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.01
2016 China is far better at innovation than is generally known. In some areas, Chinese companies have already taken a global lead by finding new innovative business models and applications.
China cannot innovate
yes, they can! 22
Anders Karlborg A top-ranked foreigner in a Chinese enterprise
24
Helena Storm She wants to put Sweden on the map
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 www.bambooinasia.com bamboo@bambooinasia.com Art director: Johnny Chan Designer: Victor Dai English editor: Chris Taylor
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Cover: Johnny Chan 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: Edin Colak 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 General Manager: 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.012016 06
4
Editorial
6
Opinion: Johan Nylander
8
Snippets
10 Focus story: Innovation takes off in China 22 Executive talk: Anders Karlborg 24 Feature: Helena Storm 26 This is Sweden 30 Young Professional interview: Zhang Ling
26
34 Chamber activities in Hong Kong 36 Chamber activities in Beijing 38 Chamber activities in Shanghai 40 Chamber news
30
44 New members 52 After hours 54 The chamber and I: Your favourite little spot Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong
ADVERTISERS APC Logistics page 35, Asia Perspective page 49, Atlas Copco page 17, Bamboo page 43 B&B Tools/Teng Tools page 55, Ericsson page 45, Executive Homes page 53, Finnair page 2 Greencarrier page 53, Guanghua Kellogg page 15, Handelsbanken page 56, Hellström page 51 Henriksson Consulting page 51, Iggesund Paperboard page 37, IKEA page 33, Kinnarps page 41 Mannheimer Swartling page 47, Norman Global Logistics page 52, PSU pages 28-29 Radisson Blu page 20, Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) page 27, SEB page 5 Sigtuna Boarding School page 31, Swedbank page 9, Turkish Airlines page 21 Volvo Cars page 19, Volvo Open page 39 Publishing schedule for Dragon News 2016 The actual delivery date may vary and is the final decision of the chambers. No 2. Publishing date: 27 May. Latest delivery date for advertisements: 29 April. No 3. Publishing date: 23 September. Advertisements: 26 August. No 4. Publishing date: 25 November. Advertisements: 28 October.
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Swedish Chamber of Commerce in China
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.01/2016 3
EDITORIAL
Katarina Nilsson Chairman Swedish Chamber of Commerce in China
Ulf Ohrling Chairman Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong
Swedes can innovate! Dear Reader, Sweden and Swedish companies have a long tradition of successful innovation and globally successful companies in various industries. Swedish innovation has formed many multinational champions such as ABB, Absolut Vodka, AstraZeneca, H&M, IKEA, Saab, SKF and others – and in recent times, Skype, Spotify, the Metro newspaper and Minecraft. Innovation not only has to do with patents but also how to do new things or old things in a different way and to commercialise it. The OECD’s definition is: “By innovation we mean knowledge that is turned into new value in the form of products, services or new organisations in both the private and the public sector.” But what are the factors behind this success, which is remarkable considering Sweden’s population of less than 10 million? It is of course impossible to point to all the determining factors, but several are worth noting, and we will focus on those. Education. A good education system is vital to the attractiveness and success of a country. Sweden has long provided statefunded loans for university studies, which meant that students from poor families could afford higher level education, thus leveraging on the entire population and not only children from rich families. Late bloomers 4 DRAGONNEWS • NO.01/2016
have not been barred from higher education as there are ample opportunities to upgrade from a minimum education. Furthermore, the system encourages critical thinking, team effort, creativity and experimentation, as opposed to rote learning and study for the sake of study to pass exams.
reasons, probably have hidden the result and not talked about it. A hierarchical culture where the concept of face is important may lead to less cooperation and exchange of ideas, even – or especially – new and crazy ideas. It is these non-established ideas that very often form the basis of innovation.
The welfare system. The Swedish welfare system equals a basic safety net that frees people and resources for business ventures and it also means that people’s lives are less dominated by saving money for retirement or healthcare.
Having said that, many things of course can still be improved. In a report, the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA) pointed out a number of areas where Sweden can improve to maintain attractiveness that in turn could foster innovation and competitiveness. These areas are schools, higher education and research, infrastructure, housing and living environment, culture, business climate and an innovation-friendly public sector. Innovation cannot be bought or achieved by tax incentives based on R&D activities and the number of patents applied for. Rather, it is necessary to focus on many measures that together lead to a good innovation climate. We hope that Swedish politicians will read the IVA report and focus on these areas in a pragmatic (non-political) manner to ensure that the recent Swedish decline in competitiveness will stop and that the trend will turn positive again. We cannot afford to fall behind farther as the competition is getting tougher in a globalised economy.
No “face” issues. The Swedish culture of openness, egalitarian views and low emphasis on prestige plays well into the hands of creativity and innovation. Think of the American innovation, the Post-it note. The researcher at 3M was given the task of inventing a powerful glue but failed miserably. The result was a glue that barely could hold two pieces of paper together. Instead of being embarrassed and hiding the failure, he shared it with his boss and colleagues. Five years later, a colleague who had heard of the adhesive came to realise that it was the perfect solution to marking pages in his songbook. The Post-it note was born. This innovation is an innovation that likely would have languished in China. A Chinese researcher would, due to cultural
Shenzhen’s where the action is Text: Johan Nylander, johanhongkong@gmail.com
S
ilicon Valley-based firms such as Apple and Uber have in their own ways revolutionised their industries. So have startups from Stockholm, such as Skype and Spotify. In Tokyo you will find a dazzling array of inventive technology, from toilets that talk to driver-less trains. And in Hong Kong you have pioneering, creative companies like…. like…. eh…. During a recent conference hosted by the South China Morning Post, the panellists, including some working for government-backed design organisations, concluded that the former British colony is facing a creative crisis. “Innovation wise, Hong Kong is doomed”, a designer friend who runs a social media startup here recently told me over coffee. But it comes with an advantage, he added: “It’s easy to make money here because creative competition is so low”. I am not sure that should be seen as a compliment. My friend told me how his company for months had been trying to employ local programmers with both technical skills in coding and ability to think independently and creatively without having everything having to be dictated to them in detail. It was next to impossible. The same grievances resonate in the communications sector. Copywriter Chris Kyme concludes in his book Made in Hong Kong that ad 6 DRAGONNEWS • NO.01/2016
mine came to visit. “Woo, this is spooky”, he hissed. Other co-working spaces I have visited here are similarly lifeless. In contrast, the shared offices I have worked from in Stockholm – ranked Europe’s most creative city for tech startups – have been buzzing. One had tranquil electronic music playing from loudspeakers, people playing ping pong in the middle of the room and we had a seemingly endless stock of Prosecco – and some of the capital’s It is strange, however. Hong Kong is most interesting fashion generally such a vibrant designers and tech people. place. It is extremely social It felt like we were feeding and a magnet for global from each other’s energy. talents. The city has a Whatever the reason, growing art and music The year when Shenzhen Hong Kong’s ailing scene. The number of surpassed Hong Kong as China’s economic model is in startups, especially appmost competitive region. desperate need of updating and social-media based, is and the government seems increasing in Hong Kong, to be far behind the curve. while tonnes of money are pumped into technology parks. But the level of originality is low. That is why it is so remarkable to witness the booming activity just across the Why the creative deadlock? Is the border in mainland China. In Shenzhen, the strict education system with rule-bound entrepreneurial spirit is thriving. rote learning to blame, or is the problem During my many travels all across traditional family-run companies stuck in the city, I have noticed an astounding old patterns? Is it lack of individuality, or transformation. A few months ago, I even lack of “craziness”? investigated an in-depth story for Swedish I do not know whether co-working spaces business daily Dagens Industri about is a good indicator of a city’s entrepreneurial Shenzhen’s evolution from a dirty factory pulse. But the shared office in Sheung Wan town to China’s leading innovation hub. where I sometimes work is always silent. One of the most memorable meetings If people speak, they whisper. A friend of agencies here have became creatively bereft dinosaurs. “Gone are the visionaries, the eccentrics, the believers, the ones who knew what it took to be great and had the balls to get it done.” Even more worryingly, a recent university study reported that there is a widespread feeling in Hong Kong that the city has lost its can-do spirit and innovative edge.
2015
More money is invested in research and development [in Shenzhen] than anywhere else in China.”
was with two women who had just launched their own wealth-management firm. Normally, there is little that is exciting about a new finance company. But what made these women special was not the services they offered, but how they offered them. Their entire office was decorated as an ancient Chinese teahouse, with walls covered in calligraphy and low, chunky wooden furniture throughout the room. As chief executive Phoebe Chen – clad in traditional Chinese dress – poured me a cup during a gongfu cha ceremony, she explained how finance, technology and creative industries were transforming the city. “There is a special atmosphere here that you won’t find anywhere else”, she said. Naturally, China is still better known – partly justified, partly exaggerated – for adaptation than innovation. A 2014 Harvard Business Review article titled “Why China Can’t Innovate” emphasises the fact that China is a “place where R&D is diligently pursued but breakthroughs are rare”. Lack of freedom of speech and growing fear of government clampdowns are no doubt factors in stifling original thinking and willingness to break boundaries. All the same, Shenzhen could be a role model. More money is invested in research
and development there than anywhere else in China, and the city accounts for half of the country’s international patent applications, according to state-controlled media. In fact, Shenzhen surpassed Hong Kong last year as China’s most competitive region. No wonder an increasing number of Hongkongers and headhunting firms look across the border for career opportunities and talent. And it is not just in Shenzhen that this is happening. I regularly get invitations to visit “China’s Silicon Valley” – tech parks Photo: Oscar Venhuis
While Shenzhen’s innovative and entrepreneurial spirit is thriving, Hong Kong seems to have come to a creative deadlock, writes the Swedish journalist and correspondent Johan Nylander.
and clusters in cities like Beijing, Chengdu or Hangzhou, housing thousands of entrepreneurs hungry for success. During an opening event of a new tech incubator in Shenzhen, I witnessed how enthusiastic young pioneers mingled with investors, corporate executives and local politicians. Although champagne and chocolate delicacies were abundant, a group that runs a health technology company sat glued to their screens trying to finish a project. Again, I do not know that a co-working space is synonymous with innovation but the energy of the environment was contagious. Hopefully, some of this spirit will creep across the border to Hong Kong – before it is too late. b
Johan Nylander is a freelance China correspondent, based in Hong Kong. He is frequently published by CNN, Forbes and Sweden’s leading business daily Dagens Industri (DI). During the 2008 financial crisis, he was stationed as foreign correspondent for DI in London. He has a Master’s degree in economics, and is author of an award-winning management book. Today, he spends his time travelling in China and neighbouring countries, interviewing everyone from presidents and to peasants, entrepreneurs and migrant workers, triad members and government officials – everyone who is part of shaping tomorrow’s China. Check out his website at johannylander.asia.
