The food and beverage (F&B) sector is moving fast in China now, as consumers look for new trustworthy brands this presents huge opportunities for foreign businesses, particularly those with Geographical Indications (GIs). However, without understanding the market and without officially registered Intellectual Property (IP) in China, IP is not protected and Chinese companies have taken advantage of the fact that many F&B producers do not have these rights, resulting in many counterfeiting F&B products in the market. High quality and well renowned products of GIs are as valuable as trademarks to producers and should be protected in the same way.

The webinar will be delivered by the China IPR SME Helpdesk, the EU SME Centre and IPKey. Together they will discuss the current landscape of the Chinese F&B market and the methods EU SMEs should take when considering entering the market. The webinar will focus on F&B products in the wine, olive oil, beer and spirits sectors and how these products can be protected through Intellectual Property and GIs.
This webinar will highlight the following:
The nature of the Chinese F&B market and how to gain access to it
Intellectual Property for the wine, olive oil, beer and spirits sectors
Introduction to GIs and how to protect them using Intellectual Property
Key case studies.

Join IP expert, Davide Follador, and the EU SME Centre expert, Jon Echanove on Wednesday, 29 April 2015 for: “Entering China’s Food and Beverage Market for EU SMEs”.

This free, 60-minute webinar presentation and 30 minute Q&A session on Wednesday, 29 April 2015 at 10:00am Brussels time (9:00am London, 16:00pm China) will take you through a range of simple, cost-effective measures to develop your F&B business in China and protect its intellectual property. Get valuable insights from our experts, and ask questions live throughout the webinar.

Register

The 8th China Green Companies Summit (CGCS) was held on 20-22 April, 2015 in Shenyang, Liaoning province. Mrs Gwenn Sonck, Executive Director of the Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce (FCCC) and Secretary General of the EU-China Business Association (EUCBA) attended the Summit. The EUCBA was a supporting partner of the summit, which was organized by the China Entrepreneur Club (CEC). The Summit promotes smart and sustainable growth, and builds partnerships through matchmaking events with enterprises and organizations. The three-day event had a theme of “Game changers: Creating new business value”. The summit was first held in 2008 in Beijing with the focus on sustainability in the economy and is one of China’s most influential meetings of its kind. Participants discussed the “One belt, one road” initiative, the new Silk Road, the Industry 4.0 concept, the environment, innovation and start-ups. Investment roundtables were held on health, agriculture, and consumption. Green companies roundtables discussed corporate development; the trend from “made in China” to “created in China”; and environmental industries. It was the first time the summit was held in North-east China.

SAIC Motor, China’s biggest carmaker and the owner of local brands Roewe and MG, launched its first SUV that features a new all-wheel drive system at the Shanghai Auto show. Great Wall Motor Co started selling its new Havel premium H6 Coupe and high-end H8 type to expand its footprint in the SUV market. Sales of domestically-made SUVs in China have surged 108% year-on-year to 728,900 units in the first quarter, compared with a 48.8% growth of all SUVs sold in China for the same period, indicating that domestic car makers are gaining market share in the SUV segment. Lincoln, the luxury brand of Ford, used the show for the China launch of its two new SUVs – the mid-size cross-over Lincoln MKX and full-size Lincoln Navigator. The GLC Coupe by Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz also made its China debut at the show, following its unveiling at the Detroit auto show in January that marked the start of the German brand’s plans to expand into the SUV market. SUVs accounted for more than 25% of China’s passenger vehicle market for the first time in March.

The show, held at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai), displayed a total of 1,343 vehicles, with 109 of them making their world debut and 44 on their Asian debut. Automakers, with Chinese government backing, are making a renewed push for new-energy vehicles, displaying the latest fully-electric models and hybrids. Volkswagen announced plans to locally produce more than 15 new-energy vehicles in China in the next four years, while General Motors will launch a plug-in hybrid version of its Cadillac brand CT6 sedan. Electric and hybrid vehicle sales in the country reached 26,581 in the first quarter of this year, three times the number in the same period in 2014 but still accounting for less than 1% of total sales. Inconvenience about charging was one of the major reasons stopping people from buying new energy cars, according to a new survey conducted by the Shanghai Statistics Bureau. About half of the surveyed said they were not considering buying new energy vehicles in the near future.

Top 5 must-see vehicles at the Shanghai Auto Show according to the South China Morning Post were the Lamborghini Aventador LP 750-4 Superveloce; Bentley Exp 10 Speed 6; BMW X5 xDrive40e; Tesla Model S P85D; and the BYD – Yuan.

China is facing a crisis in the recruitment of teachers from overseas. An imbalance between supply and demand means the country will need thousands of foreign teachers this year, but many of the expats seeking work are unwilling to become teachers. At least 4,000 foreign teachers will be needed in the 2015-16 academic year, according to Niu Chen, Co-founder of CCZChina Education Co, an agency in Zhengzhou, Henan province that recruits foreign teachers. “The statistics are incomplete, so the actual demand may be even greater,” Niu told China Daily at a Conference on the International Exchange of Professionals in Shenzhen, Guangdong province. The situation has been exacerbated because some provinces and regions have raised the bar for the recruitment of teachers from overseas. The Beijing government released a series of regulations in September to strengthen the management of foreign teachers, stipulating that foreigners who want to teach in China should have at least five years experience, and that those wishing to teach languages should have “Teaching English as a Foreign Language” or “Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages” certificates.

China intends to break the monopoly of UnionPay in the domestic market for yuan bank card clearing by allowing foreign and other domestic companies to apply for a clearing license starting in June. According to an agreement with the World Trade Organization (WTO), China should open its bank card clearing market by August 2015. Institutions with at least CNY1 billion in registered capital can apply for a bank card clearing license from the People’ Bank of China (PBOC) and the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC). The license allows the holders to process transactions made through bank cards issued under their brands. Foreign players, such as Visa and MasterCard, will also be allowed to obtain the license by setting up a domestic unit or acquiring a local clearing agency. Companies can start applying from June 1 but it will take about two years for an applicant to go through the approval, preparatory and opening procedures. Foreign players that only offer cross-border foreign currency bank card clearing services don’t need to apply for the license but they will be required to report their business operations to the authorities. China UnionPay, the sole player in the country’s bank card yuan clearing market, has more than 4.6 billion bank cards in circulation, and a network covering over 150 countries and regions. Central bank data showed that China had 4.9 billion bank cards at the end of 2014, and the value of credit and debit card transactions totaled CNY449.9 trillion last year, the Shanghai Daily reports.