Event Details:
Event Type: Webinar
Date: 17 June / 10:30 – 11:30 CEST

Event Description:
The Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce (FCCC) is organizing in partnership with the China IPR SME Helpdesk a webinar on the best practices for R&D activities in China from an IP perspective, in partnership with the Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce (FCCC). The session will be held by the IP Business Advisor Matias Zubimendi, who will give a presentation on a successful IP strategy when investing in R&D in China. The webinar will end with a Q&A session where attendees can raise their questions and interact with the speakers.

Agenda
10:30 – Introduction to the webinar and the services of the China IPR SME Helpdesk – Peter Sczigel (China IPR SME Helpdesk)
10:35 – Presentation of the Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce – Gwenn Sonck (FCCC)
10:40 – Best practices for R&D in China – by Matias Zubimendi (China IPR SME Helpdesk)
11:15 – Q&A session
11:30 – Closing remarks

Registration
Register for the free event at this page.

Earlier session:
The PPT and video recording of an earlier session can be accessed HERE.

About the China IPR Helpdesk:
The China IPR SME Helpdesk provides free information, first-line advice and training to SMEs to protect and enforce their IPR in China. The Helpdesk’s services are free to European SMEs and SME intermediaries (including EU embassies) and include training events in China and Europe; online tools and materials at www.china-iprhelpdesk.eu and tailored advice from our experts by phone, email or through the website.

Foreign trade and foreign capital are important engines of China’s economic development. The novel coronavirus epidemic has brought a huge impact on China’s foreign trade and investment, and threatened China’s pivotal position in the global supply chain. With the effective control of the epidemic in China, enterprises are speeding up the resumption of operations, and foreign trade is expected to recover soon. However, the rapid spread overseas has constituted a global epidemic and it will further drag down the global economy and bring a second blow to China’s foreign trade. For this reason, governments at all levels in China are making all efforts to promote the resumption of operations of foreign trade and foreign-funded enterprises, accelerate the landing of foreign investment, continuously optimize the business environment, and further expand opening up to the outside world, so as to stabilize the basic market of foreign trade and investment.

On April 15, 2020, Shandong Province issued a list of 32 measures to promote the steady development of foreign trade and foreign-invested enterprises. These measures mainly include phased-in reduction or exemption of social insurance, postponed payments of principal and interest of loans, and appropriate reduction of the price of electricity and gas. Enterprises affected by the epidemic can apply for deferment of housing provident fund and social insurance payments.

Weihai actively responded to the impact of the epidemic and took related measures in terms of capital subsidies, market development, credit insurance, financing, and legal services to promote the steady growth of foreign trade. With the support of a series of “hard core” policies, Weihai’s foreign trade and foreign-funded enterprises have steadily promoted production and operations, expanded the market share, and ensured that development is on the fast track.

The Weihai factory is the first to resume operations in Bekaert China. In the production workshop, workers with masks are busy, automatic intelligent steel cord production equipment is running, and products advance orderly down the production line. From February to June this year, the company will receive a 5% discount on electricity charges. From February to April, only half of the contributions to endowment insurance, unemployment insurance and employment injury insurance need to be paid. From February to December, the company only needs to partially pay medical insurance costs. With these heavyweight policies Bekaert (Shandong) has more confidence in its future development.

Mr. Luc Taerwe, Director of the China Platform at Ghent University, is one of the recipients of the 2019 Shanghai Science & Technology Awards. A total of 308 scientific breakthroughs and distinguished researchers were honored at an awards ceremony at the Shanghai Exhibition Center in Jing’an district. The 2019 awards, for the first time, allowed scientists based overseas to compete directly with locals. Also, renowned foreign scientists were invited to be judges and encouraged to nominate projects. “We have changed our outlook from simply recognizing foreign scientists based in Shanghai to rewarding those who have made, or are making, great contributions to the scientific life of Shanghai, no matter where they are,” said Han Yuanjian, an official of the Shanghai Science and Technology Commission. Among the nominees, 37 projects involved foreign scientists from 11 countries and regions, including the UK, France and Japan. In 2006, Shanghai introduced an international cooperation category into the Shanghai Science and Technology Awards to honor foreign scientists for their involvement in local projects. So far, nearly 30 expats have won such awards.

