The Chairman and the Board of Directors of the Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce wish the members and newsletter readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. The next weekly newsletter will be published on January 5, 2015.

The Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce (FCCC) organized a seminar focused on ‘Three Case Studies of Successful Businesses in China: Agfa, Recticel, Yellow House’. This practical seminar took place on 11 December at Agfa-Gevaert in Mortsel.

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

Following a word of welcome by Mr Stefaan Vanhooren, Vice-Chairman, Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce, he introduced as President Agfa Graphics and Member of the Executive Committee of Agfa-Gevaert the experiences of Agfa-Graphics in China. Mr Filip Goris, General Manager Asia, Recticel talked about the experiences of Recticel in China, and Mr. Neil Selby, Co-Founder, Yellow House Education, introduced the experiences of Yellow House in China.

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

Leshi Internet Information and Technology (Beijing), a Beijing-based internet and mobile-video company, has said it will build electric cars for sale in China to support the fight against smog and congestion. Calling it the “Super Electric Eco-System” project, Leshi has spent the past year independently researching and developing technology for the cars, Chairman and President Jia Yueting said. China is lagging behind its own target for putting eco-friendly cars on the road even as the government offers billions of dollars in subsidies and pledges to build charging stations for the public. The government plans to give out licenses to allow new manufacturers to produce electric vehicles, as part of broader plans to cut reliance on fuel imports, ease air pollution and become a technology leader in the auto industry. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said last month that companies should have more than three years of product research and development (R&D) experience before applying for the licenses. They should also have the capability for vehicle design and have at least 15 sample electric vehicles that meet national technical standards.

Venture capital and private equity deals made in China reached a record high in the first 11 months of 2014, benefiting from the rising number of startup companies and the restructuring of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), according to a report by Zero2IPO Group. 1,873 venture capital deals were made in the first 11 months of this year with an investment value of USD15.6 billion, a 135.9% increase on the full year 2013. Another 892 private equity deals were made during the same period worth a total of USD50.4 billion, a 105.7% increase on last year. “Venture capital investment in China has been active this year because of the improving conditions for raising funds and the rising number of startup companies,” said Ni Zhengdong, Chairman of Zero2IPO Group. The study showed that 231 new VC funds were set up in the first 11 months worth USD15.4 billion, a 122.6% increase in value on last year. It also showed about 60% of the VC deals made during the period were at the startup stage. The Zero2IPO report said the internet sector was the most popular this year for VC investment, followed by the mobile internet and healthcare sectors. The internet sector was also the most active for PE investment in the first 11 months, followed by the real estate and healthcare sectors, the China Daily reports.

The property downturn has put local banks at the greatest risk of asset deterioration, Standard & Poor’s Financial Services said in a report. A number of regional banks had high exposure to real estate loans at a time when property prices in both the commercial and residential sectors were falling, challenging developers’ ability to repay bank loans, S&P said. Bank of East Asia’s China subsidiary has the highest stake in the sector with 30.1% of its total loans. About 21.8% of Beijing Rural Commercial Bank’s total lending is to commercial real estate. Bank of Chengdu is close behind, at 20.3%. But overseas banks such as Hong Kong-based BEA would perform considerably better than their mainland peers because the projects they financed were income-generating and in the biggest cities in the country, S&P said. Several main cities still have tight commercial vacancy rates. Beijing’s was just 4% in the third quarter, according to DTZ. In comparison, Chongqing had a 38% vacancy rate with developments in the pipeline in the next four years representing nearly 500% of the existing stock, a dangerous level of oversupply. The official sector-wide non-performing loan ratio was 1.16% in the third quarter, the South China Morning Post reports.