The Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce (FCCC) and the EU SME Center in Beijing organized a seminar on ‘Getting Your Food & Beverages into China – What it Takes’ on 22 February 2017 in Ghent.

This half-day workshop focused on:

• Consumer behaviour, trends in the F&B market.
• Distribution channels.
• How to develop a business plan to get your F&B products onto Chinese shelves.
• The New Food Safety Law – what this means for your business.

The speaker was Mr. Rafael Jimenez, Business Development Advisor.

Geely Automobile Holdings, the Chinese carmaker whose parent owns the Swedish brand Volvo, has vowed to have 90% of its vehicles powered by hybrid engines by 2020, while trying to keep its distance from the proliferating all-electric car market. “All of our current assembly lines are designed to produce cars that are hybrid, but we don’t think all-electric is the way to be,” Chief Executive Gui Shengyue, said. Based in the Zhejiang provincial capital of Hangzhou, Geely will launch its first hybrid vehicle in the fourth quarter of this year, he added. Geely also declared a sales war against Volkswagen, General Motors, Toyota and other Western brands that have long-dominated the Chinese car market through their joint-ventures. “Foreign brands are declining in China, and the future of the country’s domestic car market lies in the hands of indigenous players that offer better value for money,” Gui said. Geely, founded by Zhejiang native Li Shufu in 1986, is China’s first non-state-owned car manufacturer. Last year, the company sold 766,000 vehicles, a 50% increase from a year earlier and its net income for 2016 is expected to more than double from CNY2.26 billion in 2015, the South China Morning Post reports. Last month Geely announced 2017 sales targets of 1 million vehicles, a 34% increase on last year, though Gui believes the final figure should be well beyond that.

118 foreign residents in Lhasa, capital of Tibet, were granted Chinese permanent residence, the world’s hardest-to-get “green card.” A majority of foreign residents who live in Lhasa were born and raised there, but inherited their parents’ nationality and live as relatives of local residents. These foreign residents face difficulties in entering and exiting China, renewing their papers, enjoying medical care, purchasing property, finding jobs and educating their children, the China News Service (CNS) said. Having permanent residence permits will solve their problems. They are valid for 10 years and can be used by foreigners in lieu of their passport for purposes such as buying a train ticket or booking a hotel room. The group that received green cards included Swiss, French and Nepalese nationals. Previously, Lhasa had issued just 31 green cards since 2008.

Yao Zhenhua, Chairman of Baoneng, which is the parent company of Foresea Life Insurance, has been banned from working in China’s insurance sector for 10 years. He was found to have provided “fake materials” and “violated rules for using an insurance fund”, the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) said in a statement. The insurer will have its online business suspended, as well as applications to launch new products and trading in its stocks. Yao, 47, came under the spotlight after launching an unsolicited bid to take control of property developer Vanke through Baoneng Group. Baoneng was condemned by Chinese regulators after it funded the purchase of CNY43 billion of Vanke’s shares through insurance premiums generated by Foresea’s universal life insurance product. “It is very unusual for the CIRC to directly revoke a personal qualification of the Chairman of an insurance company, when it comes to punishment of wrongdoings,” said Dayton Wang, Analyst with Guotai Junan International. “It is likely that the regulator is making an example of Yao to warn other tycoons,” he added. Jerry Li, Insurance Analyst with China Merchants Securities, said Foresea Life is likely to suffer a loss after its universal life business was suspended by the regulator, as it contributes 80% of its premiums.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in China will be further optimized and diversified in the long run as the country’s economy is transformed and upgraded, Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng said, refuting that FDI is being withdrawn. Foreign media reported that foreign direct investment into the Chinese mainland dropped by 9.2% year-on-year to USD12 billion in January, prompting speculation that the country’s ability to attract FDI is declining. “We never use one month’s figure to summarize a long-term trend, and an early Spring Festival last month was another factor affecting the country’s monthly FDI volume,” Gao said at a news conference in Beijing. Even though global FDI dropped by 13% year-on-year in 2016, the amount of utilized FDI in China grew by 4.1% to CNY813.2 billion, indicating the confidence of global capital in the country’s economy, data from the Ministry show. The Minister said the Chinese government has noticed that some low-end companies left the country while high-end industries started to invest more in China. Utilized FDI in the service sector grew in 2016 by 8.3% year-on-year to CNY571.6 billion, while FDI in the high-tech service sector jumped by 86.1% to CNY95.6 billion, the China Daily reports.