DRAGONNEWS • NO.01/2016 7
I nn o vat i v e S ni p p e t s Tesla world’s most innovative company n The American luxury electric car maker Tesla Motors is the world’s most innovative company, according to Forbes magazine’s 2015 ranking. US-based Salesforce.com, a provider of enterprise cloud computing applications, was ranked No 2, followed by two American pharmaceutical companies, Alexion and Regeneron. ARM Holdings, a UK-based semiconductor and software design company, came in fifth place. Also among the Top 10 are Unilever Indonesia and four US-based companies: Incyte, Amazon.com, Under Armour and BioMarin Pharmaceuticals.
Tesla takes first place in an innovation ranking.
Sweden ranks 3 in innovation rd
n Sweden, together with Switzerland, Great Britain, Holland and the US, remains among the world’s five most innovative countries, according to the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2015. Sweden retained its No 3 ranking from 2014. The GII, co-published by Cornell University, INSEAD business school and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), covers 141 economies around the world and is based on 79 different indicators that measure countries’ capacity for innovation and measurable results. GII’s ranking also shows that China, Malaysia, Vietnam and India are among a group of other countries that are outpacing their economic peers.
The world’s most energy-efficient light bulb n Chinese startup Nanoleaf has invented a new light bulb that yields 88 per cent in electricity savings and lasts 20 times longer than existing LED bulbs. With 133 lumens-per-watts, it almost doubles the efficiency of a Philips’ 22-watt bulb – and increased efficiency means the bulb stays relatively cool as well. Nanoleaf, which is based in Hong Kong, originally launched with a Kickstarter campaign, receiving immense support and the funding to transform an idea into mass production. A capital firm owned by Asia’s richest man Li Ka-Shing later provided additional funding.
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Global Innovation Index 2015
1
Switzerland
2
United Kingdom
3
Sweden
4
Netherlands
5
United States
6
Finland
7
Singapore
8
Ireland
9
Luxembourg
10
Denmark
11
Hong Kong
29
China
“The gaokao [a nation-wide entrance examination for high school students in China] fosters a culture whereby students are rewarded for their ability to plagiarise the content of teachers and materials and are punished for learning anything outside of [them].” Rich Brubaker, managing director of collective responsibility at the China Europe International Business School and an expert on Chinese innovation, on the subject of China’s education system, which has changed little in centuries.
QUOTE Money, money, money
Did you know … n … that gunpowder, paper, printing and the compass are sometimes called the Four Great Inventions of ancient China? The Chinese also learned how to make silk from the cocoons of silkworms. They managed to keep the process for making silk a secret for hundreds of years. Other inventions include the umbrella, porcelain, the wheelbarrow, iron casting, hot air balloons, seismographs to measure earthquakes, kites, matches and acupuncture.
n Wealthy Chinese individuals are ploughing money into technology startups, which are increasingly seen as a safe heaven at a time when the stock markets in Shenzhen and Shanghai are not performing well, reports the South China Morning Post. For example, taxi-hailing company Didi Chuxing (formerly Didi Kuaidi) has seen its valuation rise by 25 per cent year-on-year. Venture capital investment in mainland China technology startups more than doubled to US$32.2 billion in 2015, according to the research firm CB Insights. What is unique about the mainland’s venture capital and private equity industry is that much of the fundraising comes from wealthy individuals. In the West, institutional investors normally drive the market.
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Photo: DJI
Innovation takes off in China China is far better at innovation than is generally known. In some areas, Chinese companies have already taken a global lead by finding new innovative business models and applications. Text: Jan Hökerberg, Bamboo jan.hokerberg@bambooinasia.com
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Four myths about China (1) As China’s economy slows down after more than two decades of unparalleled growth, some observers predict that this could herald the collapse of China and that its political and economic system is unsustainable in the modern world. For this year’s four issues of Dragon News, the Swedish Chambers of Commerce in Hong Kong and China will analyse some of the myths surrounding China’s future development, such as “China cannot innovate”, “the Chinese model is not sustainable”, “Hong Kong is just a part of China” and “China has no global brands”. Are these myths true or false? Read for yourself to find out.
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hen Hewlett-Packard’s former chief executive Carly Fiorina was interviewed in a video blog in Iowa, shortly before announcing her candidacy for America’s presidency, which she later withdrew from, she said that the US education system should not be modelled after China’s. “Chinese students may test well,” Fiorina said, “but they fall short when it comes to innovation.” She added: “I have been doing business in China for decades, and I will tell you that yeah, the Chinese can take a test, but what they can’t do is innovate. They are not terribly imaginative. They’re not entrepreneurial, they don’t innovate, that is why they are stealing our intellectual property.” Fiorina’s view is shared by many other China watchers, who say that China cannot be innovative due to many factors, such as the education system, which is based on rote learning, the hierarchic corporate structures that do not encourage initiative, the fact that China is a collectivist society,
which means that thinking differently is not seen as a good thing, and that facesaving is extremely important. However, China is undergoing big changes and many observers believe that China is far better at innovation than is generally known. In some areas, Chinese companies have already taken a global lead by finding new innovative business models and applications. “Today, few companies in the world are as innovation-driven as Alibaba, JD.com and Tencent. Their customeroriented and high-paced innovation is already comparable with global giants like Google, Facebook and Apple,” says Tobias Glitterstam, trade commissioner to China and country manager at the trade and invest promotion agency Business Sweden (see separate article). Anders Karlborg, assistant CEO at ZTE Corporation, doesn’t agree either that China cannot innovate. “It’s not true; there’s a lot of technological innovation in China,” says
Karlborg, who has long experience working at research-driven telecommunications companies such as Ericsson, Huawei and now ZTE. “Chinese companies in China have the technology, they have the people and they have the skills. What they don’t have yet is experience of internationalisation. That’s why they have to go overseas in order to develop and gain international experience,” he says (see also pages 24-25). Björn O Nilsson, president of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA) has visited China several times and IVA is cooperating with its Chinese counterpart, the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE). “There is definitely a high degree of innovation in China and the country has a large number of creative individuals. However, a factor that is very important for innovation is to have a political system that encourages free thinking,” says Nilsson (see separate article). However, free thinking is not an obstacle at one of China’s fastest growing
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Few companies in the world are as innovation-driven as Alibaba, JD.com and Tencent.” Tobias Glitterstam, Business Sweden
I can definitely see Shenzhen soon becoming an international hub for innovation.” Tomas Larsson,
as opposed to filing lots of patents that never get used, or releasing a stream of novelty products that fail to generate a return. “Chinese innovation today is not so much about technology, but more about product development, new processes and business models. The Chinese mind-set is to work very fast and to quickly release products and services. They have the advantage of a huge home market and have the ability to find and develop new processes to reduce costs,” says Tomas Larsson, managing director at Kairos Future China, an international research and management consulting firm, in Shanghai. “Chinese companies also have less barriers than Western companies to enter new areas and not only stick to their core products,” according to Larsson (see separate article).
At the 2014 World Economic Forum in Davos, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang announced China’s plan to encourage mass innovation and “foster a new engine of growth” for the Chinese economy. Innovation has now become a common denominator in China’s 13th Five-Year Plan, which covers the years 2016 to 2020. As policymakers grapple with China’s economic slowdown, this new model will be crucial to the successful transformation to a consumption-driven, service-based economy. “Innovation is a key theme in the 13th Five-Year Plan. This is an excellent opportunity for Sweden and Swedish companies, with our wellThe MGI study analysed 20,000 public recognised innovation capability. Now companies in China and around the world is the time to bring forward the Swedish in 31 industries, representing about 30 per model – with successful cooperation The number of China’s patent filings in 2014 cent of global GDP, and looked for where between universities, science parks, leading which was more than the US and Japan combined. Chinese companies were getting more than enterprises and innovative start-ups – and their GDP share of global revenue – more build deep Sino-Swedish partnerships in the than 12 per cent, which is China's share of global GDP. area of innovation,” says Glitterstam. The study found that China's greatest strengths are customerIn 2010, China emerged as the top patent-filing nation worldwide, focused and efficiency-driven innovation. In customer-focused overtaking the United States and Japan. The trend has continued innovation, China has more than its share in several industries, after that. According to the World Intellectual Property Organisation including appliances (36 per cent of global revenue) and Internet (WIPO), China had, in 2014, 928,177 filings, software and services. Innovators in these industries benefit which was more than the US and Japan from the massive size of the Chinese market, which allows rapid combined. commercialisation of innovations and provides an open-minded testA recent study by the McKinsey Global bed for new ideas. Chinese consumers are happy to take early versions Institute (MGI), “The China Effect on of new smartphone features, for example, and collaborate with Global Innovation”, argues that Chinese manufacturers via online forums and other means, to perfect them. companies do indeed show promise when it The study concludes that China, as the world's largest comes to innovation. MGI does not fall into manufacturing economy, has built an unmatched ecosystem that the common trap of conflating innovation enables continuous process innovations. It has more than five times with invention: “The proof of successful the Japanese supplier base, 150 million experienced factory workers innovation is the ability of companies and modern infrastructure to move parts to plants and finished goods to expand revenue and raise profits,” to world markets. Notable successes in efficiency-driven innovation include solar panels (51 per cent of global revenue), where scale and a well-developed supply chain give Chinese players about 15 to 20 per cent cost advantage. However, in terms of engineering and science-based innovation, China still has more to do, the study says. EngineeringBjörn O Nilsson, IVA based innovation requires deep knowledge. In industries such as high-speed trains (41
928,177
Photo: Peter Knutson
per cent of global revenue), communications equipment (18 per cent) and wind turbines (20 per cent), Chinese companies have learned rapidly, thanks in part to government support and technology transfers. In the automotive sector, Chinese brands have seized less opportunities and Chinese players have just 8 per cent of global revenue. Furthermore, Chinese companies have not yet captured an above-GDP share in any of the science-based industries that were analysed by the McKinsey Global Institute (specialty chemicals, semiconductor design and pharmaceuticals, for example).
Photo: Björn Leijon
companies, Dajiang Innovation Technology Co (DJI) in Shenzhen. Fast Company magazine ranked DJI 22nd on its 2015 list of the world’s most innovative companies. In less than 10 years, DJI has captured 70 per cent of the world market for civilian drones and aerial photography systems. “I don’t feel that I work for a typical Chinese company,” says Caroline Briggert, who is responsible for DJI’s stakeholder relations. “The dynamics of this company are exciting and the average age is 27 years. People work in teams and anyone can come up with an idea as long as they manage to get the idea supported by colleagues.” (see separate article)
There is definitely a high degree of innovation in China.”