Luc Taerwe

Belgian engineer Luc Taerwe and American scientist Yu Jinquan received an award for deepening international exchange and cooperation between China and other countries. Taerwe is Director of the China Platform at Ghent University in Belgium, a platform established to facilitate the university’s academic interaction with Chinese universities and organizations, the Shanghai Daily reports. Yu, Professor at The Scripps Research Institute based in California, has organized key meetings in China and invited renowned scientists to attend. Also, he has cooperated with local researchers to publish articles in the science journal Nature. Shanghai this year introduced a “science education” category, the first city in the country to do so. Fifteen projects were awarded. They included books to explain the treatment of nearsightedness, promote traditional Chinese medicine to children, and raise awareness of chronic diseases.

Ten people ranging from 35 to 46 were honored as outstanding young scientists. Energy and environmental technology topped the winners, accounting for more than a fifth. Biomedicine and pharmaceutical technology accounted for 19.05%, followed by information technology (11.22%) and new materials (7.82%), the Shanghai Daily reports.

No gross domestic product (GDP) target was set in Premier Li Keqiang’s work report to the yearly session of the National People’s Congress (NPC) in Beijing, which started on May 22. The country’s defense budget is to increase by 6.6% this year, the lowest rise in the past 20 years, as the economy suffered the shock of a 6.8% decline in the first quarter due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

For the first time since 1995 not setting a GDP growth target reflects the extraordinary circumstances China is facing, including factors “that are difficult to predict”. China’s decision does not mean it has attached less importance to economic growth, but instead shows the authorities are paying greater attention to high quality development, economists said after Premier Li Keqiang delivered his report.

Premier Li Keqiang said the nation will focus on “ensuring stability on the six fronts and security in the six areas” this year. China’s policy of “ensuring stability on the six fronts” refers to employment, finance, foreign trade, foreign investment, domestic investment, and market expectations. The policy of “security in the six areas” means safeguarding employment, people’s livelihoods, the development of market entities, food and energy security, the stable operation of industrial and supply chains, and the smooth functioning of society. By implementing those policies, “we will be able to keep the fundamentals of the economy stable”, Li said. The country plans to create more than 9 million new urban jobs to ensure that the surveyed urban unemployment rate is no more than 6%, and maintain consumer inflation at around 3.5%.

The convening of the two sessions – the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), postponed for 78 days from early March – indicates that the situation in China has largely returned back to normal and the Covid-19 epidemic has been brought under control. Except for the leaders taking their seats on the rostrum at the Great Hall of the People, all the more than 5,000 delegates attending the two meetings wore face masks, and had received two nucleic acid tests. Under the strictest epidemic prevention measures, when the delegates take their meals in their hotels, each one is seated at a separate table. During the opening sessions, a minute of silence was observed for the victims of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has claimed 4,634 lives in mainland China.

In his Government Work Report to the NPC session, Premier Li Keqiang said that ‘the epidemic has not yet come to an end, while the tasks we face in promoting development are immense.” He declared a “decisive victory” in the battle against the virus, but acknowledged the “great price” China has paid – a GDP contraction in the first quarter – which he stressed as “a price worth paying.” Premier Li prioritized ensuring job stability, basic living needs, business operations, food security and others areas. “We did not set a specific target, but that does not mean economic growth is not important or we will allow the economy to fall freely,” Liu Rihong, an official at the State Council who participated in drafting the report, told reporters, noting that the pace of economic growth will provide support to job security and livelihood, the Global Times reports.
The report contained more than 20 specific measures, including a decision to raise the deficit-to-GDP ratio above 3.6%, with a deficit increase of CNY1 trillion from last year. China will also issue CNY1 trillion in government bonds for Covid-19 control. The funds can only be used to ensure employment, improve basic living needs and protect businesses through tax and fee cuts. Additional tax breaks and measures could save businesses over CNY2.5 trillion this year. The report called for a significant cut in government spending, including a 50% cut to outlays on non-essential items.

