Seminar – Negotiating with the Chinese: Cultural Roots & Practical Recommendations – 6 December 2017 – Ghent
Aug-29-2017 By : fcccadmin
“Building a win-win partnership through the art of negotiation”
Overview
China has become the world’s second largest economy and the sizeable market is non-ignored. Companies with the ambition of global expansion, especially those who are eager to enter into the Chinese market, should have a better understanding of how to negotiate with the Chinese. However, due to the cultural differences and the shifting dynamics of business context, it is not easy for all business leaders. This seminar offers guidance to business leaders on how to leverage cultural differences, complexity, uncertainty and conflicts during the negotiation process with their Chinese partners. “Negotiating with the Chinese” seminar delivers direct impacts on company’s bottom lines to support individuals who are doing business with a fast-changing China.
Benefits
- Gain a comparative understanding on the Chinese and Western negotiation practical approaches
- Identify the cultural roots behind business scenarios, equipping you with the knowledge to reshape your strategies & tactics
- Sharpen your negotiation skills through learning from multiple case studies and real-life context
- Optimize your approach to a win-win value creation through negotiating with the Chinese to achieve a sustainable partnership
Agenda
Half-day intense learning with substantial gains
14:00-14:15 Opening Remarks
14:15-15:00 China vs West: different culture negotiating models
15:00-15:15 Break
15:15-16:00 Chinese culture roots and elements to shape the negotiating skills
16:00-16:15 Break
16:15-17:00 Strategies that lead you to a better negotiation outcome
17:00-17:15 Break
17:15-17:40 Group discussion
17:40-18:00 Networking
Time: 2pm-6pm, 6th Dec 2017
Venue: Ghent, Belgium
Contact
Ms. Lijuan Yu – CKGSB lijuanyu-pt@ckgsb.edu.cn
FCCC info@flanders-china.be
Chinese consumers most eager to adopt fintech
By : fcccadmin
Chinese consumers are the most active in adopting financial technology among 20 major markets, EY said in its EY Fintech Adoption Index 2017. 69% of China’s digitally active population have used Fintech in at least one of these areas ― payment, wealth management planning, investment, acquiring loans, and insurance. The global average adoption rate is only 33%.
Jack Chen, Managing Partner of financial services of EY China, attributed the strong Fintech traction in China to abundant technology talent, regulatory support for innovation, a large market, and a huge amount of capital ready to invest in the Fintech sector. “The adoption rate of mobile payment, the most popular sector of Fintech, is especially high along the east coast.” India and the UK followed China’s lead with 52% and 42% Fintech adoption rates respectively.
China Citic Bank and Baidu have received approval from the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) for their joint venture lender to begin business operations, marking the latest foray into the banking sector by the nation’s tech giants. The joint venture, Citic aiBank, originally known as Citic Baixin Bank, has a registered capital of CNY2 billion. The prefix “ai” in the name of the bank refers to artificial intelligence.
aiBank is 70% owned by Citic Bank while China’s dominant search engine operator Baidu holds the remaining 30%. The new bank’s scope of operations include deposits and loans, bank card business, bancassurance and interbank business. The new bank will mainly offer its services via online banking without physical branches and will start operations within six months after receiving its business license.
“AI is the core element of the bank’s branding, and the bank will offer a spate of innovative services by riding on Baidu’s technology in AI and massive amounts of data,” Baidu said. Tencent was the first among the tech majors to set up a banking arm, holding a 30% stake in WeBank, which started operations in December 2014, followed by Zhejiang E-Commerce Bank, or MYbank, the banking affiliate of Alibaba. Both banks were profitable in 2016 after losing money in 2015.
China to further relax foreign investment in 12 areas
By : fcccadmin
China will reduce restrictions on foreign investments in 12 areas, including new-energy cars, ship design, international maritime shipping, banking and securities, Wang Shouwen, Vice Minister of Commerce, announced at a press conference. China currently adopts strict requirements on foreign shareholders’ equity in some sectors. For example, in terms of new-energy vehicles (NEVs), foreign investors are not allowed to hold more than 50% of the shares in a joint venture.
