China seminar: “Made in China 2025” – Tuesday, 21 March 2017, 15h30 – Technopolis Mechelen
Mar-27-2017 By : fcccadmin
The Flemish Center for Quality Care and the Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce organized a session on “Made in China 2025” on 21 March 2017 at Technopolis Mechelen to examine the consequences of this policy. What does it mean for Flemish companies in China? And the other way around: what consequences will the quality improvement have for the Flemish manufacturing industry?
Following an introduction by Gwenn Sonck, Executive Director, Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce (FCCC), Dirk Laeremans, China expert and CEO of Orientas, introduced China’s quality policy. Three companies present their case study: Koen Sonck, Quality Implementation Director & Senior Specialist Product Audit Q&CS, Manufacturing Quality at Volvo Car Group; Hans Deprettere, Sales Export Manager Asia Pacific & Middle East at Orfit Industries; and Paul Coppens, Manager TQM and Plate System Development and GS/Total Quality Management Consumables at Agfa Graphics. A networking drink concluded the event.
Geely withdraws Proton bid
By : fcccadmin
China’s Geely Automobile Holdings has withdrawn its bid to acquire a controlling stake in Malaysian automaker Proton, Geely’s President An Conghui said. It had been considered the favorite to acquire a controlling stake in Proton, Malaysia’s largest carmaker which also owns the Lotus sports car marque. Any successful bidder will get access to Proton’s Tanjung Malim assembly plant, which has an annual production capacity of 150,000 vehicles in two shifts. Owning a car assembly in Malaysia would also qualify its owner to ship vehicles tax-free anywhere among the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Separately, Geely, the owner of the Swedish Volvo brand, reported better-than-expected earnings for 2016, as net profit surged by 126% to CNY5.1 billion. Geely’s revenue jumped 78% to CNY53.7 billion as the group sold 765,970 vehicles in 2016, up 50.2% from the previous year. Of these, 744,191 units were sold domestically, up 53.6% from 2015, according to the company’s filing to Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing. Last month it announced a 2017 sales target of 1 million vehicles, an increase of 34% from last year. The only black mark on its earnings was that exports declined sharply by 15% year-on-year to 21,779 units, and in the first two months of 2017, it further tumbled by 60% year-on-year, the South China Morning Post reports.
Belgium approved as a member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)
By : fcccadmin
Belgium is among thirteen countries and regions that have been approved at a Board of Governors meeting to become members of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). The others are Afghanistan, Armenia, Canada, Ethiopia, Fiji, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Peru, Sudan, Timor Leste and Venezuela. The new members still have to complete relevant procedures and transfer the first installment of their capital contribution for membership to become effective. The AIIB’s membership will increase from the 57 founding members to 70. The shares allocated to the new members come from the bank’s existing pool of unallocated shares. “The interest in joining the AIIB from around the world affirms the rapid progress we have made to establish the bank as an international institution,” AIIB President Jin Liqun said in a statement. “I am very proud that the AIIB now has members from almost every continent and we anticipate further applications being considered by our Board of Governors later this year.”
China should tackle rising levels of corporate debt, says OECD
By : fcccadmin
China should urgently address rising levels of corporate debt to contain financial risks as it tries to rebalance its economy, the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said. Beijing should also step up efforts to retire “zombie” state firms in ailing industries to help channel funds to more efficient sectors and enhance the contribution of innovation in the economy, the OECD said in its latest survey of China’s economy. “Orderly rebalancing requires addressing corporate over-leveraging, overcapacity in real estate and heavy industries, and debt-financed over-investment in asset markets,” the report said. The OECD forecast China’s economy would grow 6.5% this year and 6.3% in 2018. The report warned of mounting financial risks as enterprises are heavily indebted, while housing prices have become “bubbly”. Corporate debt is estimated at 175% of GDP, among the highest in emerging economies, climbing from under 100% of GDP at the end of 2008, the report said. “Soaring property prices in the largest cities and leveraged investment in asset markets magnify vulnerability and the risk of disorderly defaults,” it said. “Excessive leverage and mounting debt in the corporate sector compound financial stability problems, even though a number of tax cuts are being implemented to reduce the burden on enterprises.” “Although the risks are rising, the firepower in the Chinese government is big enough and if there’s a problem, it’s able to sort it out,” Alvaro Santos Pereira, Director of the Country Studies Division at the OECD’s Economics Department said. Monetary policy should rely more on market-oriented tools and less on targeted government policy, the report concluded.
China’s Silk Road Fund seeking investment projects in Europe
By : fcccadmin
China’s Silk Road Fund is looking for investment projects in Europe. The fund, which provides financing for China’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative, is seeking investment opportunities with a unit of the European Investment Bank (EIB), the European lender’s Vice President Jonathan Taylor said. “Cooperation between the European Investment Fund (EIF), a subsidiary of the EIB, and the Silk Road Fund are under discussion,” Taylor said at the start of a five-day trip to China. “Discussions between the EIF and the Silk Road Fund are centering on investment in Europe.” China pledged to contribute USD40 billion to set up the Silk Road Fund three years ago. The capital came from the country’s foreign exchange reserves, the China Investment Corp (CIC), which manages the sovereign wealth fund, the Export-Import Bank of China, and the China Development Bank (CDB). The fund has cooperation agreements with lenders in European countries such as France and Russia. China launched the “One Belt, One Road” initiative in 2013 to extend its influence in 60 counties, stretching through South-east and West Asia to the Middle East and central Europe. Beijing will hold a high-level summit on the initiative in the middle of May and leaders from over 20 countries have agreed to attend. The EIB invested €298 million in China to support climate-related projects last year, and is aiming to invest €500 million in the country this year, including on urban transport, forestry and energy efficiency, the South China Morning Post reports.
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