Chinese cities clearly differ when it comes to Kairos Future innovation. It is important for a city to have large technology companies as part of its backbone. Many entrepreneurs start their careers in a large company before they decide to go it alone. schools and WIPO. Hong Kong was ranked higher than some leading Shenzhen has become a melting pot for young entrepreneurs from advanced economies such as Germany, Canada, Australia and Japan, all over China. It is probably the most open city in China and allows but lower than regional rival Singapore. companies to operate more freely. It has a big advantage of being close In November 2015, Hong Kong’s government launched the new both to the manufacturing industry in Guangdong province as well Innovation and Technology Bureau and earmarked HK$2 billion for as to Hong Kong which has a well-established financial infrastructure universities to carry out scientific research projects. The government and a highly educated workforce. Shenzhen is also the home of large has also set aside another HK$2 billion for the Innovation and technology companies such as Huawei, ZTE and Tencent. Technology Venture Fund, which is aimed at encouraging increased “I can definitely see Shenzhen soon becoming an international hub financing from private venture funds in technology startups through a for innovation,” says Larsson of Kairos Future. matching process. According to the city’s 13th Five-Year Plan, released in February, The Hong Kong startup scene has expanded rapidly over the more than 100 billion yuan – or 4.25 per cent of its annual GDP – past couple of years. Hong Kong ranks as the fifth fastest growing will be earmarked for R&D by 2020. The plan expects six emerging startup ecosystem in the world with 1,558 startups in 2015, 46 per industries – the biotechnology, internet, new energy, new materials, IT cent higher than in 2014. Many of them operate within financial and cultural and creative industries – to account for 42 per cent of the technology, or fintech, due to the city’s high number of financial city’s GDP in 2020. professionals, and education. Beijing’s Zhongguancun Science Park is often dubbed as China’s Silicon Valley. Zhongguancun is home to many established Chinese In a book by management consultant Edward Tse, “China’s technology companies, from PC maker Lenovo Group to search Disruptors”, which was published in 2015, the author argues that engine operator Baidu as well as smartphone maker Xiaomi, which was China’s dynamic private sector has risen with the help of, not despite, established in the district six years ago. The science park was approved government policies on innovation. already in 1988 as China’s first high-tech park. “Companies alone cannot make the massive long-term “Beijing has the advantage of having strong research universities commitment of resources needed to drive innovation in many crucial such as Tsinghua and Peking University,” says Larsson. areas,” he writes. Just as American public spending on universities Shanghai is not yet at the forefront of innovation. “They seem to and defence research boosted Silicon Valley’s startups, in China more have a focus on consumer culture and design, but I can too, “the state has to lead the way.” He is encouraged by the imagine that if a unique Chinese design style will emerge, it fact that China now spends more than US$200 billion a will probably be in Shanghai,” he says. year on research and development, putting it above the European Union as a proportion of GDP, though still Hong Kong was ranked at 11th place out of 141 behind the US. countries and economies in the 2015 Global Innovation Uber Technologies’ CEO and co-founder, Travis Index, an annual study conducted by leading business Kalanick, is strongly convinced that China can innovate. The Silicon Valley pioneer should know what he’s talking about. In a few years he has steered Uber from nothing to a larger valuation than four-fifths of the companies on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index. At a conference in Beijing in March, Kalanick said: “In the next five years, there will be more innovation, more invention, more entrepreneurship happening in China, Caroline Briggert, DJI happening in Beijing, than in Silicon Valley.” b
I don’t feel that I work for a typical Chinese company.”
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Guanghua-Kellogg Executive MBA
The world’s largest startup In the space of just a few years, Shenzhen-based DJI has captured 70 per cent of the world market for civilian drones and also created new application areas.
In 2006, Frank Wang Tao founded Dajiang Innovation Technology Co (DJI). He had always as a boy and teenager been interested in model airplanes and remote controlled mini-helicopters. While Wang was studying at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology he built a helicopter flight control system that impressed the teachers. He and two classmates then decided to use the prototype to start small-scale manufacturing in Shenzhen. They used a threebedroom flat as office and Wang funded the venture using what was left of his university scholarship. In 2009, the company really took off, selling its products to a bigger audience, including a popular US-produced reality TV show called “The Amazing Race”. The launch of the Phantom series in 2013 went very well. It was the first ready-to-fly, preassembled quadcopter that could be up in the air within an hour of its unboxing and wouldn’t break apart on its first crash. “DJI were early adopters of a new market and that’s
Being headquartered in Shenzhen is a big advantage for the company, according to Briggert: “We own our factories nearby and we can get prototypes of new products the same day. There is also access to a big talent pool here. The company has 1,500 engineers and many of them are educated abroad but have returned to China, and to Shenzhen where much of the action is. We’re close to Hong Kong with all its logistics. And we also need space with big areas where we can test our products and Shenzhen can offer that,” she says. DJI’s sales are still dominated by its consumer products, with the US and Europe as the biggest markets followed by China. The company is now working on developing many other application areas for professional users. The company has bought a minority share of the Swedish top-of-the-line camera maker Hasselblad. It has also developed a camera that is able to rotate and capture images on the move, while remaining completely level and stable. This camera can easily be connected with a mobile phone and, for example, making it possible to record selfies in a wholly novel way. “This is just the beginning,” says Briggert. “The hardware is already developed and the next great leap is to develop tailor-made software applications for different users.”
COMPANY
Photo: DJI
Ten years ago, the Chinese technology company DJI is now developing tailor-made software DJI operated from a private flat in Shenzhen. applications for different users. Today, it has grown to a global corporation with more than 4,000 employees in China, the US, Germany, the Netherlands, Brazil, Japan and Hong Kong. Headquartered in Shenzhen, it has 70 per cent of the global market for commercial and recreational camera drones and aerial photography systems. “Between 2009 and 2014, DJI’s growth tripled or more than quadrupled annually,” says Caroline Briggert, who is responsible for the company’s stakeholder relations. She recently left her job at the communications consultancy Kreab in Hong Kong to join DJI across the border. “I don’t feel that I work for a typical Chinese company,” why we have had a great leading edge compared to our says Briggert. “The dynamics of this company are exciting competitors,” says Briggert. and the average age is 27 years. People work in teams and “The company started selling mini-helicopters to anyone can come up with an idea as long as they manage to enthusiasts, but when we put cameras on them we created get the idea supported by colleagues.” a new market for professional users, such as search and “Some people call DJI ‘the world’s largest startup’ since it rescue operations for relief workers after natural disasters, has the entrepreneurial structure of a startup but with much for farmers to monitor their fields and for videographers to more financial muscle – it was recently valued at 10 billion US shoot aerial pictures without having to rely on expensive dollars,” says Briggert. helicopters,” she says.
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This is just the beginning.” Caroline Briggert, DJI
Tel: +8610 6274 7158 Email:gkemba@gsm.pku.edu.cn 14 DRAGONNEWS • NO.01/2016
to the next level.
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Masters of fast development processes Tight cooperation in clusters and quick launches of new products are characteristics of today’s innovation in China.
an application where taxis, premium cars and designated drivers can be hired via smartphones. The company is a result of the merger in 2015 between Tencent’s Didi Dache and Alibaba’s Kuaidi Dache. They started their businesses as late as in 2012 by launching car-hailing apps, which had an immediate success, but have now, after the merger, moved into more services and are offering premium driver services, car pooling and even bus sharing.
The international research and consulting firm Kairos Future, headquartered in Stockholm, has for several years focused on studying innovation in China. In 2012, it published a quantitative study of China’s new innovation landscape called “China’s Three Waves of Innovation”. The report was based on an extensive analysis of a unique database that includes “The Chinese mind-set is to work very fast and to quickly fundamental information on all 2 million-plus Chinese invention release products and services. They have the advantage of patents since 1985. a huge home market and have the ability to find and develop Today, Kairos Future is participating in the Dragon Star new processes to reduce costs,” says Larsson. project, a joint project by the “Chinese companies have European Union (EU) and China less barriers than Western for supporting cooperation in companies to enter new areas research and innovation. and not only stick to their The company has also core products,” according to initiated its own study about Larsson. how to develop innovation in Joyson Electronics is China up until 2030. one of today’s leading global “Over the past five years, automotive suppliers, with much has happened in China headquarters in Ningbo. They when it comes to innovation,” are integrating sensors in says Tomas Larsson, managing their components that provide director at Kairos Future China information about driving in Shanghai. “For example, behaviour. They then use Tomas Larsson, Kairos Future the inter-firm cooperation in this information to develop industrial clusters or networks new products directly for the in China have become much consumer. closer. However, we cannot trace many Western companies in Leshi Internet Information & Technology, also known as these networks, China is mainly doing it by themselves.” LeEco (previously LeTV), is a Chinese technology company Partly because of these clusters and networks, the which is offering a wide range of products and services, innovation cycles have become much faster. spanning from internet TV, video production and distribution, “China has learnt how to master fast development smart gadgets and large-screen applications to e-commerce, processes. They launch the product even if it is not yet eco-agriculture and even internet-linked smart cars, which fully developed, then they are getting the feedback they were announced in late 2014. need from consumers online and quickly integrate the new “China is very innovative when it comes to areas where the findings into the product,” says Larsson. consumer drives the development. However, in basic scientific research, China is far below its potential,” says Larsson. He mentions as an example Xiaomi, which in a short time have become the world’s fourth largest smartphone maker. “Their technology is not unique but their business model is. They use their brand name to develop a wider range of consumer electronics and apps for smart home usage – they even make drones,” Larsson says. “Chinese innovation today is not so much about technology, but more about product development, new processes and business models. Companies merge different types of services and find new Xiaomi has used its brand name to expand applications,” he says. into other products, such as air purifiers. Didi Chuxing, previously called Didi Kuaidi, runs
Chinese companies have less barriers than Western companies to enter new areas and not only stick to their core products.”
16 DRAGONNEWS • NO.01/2016
Photo: Xiaomi
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Innovation key to success A study of Swedish SMEs in China shows that innovation is the most important element for success.
decades of rapid growth in China, often based on innovative and high quality products. Looking forward, differentiation will require that innovation move even closer to the customer and end-users. There are excellent opportunities to set up joint industry innovation centres, design units with partners and consumer labs together with important customers,” Glitterstam says. He has worked in China since the mid-2000s, as a partner of the multinational management consulting giant Accenture. Providing support to leading companies in the ICT sector, he knows first hand how important it is to locate the innovation unit close the customer and provide the local China leadership with the mandate to set the priorities for the unit. “Setting up innovation units in China for China is more important than ever to stay ahead of fast-paced local competitors that increasingly advance into the premium segment, historically dominated by multinationals,” he says.
