The Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce (FCCC) and the Weihai Municipal Government held the official opening ceremony of the Weihai EU Office in Ghent on 24 September 2013.

The opening of this EU Office is the result of intense cooperation between the Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce (FCCC) and the Weihai Foreign Investment Center. On this occasion, the city of Ghent and the city of Weihai signed a cooperation agreement. At the same time, the Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce and the Weihai Foreign Investment Bureau also signed an MOU to promote cooperation between both sides. The Mayor of Weihai, Mrs Zhang Hui, outlined the investment environment in Weihai, Shandong province, where several Flemish companies such as Bekaert, Beaulieu and Weihai Golden Solar Thermal Industrials have a major investment.

Mr Bert De Graeve, Chairman, Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce, CEO of Bekaert;
Mr Daniel Termont, Mayor of the City of Ghent, Province of East Flanders; and Mrs Zhang Hui, Mayor of Weihai City, Shandong Province, addressed the ceremony. Two MOU’s were also signed between the Weihai Foreign Investment Bureau and VITO and a second one between ECRAAL and the Weihai Foreign Investment Bureau.

The event was concluded by a networking reception attended by 120 participants. The meeting is organized with the support of Flanders Investment and Trade. Further information and an investment guide can be obtained at the FCCC: info@flanders-china.be.

De Wolf & Partners, a Structural Partner of the Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce (FCCC), announced the opening of a new branch office in Shenzhen (Guangdong province). This is the second office in China for De Wolf & Partners. The Shanghai office was established in 2007, when Philippe Snel, the firm’s Resident Partner in China, joined the firm. This office is mainly focusing on providing assistance to European companies doing business in or with China, helping them to find a way through the maze of Chinese regulations and administrations. In more recent years the firm has also been involved in advising Chinese companies with respect to their European (or even African) investments.

“Currently the balance is about 80% work for inbound (to China) clients versus 20% for outbound (Chinese) clients, but we expect that outbound investment will continue to grow in the years to come” predicts Philippe Snel. “In fact inbound and outbound investment to, respectively from, China are very much interconnected” he adds, “being successful on the inbound business allowed us to become well acquainted with the local business practices and more importantly helped us to establish our business network in China, which network is now steadily feeding our outbound practice.”

The Shenzhen office will be catering its services to European companies who are investing or developing their businesses in the South of China, with a particular interest for those companies who are currently doing business in China from their Hong Kong base. However, the focus of the Shenzhen office will also be to provide assistance to Chinese enterprises from the region, which are expanding their business activities to Europe.

Why Shenzhen?
Philippe Snel explained: “Shenzhen holds a unique position in China. It is located at the hearth of the Pearl River Delta, the economic powerhouse of Southern China, yet is only a stone-throw away from Hong Kong, the financial hub for China and beyond. Moreover, it is home to some of the most advanced Chinese companies, eager to further their international expansion. We have been active in this area for many years already, and now we are eager to really become part of this thriving business hub. We want to put the focus on outbound investment as there is more and more demand. Europe is viewed by Chinese investors as a safe, stable destination for investment. It has a large consumer market for sales of goods and services, as well as advanced technologies, an educated workforce and desirable brands that could be acquired to help their competitiveness both domestically and internationally. Operating in the EU, however, is not considered easy and there are numerous obstacles often relating to bureaucratic procedures and high costs.”

“A lot of trading companies do not protect themselves and face problems afterwards. By being present, we can work preventive and assist them. Shenzhen is definitely one of the hotbeds for Chinese outbound investment. In particular Shenzhen companies appreciate our expertise in the field of intellectual property and technology transactions.”

Inauguration office
The office was inaugurated in the beginning of June in the presence of the Consul General of Belgium in Guangzhou, Mr Jan D’Halleweyn. Preceding the inauguration, the Consul General together with De Wolf & Partners and in collaboration with the Brussels, Flanders and Walloon investment agencies, hosted an event for more than 50 Chinese investors and entrepreneurs presenting the interest of Belgium as a base for their M&A activity in Europe. At this occasion Luc Stalars, Managing Partner of De Wolf & Partners, declared: “We were the first Belgian law firm to register an office in China in 2007. Today, we are the first European law firm to establish a presence in Shenzhen. This new development bears testimony of our firm’s strong commitment to China and of our determination to provide even better service to our Chinese clients who are venturing their businesses in Europe.”

