholm on the Bund is designed to create a warm, yet modern, atmosphere for guests enjoying Scandinavian food.

The Bund, or Waitan in Chinese, is a 4-kilometre-long waterfront boulevard along the western bank of the Huangpu River. It is a an old Shanghai icon that provides a view of the new Shanghai at Pudong on the other side of the river.

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T h e ch a mb e r a nd I

Boarding the plane or taking the train?

Frequent travel is part of many of our members’ work life. Chinese airports have some of the worst records when it comes to punctuality, while the country’s high-speed train network is more efficient and already the world’s most expansive. For this issue of Dragon News, we asked some of our members about their experience of air and train travel in China.

These were the questions we asked: 1. Have you, or your business, been affected by long flight delays at Chinese airports?

2. Have you considered using high-speed trains rather than flying when travelling in China?

And below are the answers.

Johan Olausson Bamboo Business Communications, Hong Kong 1 “Yes, I fly quite frequently and always count on the flight being at least one or two hours delayed when planning my schedule. It’s frustrating, especially as a lot of times you board on time, but then the flight is stuck on the tarmac without any information.”

2 “Yes, I do travel by high-speed train quite often in China and find them comfortable and convenient. As opposed to flights, they always leave on time, which saves you time for short- to medium-distance trips.”

Enrique Patrickson Electrolux Major Appliances APAC, Hong Kong 1 “We have seen some delays and have installed a video conferencing system. However, since we have colleagues in China we thereby limit our travel.”

2 “Yes, definitely. It is also more environmentally friendly.”

Gustav Åström SXL Group, Shanghai 1 “Frequently, especially on the Shanghai-Beijing route.”

2 “I prefer the train over plane for a lot of my domestic travel as it is more reliable and cost efficient.”

Nathalie Gustafsson H&M, Shanghai 1 “Flight delays are a fact when travelling domestically in China.

Five out of six flights I take on a monthly basis are delayed and it’s rare that you land within an hour of the estimated arrival.

This is not an issue when flying international to and from China.”

2 “When travelling domestically, I prefer trains and, if available, highspeed trains – they’re the best. I’ve never experienced or heard of delays while travelling by train during my two years of frequent travelling and commuting in China. What’s great is that they’re extending the high-speed railway system, so hopefully the whole country will be eight hours away by train in the near future. And it’s much better for the environment!”

Joakim Görsberg Car-o-liner, Beijing 1 “Not really, I fly at least once a week and since I normally fly early mornings I don’t really have issues with delayed flights. The only problem is getting home on Friday afternoons, but that does not affect my business, I guess ...”

2 “High-speed train is not for me, the total time door-to-door is quicker if I fly. To gain time by train, the flights need to be delayed two to three hours and that is rare.”

Olof Norlander Norlander Produktionsutveckling, Beijing 1 “Yes, every time I fly on domestic flights I need to attend an ‘anger management course’ days after to calm myself down.

Unmotivated delays and lack of information seems to be the rule rather than the exception. Now I always buy the delay insurance, so hopefully they will start losing enough money to maintain the bad behaviour.”

2 “Yes, absolutely. I live in Beijing and and go by high-speed train to Shanghai and everywhere north of there. The trains are comfortable, always on time and not as frustrating as flying. Not to mention the environmental benefits.”

Bianca Teti Ericsson, Beijing 1 “It’s extremely common when travelling in China to face hours and hours of delays at the airport. Often, passengers are already in the aircraft and forced to wait with no or little information. Business is affected by the long waiting hours and the reduced amount of time for meetings as a result. Worst is that there is no reliability.”

2 “The high-speed train between Beijing and Shanghai is always my preferred option, especially when organising big internal and external events for which you need to ensure everybody’s attendance. The only problem with trains is online purchases. You can spend long hours queuing just to buy tickets.”

Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong

Swedish Chamber of Commerce in China

DIRECTORS OF THE BOARD Ulf Ohrling, Chairman [Mannheimer Swartling] Paul Bergström [Ericsson] Jimmy Bjennmyr [Handelsbanken] Emma C L Gardner [KPMG] Karine Hirn [East Capital] Katarina Ivarsson [Boris Design Studio] Pontus Karlsson [Happy Rabbit] Patrik Lindvall [Dairy Farm-IKEA] Per Ågren [APC Asia Pacific Cargo]

DIRECTORS OF THE BOARD Katarina Nilsson, Chairman [Sapa] Lars-Åke Severin, Vice Chairman and Chairman of the Beijing Chapter [PSU] Ulf Söderström, Vice Chairman and Chairman of the Shanghai Chapter [SCA] Hans O Karlsson, Treasurer [Ericsson] Liselotte Duthu [Atlas Copco] Birgitta Ed [Six Year Plan] Peter Idsäter [Mannheimer Swartling] Daniel Karlsson [Asia Perspective] Martin Pei [SSAB] Peter Rosta [Business Research] Peter Sandberg [Microdata] Mikael Westerback [Handelsbanken] Irena Busic, General Manager

50 DRAGONNEWS • NO.04/2015

Jimmy Bjennmyr Head of Corporate Banking Hong Kong Branch

Mikael Westerback Head of Greater China and General Manager Shanghai branch

Florence Chan Senior Account Manager Hong Kong Branch

Johan AndrĂŠn Deputy Head of Greater China and General Manager Hong Kong branch

Shanghai – Mikael Westerback +86 21 6329 8877 ext 888, Pontus Gertell +86 21 6329 8877 ext 848