In a recent study of 12 successful Swedish small- and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs), the Swedish trade and invest promotion agency Business Sweden discovered that of nine parameters of success in China, innovation scored the highest. “The interviewed SMEs represent different sectors. However, all of them highlighted innovation as the most important factor for success in China,” says Tobias Glitterstam, trade commissioner for Business Sweden in China. In the overall context of innovation SMEs also raise the importance of being local, truly customer oriented and agile in responding to requests of product adaptations, according to the study, “The Recipe for Success in China”. “These successful SMEs have maintained their agility. This includes being able to quickly adapt solutions, Today, many Swedish companies have business model and offerings to changing established research and development customer requirements. This in turn The number of R&D centres in China (R&D) centres in China. According to requires local presence and in-depth operated by foreign-owned companies. a 2013 KPMG analysis, multinational market understanding,” says Glitterstam. companies operate at least 1,300 R&D The SMEs that have managed to centres in China, with the number having grown significantly move ahead of the competition by being innovative are less in recent years. This expansion has occurred even though affected by the general economic slowdown in Chinese companies remain concerned about protecting their industry. intellectual property rights (IPR) in China. “There are several recent examples from our daily Glitterstam believes the trend of growing R&D capability in consulting, where we see a great interest from large Chinese China will continue, but we will see a growing trend of moving pharmaceutical or ICT companies to collaborate with leading innovators from traditional R&D units into partnerships innovative Swedish SMEs that have recently entered the with customers and industry authorities. Chinese market.” “One of the strategic recommendations in our analysis is to regard innovation as a service, where partnership-lead innovation Business Sweden is now conducting another analysis on how of entire industry ecosystems, value chains and business the largest Swedish industrial companies can tackle the future models are added to the innovative products themselves. This in a China that today is characterised by economic slowdown, way we fully leverage the trademark of Swedish companies as overcapacity and buy-domestic initiatives. Again, innovation is leading innovators”, Glitterstam concludes. being raised as one of the key elements of succeeding in this Business Sweden’s report “Redefining Success Strategies more challenging business climate. in China” will be released in April 2016. “Most leading Swedish companies have experienced two
1,300
Setting up innovation units in China for China is more important than ever to stay ahead of fast-paced local competitors.” Tobias Glitterstam, Business Sweden
18 DRAGONNEWS • NO.01/2016
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Innovation key to Sweden’s prosperity Governments should create good conditions for innovation, but not pick the winners, says Björn O Nilsson, president of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA). In January this year, Björn O Nilsson, president of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA), was invited by the Hong Kong government to visit the city for discussions about how to promote innovation. IVA is a policymaker which works to increase the competitiveness of Swedish industries. The key to Sweden’s future prosperity is, and has always been, innovation.
It is very important for innovation to have a political system that encourages free thinking.” Björn O Nilsson, IVA
“The key is now how to navigate a changing world,” says Nilsson. “This has to be done through innovation. Today we see the globalisation of services and the digitalisation of business. Uber is the world’s largest taxi company without owning a single car. Airbnb is the world’s highest valued hotel company without owning a single hotel.” Nilsson’s recommendation to governments is, “They should focus on creating good conditions for innovation, but not pick the winners – the market should take care of that.” Nilsson has visited China several times and IVA is cooperating with its Chinese counterpart, the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE). “There is definitely a high degree of innovation in China and the country has a large number of creative individuals. However, a factor that is very important for creating innovation is a political system that encourages free thinking,” says Nilsson. Over the past few years IVA has run a number of innovation projects which have attracted large-scale commitment and active participation from IVA’s vast network. Sweden invests a larger percentage of its GDP to R&D than most other countries and has the advantage of some basic preconditions for a climate in which innovation can thrive.
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Experience from three of telecom’s Top Four As assistant CEO in ZTE Corporation, Anders Karlborg may well be one of the highest ranked foreigners in a large Chinese enterprise in China. Previously he has worked at the current global market leader Huawei and the former world No 1, Ericsson. Text: Jan Hökerberg, Bamboo, jan.hokerberg@bambooinasia.com
With 5G, all communication will be so much faster. It’s very important for all future development.” computing and networks of data-gathering sensors. “With the increased connectivity we will improve our lifestyle and businesses can improve their efficiency,” Karlborg says.
In
2008, Anders Karlborg took a big – but also a bit quite a bit, though, and I have two assistants that help me with controversial – step in his career when he decided to leave interpretation and translation. But ZTE wants to become a more Ericsson after 10 years and started working for Ericsson’s internationalised company and that is one reason for why I am competitor Huawei Technologies in Shenzhen. He was here,” he says. one of the first Westerners to be employed by Huawei in China. At that time, Huawei was aggressively challenging Ericsson and While Huawei is a privately owned corporation, ZTE is listed the other global telecommunications equipment giants. Some years on both the Hong Kong and Shenzhen stock exchanges. later, Huawei surpassed Ericsson and became No 1 in the market. “It has been easy for me to adjust to ZTE’s culture and Karlborg spent seven years at Huawei – the first half as vice values,” says Karlborg, who regards the company’s culture as president with responsibilities for supply-chain management and being somewhere in between Huawei’s aggressive style and the second half as president for customer order and Ericsson’s more pragmatic Scandinavian logistics – and then, last year, he felt like it was time culture. for a change. As one of several assistant CEOs, “I felt like I’d done all that I wanted to do at Karlborg is responsible for overseeing Huawei, so I decided to resign and take a threeZTE’s entire supply chain as well as its ZTE’s position in the global month holiday – I’d hardly had any holidays at all services. He is also responsible for a big market for telecommunications over those past seven years,” says Karlborg. innovation project, which includes several equipment. Huawei, Nokia/ hundred people, involving connecting a new Alcatel and Ericsson are ahead. digital supply chain with the old, traditional, During the holiday, he had several job offers to consider. The one that attracted him the most supply chain. was from Huawei’s main competitor in China, ZTE Corporation, ZTE aims to be one of the leaders in the development of as assistant chief executive officer (CEO). So after three months, he 5G – the fifth generation of mobile networks. The company has joined ZTE – which also has its head office in Shenzhen – in August already released pre-5G products. Karlborg is convinced that 5G will 2015, where he reports directly to the new CEO, Zhao Xianming. change the world: Karlborg is the only Westerner among ZTE’s 21,000 employees “With 5G, all communication will be so much faster. It’s very in Shenzhen. That probably makes him one of the highest-ranked important for all future development. With much higher speed foreigners in all of China’s major companies within China.. and bandwidth, we will see a connected world that is very different “I don’t know if it’s true, but many people say that about my compared with today.” position,” says Karlborg. There has been a lot of buzz surrounding what has been dubbed Even if he is part of the top management and all of his peers the Internet of Things (IoT), which revolves around increased are Chinese, he does not speak the language. “I understand machine-to-machine communication and is built on cloud
No 4
22 DRAGONNEWS • NO.01/2016
Karlborg, who turns 55 this summer, was born and grew up in Alingsås in western Sweden. After graduating in mechanical engineering at the University of Luleå in northern Sweden, Karlborg worked at several companies in Sweden, such as Volvo Components, Rockwool and NCC, for the first 10 years until he joined Ericsson in 1998. At Ericsson, he worked with sourcing and logistics in Sweden until he was appointed director of supply-chain management at Ericsson in Beijing and later vice president for the company’s Asia-Pacific Supply Centre in Nanjing. He stayed in China for six years and then headed to Dubai to become the head of sourcing and supply for Ericsson Middle East. After two years it was time to go back to China again, but this time to Huawei. At ZTE, he has a long term contract and plans to stay during this period as loyalty is very important for Karlborg. He lives in Shekou, not far from the ZTE head office, with his wife Ulrika, who is a personal trainer, and their youngest child Anna, who is 18. Their son, Oskar, 24, studies in Hong Kong, and their other daughter, Tora, 21, studies in Singapore. Even if Karlborg has long work days and often has to work over the weekend, he also ensures that he has time for family life and to play golf, tennis and squash. “You need to have a good work-life balance. We enjoy it here and have a good life,” he says. b
ZTE at a glance ZTE Corporation, which originates from Zhongxing Telecom Equipment, was founded in 1985 by Hou Weigui. It is headquartered in Shenzhen in Guangdong province. The company has been growing rapidly. Today, ZTE is ranked No 4 globally after Huawei, Nokia/Alcatel and Ericsson. In 2015, ZTE increased its turnover 24 per cent to more than 100 billion yuan and and with profits soaring 43 per cent. Some 60,000 people work at ZTE, with half of them in China and the rest at the company’s 107 global branches or in one of its 20 R&D centres around the world, one of them in the Kista Science Tower in Stockholm. ZTE focuses on four key areas: telecommunications equipment, enterprise solutions, mobile devices and emerging technologies. Carrier networks represent some 57 per cent of the turnover and terminals 28 per cent.
The diplomat
She wants to put Sweden on the map
initiative for preventing trafficking. Storm got more and more experience from working for the ministry and in 2006 she was hired permanently. One year later, her application for a position as first secretary at the Swedish embassy in Turkey’s capital Ankara was accepted. Born of a Turkish mother, she first started exploring Turkey at 19. She found relatives from her mother’s side and took intensive Turkish language courses. During her three years at the embassy, she became fluent in Turkish and toured the country as much as she could. Her husband Samuel also learnt the language. One of her duties in Ankara was to arrange a visit for the then Swedish minister for trade, Eva Björling. The visit was a success and Björling later called Storm and asked her to become her new chief of staff. She worked with Björling for three years in the centre-right Alliance coalition until January 2014 when she went on maternity leave. After the elections in 2014 the position as a chief of staff disappeared as the new government chose not to appoint a new Minister for Trade.
From left, Ylva Berg (CEO of Business Sweden), Helena Storm and Mikael Damberg (Minister for Enterprise and Innovation) at a recent ceremony in Hong Kong when Business Sweden inaugurated an expanded trade office.
Working with international issues has always been a passion for Helena Storm, Sweden’s consul-general in Hong Kong, who thinks that “Swedes could definitely be better in telling others how good we really are”.
Then, Storm and her husband decided it was time to look for new pastures abroad – and Hong Kong came up. “Hong Kong’s special status and its connection to China made it particularly interesting. The Swedish government has said that China is a prioritised market for its export strategy and Hong Kong still plays an important role for companies that want to establish themselves in China,” says Storm. “I want to put Sweden on the map and show what expertise we have within innovation, creativity and prime products in every field. Sweden is always ranked among the top countries in the world when it comes to innovation or creativity, but sometimes we are too shy to say it. Swedes could definitely be better at telling others how good we really are,” she says. Storm literally got off to a flying start in Hong Kong as the Swedish Minister for Enterprise and Innovation, Mikael Damberg, visited to inaugurate Business Sweden´s new office and the new SAS direct flight between Hong Kong and Stockholm, only 10 days after she took up the position. Since then, both the Minister for Financial Markets, Per Bolund, and the Minister for Rural Affairs, Sven-Erik Bucht, have visited Hong Kong with business delegations. “These visits have created a solid base and a momentum to further strengthen the Swedish footprint in Hong Kong. It also constitutes a platform to promote not only Swedish economic interests but also other core values such as human rights, democracy and gender quality,” Storm says.
