The Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce (FCCC) is organizing a seminar focused on ‘Three Case Studies of Successful Businesses in China: Agfa, Recticel, Yellow House’. This practical seminar will take place at 15h30 on Thursday 11 December at Agfa-Gevaert, Septestraat 27, 2640 Mortsel.

SME’s face many challenges when doing business with China. During this session, you will hear the story of two SME’s and an MNC that managed to develop successful business with China.

The programme is as follows:

15h30     Registration

Welcome by Mr Stefaan Vanhooren, Vice-Chairman, Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce
Experiences of Agfa-Graphics in China by Mr Stefaan Vanhooren, President Agfa Graphics Member of the Executive Committee, Agfa-Gevaert
Experiences of Recticel in China by Mr Filip Goris, General Manager Asia, Recticel
Experiences of Yellow House in China by Mr. Neil Selby, Co-Founder, Yellow House Education

Please register online before 8 December 2014. Members FCCC: €65, Non-Members FCCC €95.

This event is organized with the support of Flanders Investment & Trade.

Sport-utility vehicles (SUVs) were the major draw at the Guangzhou Motor Show last week. Over the past 10 months, sales of SUVs in China surged 33.6% on an annual basis, according to China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). The latest version of the Porsche Cayenne made its global debut at the show with a restyled look and a slightly extended length. The newly unveiled Ford Edge is being promoted as a spacious and versatile seven-seater for both family and business use in China. Zeng Zhilin, Research Director of LMC Automotive for Asia-Pacific, said the elevated seating of SUVs alone is a strong selling point because it provides a better view of the road ahead and a sense of security and control amid traffic chaos. The Range Rover Evoque, a coupe-like crossover, has recently become the first model to be locally produced by Land Rover, a SUV specialist brand known for its all-terrain capabilities. Chinese carmakers are also ramping up their own SUVs. A striking resemblance to the Range Rover Evoque is a joint development between local automakers Jiangling Motors and Changan Auto, the Landwind X7, which was premiered at the auto show. A record-high 1,095 models were on display and 56 world premieres were held. For the first time at a large auto show in China, a separate hall was dedicated to new energy vehicles. Though the sector faces technical and infrastructure challenges, statistics show sales of new-energy vehicles reached 38,163 units in the first three quarters of 2014, almost three times the number in the same period last year.

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has agreed to a deal with the Reserve Bank of Australia that will see Sydney, Australia’s largest city, become the latest hub for trading in the Chinese currency. The two central banks signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU), agreeing to extend the Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (RQFII) program to Australia with an initial investment quota of CNY50 billion. It is expected that a Sydney clearing bank for yuan will be appointed soon. Starting in June this year, the PBOC designated yuan clearing banks in London, Frankfurt, Seoul, Paris, Luxembourg, Doha and Toronto, while China is strengthening efforts to promote the use of the yuan in international trade. Statistics from the PBOC show that cross-border yuan settlement exceeded CNY4.8 trillion in the first three quarters of 2014, up from CNY3.58 billion in 2009. Song Ke, Research Fellow at the International Monetary Institute at Renmin University of China, said the Chinese government has accelerated the globalization of the yuan by pushing it forward around the world simultaneously, whereas the globalization process was initially carried out in neighboring countries and certain regions. He said the next crucial step for yuan internationalization is capital account liberalization. Renminbi business in Australia is quite small. The best estimate suggests that only 1% or 2% of overall Australian trade might be conducted in renminbi, said Paul Bloxham, Chief Economist for Australia and New Zealand at HSBC Bank Australia, in September. “The reason why it is still a fairly small proportion of Australia’s overall trade is because most of what we exported is commodities. Most of those commodities are still priced in global markets in U.S. dollar terms,” he said. UnionPay International, Bank of China (BOC) and Australia Post also signed an agreement in Canberra to jointly issue AusPost UnionPay dual currency cards, the China Daily reports. The ability to exchange Australian dollars directly into yuan, rather than first converting them into U.S. dollars, will save companies as much as 7%, according to HSBC.

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) reduced interest rates for the first time since 2012 as it sought to bolster the economy amid a protracted slowdown. The one-year benchmark deposit rate was cut by 0.25 points to 2.75%, while the one-year lending rate was trimmed by 0.4 points to 5.6%. Banks are also allowed now to offer deposit rates of up to 20% higher than the benchmark – up from 10% previously. Despite the new rules, the ceiling for the one-year deposit rate will remain unchanged at 3.3%, which most banks are currently offering. For mortgage borrowers, the lower rates will mean a saving of CNY234 a month on a 20-year loan of CNY1 million. “An interest rate cut was urgently needed as inflation is cooling, production is inefficient and borrowing costs are high,” Qu Hongbin, HSBC’s Chief Economist for China, said. The interest rate reductions came as a surprise to the market, as many economists believed the central bank would hold off on sweeping reductions, as such easing measures go against the government’s resolution to reform the country’s economic structure. But the central bank said it had taken into account the aims of both reform and stimulus, saying that the cuts on the lending side were larger than those on the deposit side, and that it had further liberated the deposit rate, the Shanghai Daily reports.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in China rose for the second straight month in October. Investment in the period rose 1.3% year-on-year to more than USD8.5 billion. The increase followed a 1.9% rise in September, which reversed dips of 14% in August and 16.9% in July. Despite the upturn, foreign investment in the first 10 months fell 1.2% year-on-year to USD95.8 billion, with 19,239 new foreign ventures being established. Investment from the United Kingdom and South Korea rose the fastest in the year through October, with their respective contributions rising by 32.4% and 26.4% year-on-year. In contrast, investment from Japan fell 42.9% in the period, while the United States and the European Union saw their input fall 23.8% and 16.2% respectively. Foreign investment in services in the first 10 months rose 6.6% year-on-year to USD53.1 billion, representing 55.4% of the total. In comparison, investment in manufacturing fell 15.1% to USD32.5 billion, or 33.9%.