China upheld its long-standing broader development goals of eradicating absolute poverty, and establishing a moderately prosperous society by doubling GDP from the 2010 level. “The Government Work Report highlighted China’s people-centered philosophy of development, and issues related to the people’s livelihood will be this year’s top priority,” Zhu Lijia, Professor of Public Management at the Chinese Academy of Governance, told the Global Times. The length of Li’s report is only half of last year’s and the shortest since the reform and opening-up policies were launched over four decades ago.

He Lifeng, Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said at the NPC session that the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic on China’s economy is significant but short-term and temporary. Premier Li also said that the government would continue to promote the development of the private sector and ensure private businesses have equal access to production factors and policy support. The country will review relevant regulations to abolish those that unfairly differentiate enterprises according to ownership forms. Deadlines will be set for government bodies to make overdue payments owed to private and small and medium-sized businesses. This overview is based on reports by the Global Times, China Daily, Shanghai Daily and South China Morning Post.

After a contraction of the Chinese economy by 6.8% in the first quarter and uncertainty over markets abroad during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Chinese government decided not to set a GDP growth target for this year. Some analysts are expecting a second successive quarterly contraction, which would send the Chinese economy into its first recession since the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1976.

“We still expect 1% growth for the year, but a further contraction in the second quarter,” said Carlos Casanova, Asia-Pacific Economist at insurance firm Coface. “We cannot exclude the possibility of negative growth for the full year if there is another coronavirus outbreak in the autumn or in case of a deeper global recession.” Any recovery later in the year is dependent on no further viral outbreaks, no more lockdowns, and the stimulus measures announced at the delayed National People’s Congress (NPC) being effective.

For the most part, economists agreed that China should focus on more tangible and “practical” items like jobs, at a time when Beijing is facing an unemployment crisis. Peking University Finance Professor Michael Pettis said the decision to drop the growth target “is potentially good news for China if it represents a real change in economic policy”, signaling that it would focus on sustainable demand, consumption and private sector investment to drive growth. “If they have only dropped it temporarily while they try to figure out the full impact of the pandemic, and later select an implicit target that relies heavily on non-productive spending on infrastructure and real estate, then this really does not change anything,” Pettis said on Twitter. Shao Yu, Chief Economist at Orient Securities in Shanghai, said abandoning the GDP growth target was a “realistic” move, in line with public opinion amid the once-in-a-century challenge posed by the coronavirus. “Setting a numerical goal is way too mechanical for this year, so more emphasis was placed on protecting basic livelihoods, small companies and employment,” Shao said.

However, the shift away from a top-down growth strategy may present some challenges for local governments, which are hardwired to chase growth goals. “This is a fundamental change for a system driven by top-down signaling to ministries and local governments. How will everyone adapt?” asked Scott Kennedy, China watcher at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Deng Feng, Professor at the Peking University Law School, added that removing the growth target will not stop provinces from competing with each other. “The Chinese political system is like a tournament, where there is always competition between local officials. Even if there is no GDP target this year, provinces would still want to exceed their competitors in terms of GDP, which heavily relies on infrastructure construction,” Deng said.

Analysts from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) pointed out that “Premier Li Keqiang mentioned employment a total of 38 times” in his speech to the NPC, in a sign of how worried Beijing is about the situation. China will try to keep the surveyed jobless rate at 6.0% for 2020, which will be a significant challenge, given the fact that it peaked at a record 6.2% in February and was at 6.0% in April. The unemployment rate does not include the more than 300 million migrant workers.

Some analysts have estimated that real unemployment in China may be running as high as 20%. “The annual budget points to fiscal stimulus this year at least on a par with that following the global financial crisis, and while monetary policy is likely to remain more constrained than in 2009, the NPC did signal further rate declines and faster credit growth,” said Julian Evans-Pritchard, China Analyst at Capital Economics, as reported by the South China Morning Post.