Text: Jan Hökerberg, Bamboo, jan.hokerberg@bambooinasia.com
S
weden’s new consul-general in Hong Kong, Helena Storm, has always had a passion for international relations, which makes her happy to be stationed in Hong Kong, where her job differs from other consul-generals in the world. She actually represents Sweden to the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). “This is my first position as head of a mission and to be stationed in Hong Kong makes the job particularly interesting because a consul-general in Hong Kong really represents Swedish interests.” says Storm. The reason is Hong Kong’s special status within the People’s Republic of China, which allows the city to have its own government and its own legal framework. “This means that there is a recognised counterpart that also can take decisions and that we can have a dialogue with,” she says, mentioning, for example, that Swedish poultry has recently been given a green light trial for exports to Hong Kong without inspections beforehand in Sweden. “This shows that the government here trusts us,” Storm says, adding that there is another issue on which the Consulate General hopes to reach an agreement with the Hong Kong government. “It’s a working holiday arrangement that can give people an opportunity to stay for a short-term employment or short-term studies, in Hong Kong or in Sweden, for example for an internship or similar.” Storm commenced her work in September when she moved to Mid-Levels together with her husband 24 DRAGONNEWS • NO.01/2016
Samuel and their twins Alizé and Victor, who are now two years old. “Hong Kong is really a place where you can settle in quickly. Your spouse is allowed to work and it’s no problem to live here with small children,” she says. She was born in March 1977 in the town of Karlskoga in central Sweden. Her mother is Turkish and her father Swedish. She studied law at Uppsala University but her interest in international affairs led her to move to Paris in 2000 to study political science at The Paris Institute of Political Studies, normally referred to as Sciences Po. Another interest also took her to Paris. She had met her French husbandto-be Samuel the year before while on a temporary job at H&M when the Swedish retail giant opened a new store at Rue de Rivoli. They were later married in 2008 at the chapel of the Ulriksdal Palace in Stockholm.
Hong Kong is really a place where you can settle in quickly.”
After Storm had graduated in 2002, she managed to get a job as a project employee at Sweden’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs, where she worked on issues such as international criminal law and human rights. She spent half a year in Arusha, Tanzania, to undertake a study on war crimes in Rwanda and another half year at the International Criminal Court in The Hague in the Netherlands. She was also involved in a Nordic-Baltic
Helena Storm together with her twins.
When you’re a mother you’ll also become much more efficient – especially if you have twins ...”
Hong Kong is known as a place where people work long hours and where equality between genders lags behind developed countries in Europe, even though some 45 per cent of the workforce are women. Storm wants to push for a better work-life balance. “People work a lot here. But, for example, when you’re a mother you’ll also become much more efficient – especially if you have twins ... Employers should realise that. We may not work more, but we work more effectively,” she says. Storm likes to travel, to discover new places, cultures and people. She also likes to work with her hands, for example in needlework or with jewellery. At home, the family speaks French with a mix of Swedish. They are working on learning Chinese and were studying Mandarin before they came to Hong Kong. They also hope to learn a little Cantonese. b DRAGONNEWS • NO.01/2016 25
Photo: Mona Loose/imagebank.sweden.se
Photo: Mikaela Vázquez Rico/imagebank.sweden.se
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In this new section in Dragon News, we will look at some Swedish phenomena that are typical for this time of year. TEXT: Lina Falk, lina.falk@business-sweden.se
T
he Fat Tuesday, or Fettisdagen in Swedish, was celebrated in Sweden on 9 February. Traditionally, it is the day when you are allowed to eat as many Lent buns as you wish or can manage. Fat Tuesday (also known as Mardi Gras or Shrove Tuesday) is the last day of fatty eating to celebrate the last day before the 40-day fasting of Lent. In Swedish, the bun is called semla. It is a plain bread bun which dates back to the 13th century and was originally served in a bowl with warm milk. Today, the traditional semla is a cardamom-spiced wheat bun which is split in two and filled with almond paste and whipped cream. The top serves as a lid and is dusted with powdered sugar. Some still prefer its semla in a bowl of warm milk. The Waffle day, or Våffeldagen in Swedish, takes place on 25 March. The name is actually a misreading of Vårfrudagen (Our Lady’s Day”), which in vernacular Swedish sounds almost like Våffeldagen (The Waffle Day). Our Lady’s Day, or ”The Annunciation”, is the Christian holiday to celebrate the announcement by the angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary that she would conceive and become the mother of Jesus. The Waffle Day is hence celebrated on the same day although it has no religious connections to Our Lady’s Day. The Waffle Day is celebrated on the 25th of March, nine month before Christmas. b
Upcoming Swedish holidays In Sweden, labour laws regarding employment, salaries, vacation and paid holidays are regulated by Acts of Parliament. Although public holidays are observed nationwide, counties and municipalities may choose to observe additional holidays, referred to as “seasonal observances” and “de facto” holidays. Sweden recognises 13 public holidays, for which employees are paid their normal wages. Below are some of the holidays, or other celebrated days, in Sweden for the coming months. Friday 25 March: Långfredagen (Good Friday) Sunday 27 March: Påskdagen (Easter Sunday) Monday 28 March: Annandag påsk (Easter Monday) Saturday 30 April: Valborgsmässoafton or simply Valborg (Walpurgis Night). Not a public holiday. Traditionally, it marked the end of the administrative year in the Middle Ages. Sunday 1 May: Första maj (International Worker’s Day) Thursday 5 May: Kristi himmelfärdsdag (Ascension Day) Sunday 15 May: Pingstdagen (Whit Sunday) Sunday 29 May: Mors dag (Mother’s Day). Not a public holiday. Always the last Sunday in May. Monday 6 June: Nationaldagen (Sweden’s National Day)
26 DRAGONNEWS • NO.01/2016 * New cabins in use since November 2015, gradually being rolled out on all flights.
Security in China This is the fifth 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.
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Do you allow yourself
to be cheated? Be careful with guanxi , always benchmark your suppliers and change them regularly. This is just some of the advice offered by PSU China’s Søren B Jensen, who also says that foreign managers in China are often in a situation of only being able to blame themselves if things go wrong in the supply chain.
S
ome years ago, Danish consultant Søren B Jensen was hired by the general manager of a European-owned steel company in northeastern China to help benchmark their purchases – that is, to compare the prices paid to suppliers with what other leading companies in the industry normally pay. Jensen discovered that the company could make substantial savings, which would result in 30 per cent lower costs for steel and 50 per cent lower for acrylic products that this company also manufactured. The general manager and Jensen agreed that it was obvious that the company’s procurement department needed to be replaced. However, the president at the European headquarters was convinced by a “trusted” employee that this was not the right way to go and then the suppliers in China started to lower their prices and the purchasing process continued as before. Half a year later, however, the company’s site was one day more or less occupied by the suppliers who claimed that they had been inadequately paid. It turned out that
when they lowered their price levels, they created a different method for generating returns, arranging approval of delivery notes in which far more goods were listed than actually delivered. As approvals were carried out internally, the company was liable but said it wouldn’t pay. This led to the company first being shut down in China, before its European headquarters were also shut down. Today the company no longer exists. “In China, you should never relax even if you think you have a good supply chain,” says Jensen, who today works as senior consultant at the security consultancy firm PSU China. “You always need to benchmark and be much more aggressive in your purchases than you need to be in Europe.” Søren B Benchmarking should not Jensen be carried out by the company itself since there is always a risk that in-house staff are on the suppliers’ payroll. “The only way for a company to truly undertake serious benchmarking is to use an independent consultancy,” he says.
Over the years, PSU China has helped many clients to make substantial savings by “cleaning up” the purchasing processes. “In a recent case, the client could save RMB3 million at a cost of less than one third of these savings,” Jensen recalls. Besides such huge savings, clients also normally receive many other positive benefits such as managerial transparency, better quality deliveries and improved performance in output per employee and invested money. As a first step, a project team from PSU China conducts an investigation in which potential individuals with unethical behaviour can be exposed and overpricing identified. If this is the case, then PSU’s team can take over the whole, or part of, the purchasing and secure new suppliers until contracts are signed and goods are delivered. “These type of projects normally finance themselves well within the savings achieved,” says Jensen. He first came to China in 1999 when he was involved in a project there. One year later, he returned – and dealt with his first case of unethical behaviour. An interpreter for a company had successfully employed friends, uncles and other relatives on all local supplies and the prices were far too expensive.
“In a recent case, the client could save RMB3 million at a cost of less than one third of the savings.”
An internal purchasing team is often tempted to receive compensation by favouring a certain supplier, and the compensation can be cash or other favours. “Many suppliers simply secure their business through these kinds of relationships and will not accept a ‘no’ as an answer. They wouldn’t trust a business that doesn’t have this power inside the organisation,” he says.
Søren B Jensen, PSU China
While it is sometimes easy to just blame suppliers for things that go wrong, it is also a fact that foreign managers have to accept responsibility when they are to blame. “Many supplier challenges in China are actually based on our own low expectations, making poor performance excusable and acceptable by reputation. If you don’t act when you see the symptom of poor performance, and consider it to be ‘the Chinese way’, then you allow yourself to be cheated,” says Jensen. Foreigners normally seek to have longterm partnerships with suppliers as it provides pressure on prices, stability in quality and safety in deliveries. A well-defined, static supply chain is often prioritised. The effect in China is often the opposite, where long-term suppliers will work their way through optimising their profit in any imaginable possible way and therefore should often be independently benchmarked and/or replaced. “A very dynamic supply chain should be prioritised in China, and it is well worth the effort,” says Jensen. Many foreign companies in China use trading companies to act as intermediaries between the company and their suppliers. However, a problem is that the interests of trading companies are seldom aligned with those of their customers. These trading companies are also in the business of maximising their profits.
Through the help of a new interpreter, he managed to replace the entire supplier base, but was surprised by the aggressiveness by the old interpreter, who turned the entire situation into a surreal nightmare that dragged on more than two months. This included direct threats of being beaten up at night, to very bad rumours reaching his wife in Denmark who was taking care of the couple’s newly-born baby, to attempts to block and damage any new supplies. The case actually involved a relatively small amount of money, but the person involved was prepared to destroy the life of the new interpreter, who was guarded at a hotel, as well as Jensen’s marriage and career. Eventually, a solution was found.
Guanxi , which means “relationships” or “connections”, is a crucial part of business life in China. Many business leaders say that it is impossible to be successful without using it. Jensen does not fully agree: “To some extent it is true, but in a purchasing or sales process guanxi is best to be avoided. Many foreigners might consider someone with friends and relatives who can offer a special deal as beneficial. But most often it adds cost to the purchase since each link in the network wants to make a profit.”