For more information on the Shenzhen office: Yves Tavernier (yves.tavernier@dewolf-law.be), Partner of De Wolf & Partners Brussels or Philippe Snel (philippe.snel@dewolf-law.cn), Partner of De Wolf & Partners Shanghai/Shenzhen. Website: www.dewolf-law.com

The Regulation of the People’s Republic of China on the Administration of the Entry and Exit of Foreign Nationals came into effect on September 1. Visas for foreign nationals staying in China increased from nine types to 16. Among the new visas, those with the R prefix are for high-level talents and urgently needed professionals. It is a supporting regulation of the Exit-Entry Administration Law of the People’s Republic of China. Newly added visa types include talent visa, business and trade visa, relative visa and private business visa, which are finer categories of the original “F” visa and “L” visa. The original tourist visa and visa for visiting relatives were in the same visa category and now a “Q” visa is added for foreigners’ visiting relatives in China. The new regulation states that foreign nationals can apply to extend their stay, while the previous law required that they had to revoke the original visa before receiving a new one. When the visa is extended, the original visa’s numbers of entering China is unchanged. The new regulation also offers convenience for foreign nationals to change visa types. It states that after foreigners enter China, they can apply to change their visa type with reasons stated in the regulation. The foreign national can file an application to an authorized entry and exit management agency higher than county level to apply for a new type of visa or change a short stay into residence. The regulation for the first time has added a section covering another person applying for a visa on behalf of a foreigner. Under the following three situations an organization or a person can apply for a visa for someone else:

• If the foreign national is under 16, or 60 and above, or has difficulties in walking;
• If the person has previously entered China and with a good record of stay in
• China;
• If the inviting organization or individual offers a guarantee to cover the cost of a
• foreign national’s stay in China.

In addition, the inviting organization or individual can also apply for the visas on behalf of  foreign high-level talents and urgently needed professionals.

The experiment in full yuan convertibility through the new free-trade zone in Shanghai will boost transaction volumes in offshore foreign exchange centers like London and Hong Kong that have been accumulating yuan deposits, not render them redundant, according to the Lord Mayor of the City of London. Roger Gifford, visiting Hong Kong to promote London’s competitiveness in global finance, said anything that made the yuan easier to trade would benefit existing offshore deposit centers. “I do not consider Shanghai’s new free trade zone experiment a threat to London, Hong Kong or any other city,” he said. “The more centers to trade the yuan, the bigger the global pie of the yuan business. The experiment in Shanghai will help boost international investors’ interest in trading the currency and benefit all offshore yuan trading centers”, he said. The decision to allow Shanghai a freer yuan flow has led some analysts to warn the end may be nigh for Hong Kong and other offshore yuan hubs. Gifford rejects such concerns, saying the experiment in free convertibility shows China is keen to move in the direction of a freely convertible currency in the longer term, which will only boost interest in the yuan. Gifford said London, as an international foreign exchange trading center, would be a major center of yuan business. London last year saw a 100% increase in yuan-denominated trade financing to CNY33.6 billion, with a substantial increase in the volumes of a range of yuan-deliverable instruments. Spot yuan trading volumes increased by 240% over 2011, reaching a daily average of USD2.5 billion. The volume of yuan-denominated letters of credit (LCs) and other loan guarantees grew 13 times to CNY4.7 billion. In June, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and the Bank of England agreed to a three-year currency swap line of up to CNY200 billion.

The Chinese government treats companies equally regardless of their ownership as it investigates anti-trust behavior, said Xu Kunlin, Director of the Anti-monopoly Bureau of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). He said that competition policy should become a key economic principle in China, and that only “heavy punches will work” to halt a rise in monopolistic practices by companies in the country. China could extend its anti-trust investigations to more industries such as petroleum, banking, automotive and telecommunications, which have a direct impact on the lives of ordinary Chinese. Last month, the NDRC fined a group of mostly foreign milk power producers a total of CNY668.8 million for price-fixing. Since China passed its landmark anti-trust law in 2008, the biggest fine imposed was on Kweichow Moutai Co, a leading luxury liquor maker, which was fined CNY247 million for violating price monopoly regulations early this year.