Conclusions Below are some conclusions about what a foreign-owned company in China should think about when purchasing from domestic suppliers. • The Chinese market is not transparent and the suitable price/quality level is often difficult to ascertain. Foreign-owned companies need to assign an independent consultant to always benchmark the prices they pay. • A static supply chain with long-term suppliers is not the solution. The supply chain should be dynamic; it will be well worth the effort. • There is no known quality control (QC) management system that can prevent corruption. So, do not simply implement a QC system and then walk away, believing that everything will be fine. It won’t. • If experiencing continuous quality problems, it may be worth taking a first look at the purchasing team and the suppliers rather than upgrading and overkilling a QC team. • Consider “this is China” or similar expressions to refer to efficiency and possibilities, and seldom a valid or heartfelt excuse for the opposite.
Poor quality supplies are often not caused by the suppliers themselves, who think that they are delivering what was asked for, but by the intermediaries who didn’t tell their customers about a quality issue just to ensure their margin. “By removing this level, you will often find suppliers who are willing to bend over backwards to deliver according to expectations,” says Jensen. In other words, it is not right to generalise Chinese suppliers as poor. China is actually filled with many outstanding suppliers that are capable of producing world-class products at impressively low prices. The secret of success is to find them.
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
Connecting Chinese alumni from Sweden Zhang Ling has started a network for Chinese who have studied or worked in Sweden.
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At SSHL you get to: • Study at one of Sweden’s most prestigious schools • Choose from a wide range of study programmes taught in either Swedish or English • Live and study in one of Sweden’s most picturesque towns, just 20 minutes from Arland airport
Bli bättre på svenska Intensive Swedish language training Experience Swedish traditions Trips to Stockholm, Uppsala
• Experience Swedish culture and traditions
TEXT & PHOTO: Felicia Lindoff
hang Ling’s hometown is Xinyu City, one of the smallest cities in China’s Jiangxi province, where he grew up with his mother and father. In 1986, Zhang’s uncle went to work in Linköping and at Luleå University of Technology in northern Sweden. Zhang recalls receiving many gifts from Sweden. His favourite gift was milk powder. During the 1980s, foreign milk powder was a big thing for a kid from China, and he long dreamed of going to Sweden to drink milk. In 2007, Zhang got his opportunity. He went
Experience the Very Best of Sweden!
to Sweden for a Master’s programme in engineering at Mälardalen University (MDH) in Västerås. After graduation, he went back to China to look for a job at a Swedish company.
• Choose between a wide range of extracurricular activities that take place in the afternoons, evenings and weekend • Visit other parts of Sweden and Europe
TRY BOARDING During the school year, we organise weekends when you can come and stay at the school to see what it’s like.
INFORMATION EVENING You’re invited to come and meet Dr. Margret Benedikz (Director) from SigtunaSkolan Humanistiska Läroverket, to learn more about the school.
Monday, April 18th, 2016 at 7PM Venue in Central Hong Kong, China RSVP to margret.benedikz@sshl.se for info.
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www.sshl.se
Zhang Ling (right) with Robi Li Xuesong, who is a member of SANC and the founder of the Fikafika coffee shop.
China is always changing, we have numerous problems and challenges. If we can change that, we have a lot of chances.”
He didn’t try to stay in Sweden, although he had many friends at the university. He knew that if he stayed in Sweden he could only work as an engineer and he wanted to do more that that. “China is always changing, we have numerous problems and challenges,” says Zhang. “If we can change that, we have a lot of chances. I call it the 3Cs – challenge, change and chance.”
Zhang Ling in brief Occupation: Entrepreneur. Lives: In Beijing, but travels to Shanghai and Sweden for two to four months every year. Best about Beijing: “Lots of chances, life here is colourful and wonderful.” Worst about Beijing: “Terrible air pollution and traffic jams.” Favourite place in Beijing: “Chaoyang district, very international with various kinds of of food from all over the world.” Favourite food: Cantonese and Yunnan cuisine.
When Zhang returned to China at the end of 2009, he began looking for a job at Swedish companies – without any luck. However, after some time, he found a job at a Swiss company. He began searching for a platform that offered information about Swedish job postings as well as a community for returning alumni like himself in China. “There is a big group of people that have a lot of connections with Sweden and would like to maintain that in China, but there was no community for them,” Zhang explains. He had been active in the Chinese student community in Sweden. That inspired him to start the Sweden Alumni Network in China (SANC) for Chinese who have studied or worked in Sweden. SANC has collaborated with various Swedish organisations in China such as the Swedish Chamber of Commerce, the Swedish Young Professionals, the Swedish Institute, the Embassy of Sweden and the Consulate General of Sweden, as well as with 32 DRAGONNEWS • NO.01/2016
many Swedish companies and universities. In 2013, Zhang received the MDH Alumnus of the Year award for promoting the university within SANC. On presenting the award the university said that Zhang had been “a fantastic asset to Mälardalen University” by promoting it within the network, and laying the groundwork for MDH students and staff to benefit from its numerous members.
After working as an integration engineer for two years at the Swiss company, Zhang decided to set up his own consulting and retail business. In 2015, he established a new business called ScanInnov (Scandinavian innovation), which focuses on high-tech and robotics/automation. This company is seeking foreign technology companies and helping them to set up in China by finding investments and capturing markets in China. Zhang also invests in public relations companies, Swedish imports and cooperates with a Swedish café in Beijing called Fikafika. Every year, Zhang goes back to Sweden for at least one or two months. He enjoys the company of friends all over Sweden, ranging from Kiruna in the north to Malmö in the south, Gotland in the east to Gothenburg on the west coast. Sometimes, in-between drinking milk, he meets with Swedish companies to discuss the potential to establish new business opportunities in China. b
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Policies to promote innovation n On 26 January SwedCham Hong Kong had the honour of hosting a seminar with Professor Björn O Nilsson, president of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA). Nilsson held a seminar on innovation in which he used the Swedish example in an international context. The seminar in general talked about how important innovation is for the development of societies in several aspects. Thanks for your interesting seminar, we hope to have you soon again. The Swedish consul-general Helena Storm together with IVA’s president Björn O Nilsson.
Hop Lun’s Erik Ryd entertains the audience.
Passionate about lingerie n After a heady 28 years in the textile industry, Erik Ryd is still passionate about lingerie. At an Inspirational Breakfast on 26 February, Ryd shared his story of how he got to where he is today. He took us from how he started at Atlas Copco after graduating, to how he landed in Hong Kong with little knowledge and experience in 1988, and finished off with explaining how he bought the name Hop Lun (Hong Kong) Ltd from an auditor and set up the first office with a monthly rent of HK$9,000. The event was hosted at 8½ Otto e Mezzo Bombana, where a delicious breakfast was served for the guests.
Your startup: failure or success? n SwedCham Hong Kong participated in an interesting InterSME breakfast seminar with the other chambers in Hong Kong. The topic was startups and what the speakers had learnt during their years in the startup scene. After the five speakers there was a panel debate with questions from the audience. The speakers were Charles Ng (InvestHK), Jeffery Broer (startup mentor), Karen Farzam (W Hub), James Giancotti (Oddup) and Sam Olsen (Lamplight).
n The Uppsala University Hong Kong (UUHK) Alumni Chapter started 2016 with a board meeting and an After Work gathering. Around 20 alumni turned up. Next event will be a Walpurgis Gasque on 29 April. If you have studied at Uppsala University and want to get in touch with the chapter, please contact Jesper Karlsson, jesper.karlsson@uadm.uu.se.
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Four participants at the InterSME seminar, from left James Giancotti, Jeffery Broer, Karen Farzam and Alexander Leung (media manager, Lamplight).
Expertise
Beijing
Masters vs Markets
Andrew Polk talked about volatility in the markets.
n On Thursday 28 January, the joint Nordic chambers held a breakfast meeting, entitled Masters versus Markets, at the Westin Hotel with Andrew Polk, senior economist at the Conference Board China Center. The focus of this event was the current slowdown of China’s economy and the government’s tightening of regulations for the markets. Polk talked about how China is dealing with the present market volatility, the path it is mapping out for future reform and how this will have major impact on the future of every multinational company engaged with China. His thesis is that China’s resolute gradualist approach to economic reform is suddenly being overwhelmed by market forces that are only marginally and temporarily being tamed by established, long successful, economic control practices. Tightening control measures have been at the forefront of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) policy for some time now, affecting the markets both in the short and the long-run. Many of these immense regulations were to safeguard asset values that the market would not support.
How virgin fibre can add a sweet scent of success.
IMF on Chinese economy: A bumpy ride ahead n On 22 February, the Swedish chamber, together with the other Nordic chambers, had the pleasure to have Waikei Raphael Lam, resident representative for China at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to give his views on the Chinese economy. Lam expects China’s transition from an investment and export led economy to a more consumption based one will be a bumpy ride. The IMF also suggests China will see a slowdown in growth to 6-6.5 per cent in 2016, by halting credit cuts and decreasing credit growth. It also urges China to restructure weak state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and liquidate non-viable firms. The capital account liberalisation – including freeing up the currency – should be temporarily stopped until market confidence has returned, Lam said. The exchange also needs to maintain stability against other major currencies. Lastly, the IMF recommends that the stock market should be allowed to adjust to an equilibrium without interference. IMF’s Raphael Lam (centre), flanked by Hera Ma and Joakim Hedhill (Handelsbanken).
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Get in touch with Iggesund Paperboard Asia, tel: (852) 2516 0250 fax: (852) 2516 0251 or visit iggesund.com
Shanghai
Leadership programme in Chinese n The Danish, Finnish and Swedish Chambers of Commerce in Shanghai are happy to once again be able to offer the leadership development programme called Emerging Leaders 6 Module Training in Chinese to our member companies. The leadership programme is a mix of lectures, training and experienced-based learning. Sharing best practices, their own experiences, goals and demands are all part of the success. Our experienced facilitators help developing the participants’ talents, getting them ready for the next step. After completing at least four of the six modules, the participant will get an official certificate issued by the chambers together with the facilitators. The goal is to obtain the skills needed to work and lead effectively within an organisation operating with both Chinese and Nordic influences. If you are interested in participating in the next leadership programme, please contact shanghai@swedishchamber.com.cn.
Participants study the training material.
Inspiring discussions led by Steve Liu from Conchius.
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HR Network Group in Shanghai
Azure Zhang, consultant manager at Mercer shared her views on the development of salaries in China.
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n The Swedish chamber’s Human Resources (HR) Network Group is a platform within the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in China for companies’ leaders and HR professionals to engage in discussion and sharing of experiences. By providing a secure environment where best practices can be shared, we aim to strengthen human resources management for Swedish companies in China. At every meeting an invited speaker will hold a presentation in order to facilitate a constructive discussion on a certain topic. In the beginning of February the HR Network Group organised a seminar on salary development in China together with Mercer and Ikea. If you would like to join the HR Network Group, please contact the network manager Alexander de Freitas at alexander.de.freitas@mpsglobe.cn.
Celebrating our 30th anniversary n At last, it is 2016, and SwedCham Hong Kong’s 30th anniversary! The Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong was established in 1986 and has since then focused on promoting Swedish business interests in Hong Kong. Today, 30 years on, our mission continues to be the same. As a member organisation, this is not only an important milestone for us, but also for all Swedish and Swedish-related businesses in Hong Kong. Much has happened since the chamber began its operations in 1986, both for Hong Kong in general and Swedish business in Hong Kong in particular. Over these three decades, we have accomplished a lot together and this of course needs to be celebrated. On Saturday 19 November, SwedCham thus will hold a Grand Ball to mark this special occasion and celebrate with its members. After all, without you – our members – SwedCham would not be where it is today.
Still devoted to Hong Kong after 30 years n Out of 44 founding member companies in 1986, 12 are still active in Hong Kong and still members of the chamber – which is quite impressive. To thank them for their support over the past 30 years we would like to specially
highlight them in Dragon News during the anniversary year. We asked these questions: 1 What do you regard as the main reason for your company having stayed in Hong Kong for such a long time?
Johan Andrén Branch manager, Handelsbanken 1 “Handelsbanken follows its customers to regions where they are conducting business. Hong Kong 30 years ago was chosen by our customers as a place to set up regional head offices for Asia. Since Handelsbanken set up operations in Hong Kong, the city’s importance as a gateway to China gradually grew. The main reason that Handelsbanken has stayed in Hong Kong since the 1980s is to support our home-market relationships in their business in the Asia Region, including mainland China.” 2 “The emergence of mainland China as a major global economy is a big difference compared to the mid-1980s. The handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997 has arguably changed the business environment.” 3 “Handelsbanken has the same focus now as we had 30 years ago, to support our home-market relationship customers in their businesses in Asia.”
Welcome, Jesper n New year, new team! We are glad to inform you that our new colleague, Jesper Karlsson, has finally started work at SwedCham. So now we are two veterans, one just starting to feel at home, and a newcomer – what a great team!
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2 What do you believe are the differences in doing business in Hong Kong today compared with 1986? 3 What do you focus on in your current business operations?
Leif G Sjöholm Owner, China Pacific Merchants (the company was called Ekpac in 1986) 1 “We have been in China since 1910 and Hong Kong has been our China headquarters since 1947. Hong Kong is still our operational centre and will remain so for the foreseeable future.” 2 “Our main business focus is (and has always been) to supply sophisticated machinery to our customers. In 1986, there was still an industrial sector in Hong Kong itself and we had a number of customers locally. However, since then, virtually all of them have migrated their manufacturing to the mainland and although we still have Hong Kong customers, all installations are in the PRC itself. At the same time, a very large number of Taiwanese companies have established large manufacturing bases in the PRC and, today, we have more Taiwanese than Hong Kong companies as customers there.” 3 “To further expand the number of prime local Chinese customers in the PRC.”
Jesper is an Uppsala University Scholar and will be with us for one year. He is currently pursuing his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration at Uppsala University. Welcome, Jesper and welcome the Year of the Monkey – we look forward to a great year together. SwedCham’s team in Hong Kong. From left, Jesper Karlsson, Anna Mackel, Eva Karlberg and Edin Colak.
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Abraham Lincoln reads for his son.
Swedish Career Fair to grow in size
SWED H C A R E E RI S 瑞典 FA I R企业招聘会
n As one of this year’s biggest events, the Swedish Career Fair will once again be held in both Shanghai and in Beijing on 9 April. The fair targets fresh graduates as well as more senior professionals in their mid-20s and 30s with several years of working experience behind them. By collaborating with the Swedish Institute, the Swedish Chamber of Commerce and various alumni networks in China, we will invite hundreds of young professionals with experience of living in Sweden and with knowledge about Swedish culture. Last year, over 800 visitors and 15 Swedish companies participated in the fair. This year, we expect to those numbers to increase further as the reputation of the fair has grown. This year’s theme will be “Green thinking”, with the focus on sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR). Sustainability is a hot topic, especially since the UN’s new worldwide climate improvement plan will be effective from 2016. This is an event that you don’t want to miss, so mark your calendars.
Swedish security consultant receives security award n Näringslivets Säkerhetsdelegation (NSD), the security delegation of the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise (Svenskt Näringsliv), has awarded its annual security grant to Lars-Åke Severin, CEO at PSU China. Severin runs one of the leading security consultancy firms in China with offices in Beijing and Shanghai. With a professional background in the armed forces and the police, Severin has acquired deep knowledge of security processes and investigation work. He has also extensive experience helping Swedish companies in China.
The storyteller Sandra Helena Holtz Ivarsson
Elin Törnblom Duthu
Welcome Sandra and Elin
Lars-Åke Severin, PSU China
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n Sandra Helena Holtz Ivarsson is the Beijing Chapter’s new intern who has joined the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in China for six months. She will graduate this summer with a Bachelor of Science degree in the Asian studies programme from Copenhagen Business School (CBS). She did her exchange semester in Beijing at Renmin University, studying Chinese and business. She has also attended Chinese University of Hong Kong’s international summer school on a scholarship from CBS, where she also studied Chinese in the summer of 2014. Elin Törnblom Duthu joined the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai at the end of February and will stay for four months as the new intern. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Studies with a focus on East Asia from Leiden University in the Netherlands and is currently applying for a Master’s degree. With her vast language knowledge in English, Swedish, French, Spanish and Dutch, she looks forward to practicing her Chinese and learning about Sweden’s international activities in China.
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HONG KONG ORDINARY MEMBERS >>>
Art Futures Group Co, Ltd 5/F, 8 Wyndham Street Central, Hong Kong Tel: +852 3758 7888 Web: artfuturesgroup.com About us Art Futures Group is the world’s leading investment broker for Chinese contemporary art, dedicated to helping its clients profit from portfolios containing the market’s most exceptional finds. To this end, it offers unmatched investment services that are backed by an expert team, thorough research, comprehensive knowledge of market developments and financial acumen built on more than two decades’ worth of experience in alternative assets. Chamber representative Jack Brown Email: info@artfuturesgroup.com
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Saab Technologies (Hong Kong) Ltd Unit 1901-04, 19/F Nam Wo Hong Building 148 Wing Lok Street Sheung Wan, Hong Kong Tel: +852 2905 1633 Web: saabgroup.com
About us Saab Technologies (Hong Kong) Ltd is part of Saab AB, well known for its military technology. Our business unit in Hong Kong specialises in traffic management solutions for ports and airports and security systems for critical infrastructure. In the maritime segment we have supplied vessel traffic services systems and coastal security systems, for example to the Marine Department, the Marine Police and the Customs and Excise Department in Hong Kong. For airports we focus on surface movement ground-control systems, with a presence throughout the Asia-Pacific, including the Hong Kong International Airport. Chamber representatives Pieter van Vrijberghe de Coningh, Managing Director Email: pieter.vanvrijberghedeconingh@saabgroup.com Ophelia Leung, Business Development Manager Email: ophelia.leung@saab.com.hk
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Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton Hysan Place 37/F, 500 Hennessy Road Causeway Bay, Hong Kong Tel: +852 2521 4122 Web: www.cgsh.com/hong_kong
Peace of Mind Threat Management Co, Ltd World Wide Executive Centre Causeway Corner, 18 Percival Street Causeway Bay, Hong Kong Tel: +852 5329 1183 Web: www.peaceofmind.hk
About us A leading international law firm with 16 offices located in major financial centres around the world, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP has helped shape the globalisation of the legal profession for more than 65 years. Our worldwide practice has a proven track record for innovation and is providing work of the highest quality to meet the needs of our domestic and international clients. Organised and operated as a single, integrated global partnership, rather than a US firm, with a network of overseas offices, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton employs approximately 1,200 lawyers from more than 50 countries and diverse backgrounds who are admitted to practice in numerous jurisdictions around the world.
About us Peace of Mind Threat Management Co, Ltd helps clients to deal with counter-productive work behaviour – that is, conflicts within workforce, workplace bullying, false victimisation, sexual harassment prevention, stalking, unwanted approach behaviour and analysis of threats. Peace of Mind helps companies to develop proper procedures, protect the information of key personnel, train the human resources, legal and security units. Typical clients are multinational corporations with global workplace violence policies, but we do not frown at SME’s either.
Chamber representative Peter Westerlind Wigström, Attorney, New York Email: pwesterlingwigstrom@cgsh.com
Chamber representative Totti Karpela, Director Email: totti.karpela@peaceofmind.hk
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HONG KONG INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS >>>
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Gustaf Bergendal Tel: +852 6180 2756 Email: gusber@casten.com
TRIWA Asia Ltd Unit 1101-02, 11/F Euro Trade Centre 21-23 Des Voeux Road Central, Hong Kong Tel: +852 6849 1408 Web: www.triwa.com
About us TRIWA is a Swedish independent watch and accessory brand dedicated to transforming the perception of the status symbol into a symbol of style. By looking for something else and deliberately misunderstanding suppositions and trends TRIWA challenges the market. The company was founded in 2007 by four friends with the ambition to transform the watch industry through contemporary design, modern distribution and creative marketing. The current portfolio of products includes watches, watch brands and sunglasses. The products are distributed across 25 markets, through 1,200+ retailers. Chamber representatives Mark Parker, Managing Director Email: mark@triwaasia.com Alexander Westin, Brand Manager Asia Email: alex.westin@triwa.com
Örjan Feldt Tel: +852 9530 1151 Email: orjanfeldt@gmail.com
Helena Hagelberg Tel: +852 6101 6560 Email: helena@hagelberg.com
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Jan Karlsson Tel: +852 5634 5221 Email: jan.karlsson2015@hotmail.com
HONG KONG OVERSEAS MEMBER >>>
Sigtunaskolan Humanistiska Läroverket (SSHL) Box 508, SE-193 28 Sigtuna Sweden Tel: +46 8 5925 7100 Web: www.sshl.se About us SSHL, Sweden’s best-known boarding school, is situated just 40 minutes from central Stockholm in the picturesque town of Sigtuna. An internationally-minded academic school with its roots firmly in the very best of Swedish traditions, SSHL attracts a vibrant blend of students. SSHL is a safe and supportive environment where students are prepared to meet the challenges of higher education and the working world. Study programmes are taught either in Swedish (grundskola, gymnasium) or English (IB MYP, IB Diploma). Chamber representative Dr Margret Benedikz, Director Email: margret.benediktz@sshl.se
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Michael Knappstein Tel: +852 6711 4112 Email: michael@jmk-one.com
Katarina Malm Tel: +852 9689 7379 Email: katarina.malm@live.se
Mikael Malm Tel: +852 9863 9172 Email: mikael.malm@live.com
Bjรถrn Segerblom Tel: +852 6071 2250 +46 705 768 583 Email: bjorn@segerblom.net
Peter Thelin Tel: +852 5664 7172 Email: peter.thelin.home@gmail.com
CHINA COMPANY MEMBERS >>>
Suzhou Directions Management Consulting Co, Ltd 199 Hongxing Road, Building 1-4, 3F-12 Suzhou Industrial Park Zhejiang Province 215021, PR China Tel: +86 21 6219 0021 Web: www.directions-consulting.com
Shellman Ltd D32 Lijia road, Dynasty Garden No 16 Tianzhu Kaifa Street Shunyi District, Beijing 101312, PR China Tel: +86 10 8416 6640 Web: www.shellman.com.cn (under construction)
About us Customised training, coaching and assessment solutions to help companies achieve optimal performance from their people and to help employees develop their fullest potential.
About us Shellman is working together with clients to develop and transform organisations and its people through training and coaching.
Chamber representative CJ Ng Email: cydj@cydj.biz Mobile: +86 180 1747 3099
Chamber representative Tobias Demker Email: tobi@shellman.com.cn
Camfil Filtration (Shanghai) Co, Ltd Floor 13, New Concept Building No 39 Wuzhong Road Shanghai, 200233, PR China Tel: +86 21 3100 7321 Web: www.camfil.cn About us Camfil is the global industry leader in clean air solutions with more than 50 years of experience. Our solutions protect people, processes and the environment to benefit human health, increase performance and reduce and manage energy consumption. Twenty-five manufacturing plants, six R&D sites and over 65 local sales offices worldwide provide service and support to our customers. The Camfil Group is headquartered in Sweden but more than 95 percent of its sales are international. The Group has approximately 3,700 employees and sales close to SEK 5.5 billion. Chamber representative Keira Jiang, Marketing Communication/Marketing Specialist Email: Keira.jiang@camfil.com Mobile: +86 135 8594 7078
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Jinmao (Beijing) Real Estate Co, Ltd 7 North Dongsanhuan Road Chaoyang District Beijing,100027, PR China Tel: +86 10 5922 8666 Web: www.jinmaowestinhotel.com
About us Jinmao (Beijing) Real Estate is a JinMao Group company and owner of the Westin Beijing Chaoyang hotel, which is a retreat offering a full spectrum of amenities and services that offer tranquillity and rejuvenation. Chamber representatives Camille Monvoisin, Account Director Email: camille.monvoisin@westin.com Mobile: +86 139 1047 1070 David Ness, General Manager Email: david.ness@westin.com Tel: +86 10 5922 8666
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Floatasian Float Spa Unit A, 2/F, Building 5, 288 Dagu Road Huangpu District, Shanghai 200003 Tel: +86 21 6385 5189 Web: www.floatasian.com About us Floatasian is a luxurious float spa that is pioneering the floatation concept in China – a relaxing experience that relieves stress, calms nerves and improves creativity. Imported from Sweden, our floatation tanks allow you to float effortlessly in salt water that is kept a comfortable body temperature, creating a feeling of deep relaxation that heals and rebalances both mind and body. The spa has been especially designed to promote a relaxing environment and it is conveniently located on Dagu Road in the centre of Shanghai.
Beijing Siweike Engineering Design and Research Institute Co, Ltd Room 103, Plaza C, Building B36, UBP Jiuxianqiao Rd 10#, Chaoyang District Beijing, PR China Tel: +86 10 5975 6906 Web: www.sweco.cn About us As the representative company of Sweco in China, we have undertaken dozens of projects, including, but not limited to, urban planning, urban design, architecture design, landscape design, environmental planning and sustainable evaluation. In carrying out such projects in China, we widely disseminated the concept of “SymbioCity”, which represents the essence of sustainable development of Sweden. Chamber representative Liu Xiaobo, President Email: gracelxb@126.com Mobile: +86 188 1026 9798
PRP Solutions Jintiandi International Building, Room 1210 998 Renmin Road, Huangpu District Shanghai 200001, PR China Tel: +86 21 6375 1676 Web: www.prpsolutions.asia
About us We are entrusted by Autoliv Group to provide investmentmanagement decisions, marketing services, products related to maintaining required quality control and procurement management services, capital operations and financial-management consulting, technical support and research and development, information services, enterprise resource planning (ERP) system and the internal computer network management services, staff training and management services. Chamber representative Olivia Zhao, VP-HR Email: Olivia.zhao@autoliv.com Mobile: +86 138 0185 3493
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Chamber representative Andreas Martin, CEO Email: andreas@floatasian.com Mobile: +86 186 1670 7519
Autoliv No 1000, Beihe Highway Jiading Industrial Zone Shanghai 201807, PR China Tel: +86 21 6992 8850 Web: www.autoliv.com
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About us PRP Solutions is a recruitment and training company, helping companies all over China improve their businesses. All services will be tailored to suit your individual needs. With our in-depth knowledge of the Chinese market and more than 20 years of experience we are supporting especially small- and medium-sized companies. Chamber representative Mikaela Wallin, BD Manager Email: mikaela.wallin@prpsolutions.cn Mobile: +86 132 6298 1560
CHINA ASSOCIATE MEMBER >>> Xue Hui 902, Block 30, 87 Yao Hua Road Shanghai 200126, PR China E-mail: hui_xue@hotmail.com Mobile: +86 139 1753 8010
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Af t e r h o urs n Adventures Viking biking for charity
Topwin Golf and Country Club is in the hills of Huairou on the northern outskirts of Beijing.
n Golf Volvo China Open returns to Beijing
In July 2017, Mikael Lui Svenungsson will start a journey that will be the most amazing trip of his life. Together with his son Gustaf, 26, he will ride a motorcycle from Hong Kong to Sweden. It will be an estimated 22,000 kilometre trip through China, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar, Bangladesh, India, Bhutan, Nepal, Tibet, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, Turkey and then through either Eastern or Western Europe to Sweden. “After having travelled a couple of hundred times between Asia and Europe by air, I felt a strong need to see how it actually looks on the ground,” says Svenungsson, who is the CEO at M2 Retail Solutions Asia. A big part of the journey is also to organise fund-raising for a project to help children in one of the countries they will pass. They will also seek sponsors. In coming issues, Dragon News will continue to update our readers about this extraordinary project.
The Volvo China Open is a men’s golf tournament that has been held annually in China since 1995. For 2016, it will once again be staged in Beijing, where the tournament once started. Volvo was the first Western brand to engage with golf in China in 1995, and this, China’s open championship, is the country’s longest-running professional golf tournament. It is also the first Chinese golf tournament to have been broadcast worldwide. The 2016 Volvo China Open will be staged from 28 April to 1 May at the Topwin Golf and Country Club, which is situated north of Beijing, at the base of the Great Wall of China. More information at volvochinaopen.com.
Jenni Tinworth jenni@executivehomeshk.com
PARTNERS ALL THE WAY At Norman Global Logistics, the customer is a partner. We believe in being close to our partners, being hands-on, and solving their every need – all the way to the door or the store.
We call our long-term responsibility the Greencarrier Spirit International transportation the Greencarrier way www.greencarrier.com
Finding the best solutions for our clients is in our DNA.
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
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Ad Dragon News June 2014.indd 1
2014-05-28 09:39:45
T h e c h a mb e r a nd I
What is your favourite little spot? When you’re living in big cities there are most certainly places you’d like to go to more often than others. It could be a favourite restaurant or a tranquil place where you can relax and enjoy the atmosphere. For this issue of Dragon News, we asked some of our members about their favourite places. This was the question we asked: What is the hidden secret, or lovely little spot, in your city, where you can go to for just relaxing when you’re off from work? And below are the answers. Kevin Rogers Elanders, Beijing “My hidden secret is the Great Leap Brewery in Beijing’s Dongcheng district. This is a great place to be on a spring, summer or autumn evening. It’s a micro brewery that serves great pub food. I live in the Beijing Riviera in Chaoyang district and I go to the golf course with my friends or to a puppy park with my family and our dog.”
Josefin Cheung Three by Three Sweden, Hong Kong “Well, I don’t have any hidden secret place that I usually go to but it’s always nice to have a walk on nearby Bowen Road or even take a hike up the [Victoria] Peak. Otherwise, any rooftops bars in Hong Kong are great to meet up with friends for a drink or two.” Gunilla Rödström Consulate General of Sweden, Hong Kong “Take a sampan to Kiu Tsui, around HK$40 for a round trip, and bring a mask and snorkel. Snorkel around above the coral and look at the fishes. You can’t find anything more relaxing. You will find the coral reef after the dog-friendly beach.” Alexander Westin Triwa, Hong Kong “We like to go to our favourite restaurant ChômChôm, which is a great little Vietnamese neighbourhood restaurant on Peel Street in Soho. Their food is amazing and so is their Vietnamese beer!” Anna Djup Business Sweden, Shanghai “One of my favourite spots for relaxation is a Korean spa called New Star, situated in Minhang. This is where I go when Shanghai goes below zero and you are constantly freezing, whether you are at home or at work. The spa offers three different heated pools, saunas and a relaxation area where you can get a massage, a manicure and a pedicure in a giant reclining chair. One of their selling points is the pyjamas you get after you’ve been in the bathing area. Pink for the ladies and orange for the men.”
Robert Petterson LeanDev, Beijing “After a workweek in the office I love to go hiking in the mountains surrounding Beijing. There are plenty of excellent choices for people who like exploring nature while getting a good workout at the same time. It’s also a great chance to practice Chinese by joining one of the many local hiking groups. Some favourites of mine include a night race with headlamp up the Fragrant Hills or a winter hike up the tallest mountain in Beijing, Lingshan at 2,303 metres.”
Igor Pastuhovic Kjell & Co, Shanghai “When you feel like you’ve choked on your last chicken bone, a visit to the Commune Social will definitely get you back on track! While they might not take reservations at 511 Jiangning Road, their tapas are definitely worth the wait.”
Bengt Zheng KTC Automation Control Systems, Beijing “One of my hobbies is to go rock climbing during the weekends. Yes, it’s crazy, but it’s fun. And you can completely relax, no email, no SMS, no Weixin [WeChat], no calls, because in the mountains there’s no mobile signal. The world is changing quickly and so is also China. No matter how busy we are, in the end we want to relax and be happy with our family.”
Niklas Bäckström Permobil, Shanghai “The small Shanghai rock club Yuyintang is a lovely little spot when you are thirsty for live music. Weekly, they invite both local and foreign bands, in particular small Nordic acts. Through the last couple of years I’ve seen Swedish groups such as Postiljonen, Nicole Sabouné, Wilderness from Östersund and also Umeå hardcore acts with Jonas Lyxzén and Bad Nerve, among other great live gigs at Yuyintang.”
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] Karin Roos, General Manager
54 DRAGONNEWS • NO.01/2016
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