The government will also open new investment areas to foreign investors, such as internet access services. The negative-list management that has been tested in pilot free trade zones will be applied nationwide. The negative list for foreign investors now only includes 95 items in which they are not allowed to invest.
There will also be an adjustment in the withholding tax. The withholding tax, whose rate in China is 10%, will be exempted for profits earned by foreign companies in China if the profits are used to reinvest in another project, instead of being transferred to the home country. It will also be made easier for high-level professionals to obtain visas and work permits.
Xu Hongcai, Deputy Chief Economist at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, said that the new guidelines show China’s determination to go against the global protectionist trend. Details of the new measures will be announced by the end of September.
At first glance, foreign direct investment (FDI) in China is not so important. FDI has accounted for only about 2.5% of China’s gross capital formation and foreign invested enterprises (FIEs) have supplied around 0.5% of its fixed asset investment (FAI). The contribution to GDP of the net exports (exports minus imports) of foreign-invested companies is only about 2%.
However, FIEs generate more than 20% of sales, employment, and value-added in China’s industrial sector, and in some advanced areas the percentages are substantially higher. Since the industrial sector accounts for roughly half of China’s GDP, industrial FIEs contribute approximately 10% of China’s GDP just through their own operations.
When all of their contributions are included, the total impact of the FIEs in the industral and services sectors rises to about 33% of GDP. Due to the positive impact of FDI and FIEs on China’s economy, the government wants to further promote foreign investment, which also facilitates several of its initiatives, such as the Belt and Road initiative and the Made in China 2025 strategy, the South China Morning Post reports.
Restructuring of China state-owned enterprises continues with entry of private capital
By : fcccadmin
Cofco Capital Investment is lining up seven strategic investors, attracting CNY6.90 billion of funds for its mixed-ownership reform that is aimed at boosting its competitiveness. The China Structural Reform Fund Corp will inject CNY800 million of capital and become the fifth largest shareholder in Cofco Capital. Other shareholders include Beijing Capital Agribusiness Group, Guangdong Wen’s Foodstuff, Shanghai International Group and other financial institutions.
“The combination of state-owned with private capital, and the agricultural industry with finance, will create a platform of harmony and cooperation, that will better serve the internationalization of COFCO’s agriculture supply chain,” China Chengtong said.
China has called for the restructuring of state-owned enterprises to advance its supply side reforms, with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) approving the third batch of state firms in a pilot scheme for mixed-ownership of state and private capital.
China United Network Communications Group has sold a 35.2% stake in Hong Kong-listed China Unicom to 14 big companies for CNY 78 billion, including Alibaba Group Holding, Tencent, Baidu, Suning and JD.com. Still, state firms will still own a large majority in the world’s sixth-largest mobile network operator by subscribers.
China United said the “mixed ownership reform” would “further optimize its corporate governance in accordance with market-oriented principles and enhance its overall efficiency and competitiveness”. Through mergers, the number of centrally-managed SOEs has been reduced to 99, down from 196 in 2003. President Xi Jinping has called for SOEs to maintain a controlling and influential role in the overall economy.
Ford sets up electric vehicle JV, Great Wall to bid for Fiat
By : fcccadmin
Ford Motor Co has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Chinese car manufacturer Anhui Zotye Automobile Co to establish a 50-50 joint venture to produce electric vehicles (EVs). Vehicles will be sold under an indigenous brand owned by the new joint venture.
The joint venture marks a major step for Ford’s electrification initiatives in China. Earlier this year, Ford said that 70% of its vehicles sold in China will have electrified powertrain options by 2025. China is the fastest-growing market in the world for new energy vehicles. In the first seven months of this year, sales of electric vehicles hit 204,000 units, up 33.6% year-on-year, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). Ford expects the market for new-energy vehicles in China to grow to six million units annually by 2025, of which around 4 million vehicles will be all-electric.
China’s Great Wall Motor Co is interested in bidding for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), a company official said, confirming reports it is pursuing all or part of the owner of the Jeep and Ram truck brands. FCA Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne is seeking a partner or buyer for the world’s seventh-largest automaker to help it manage rising costs, comply with emissions regulations and develop technology for electric and self-driving cars.
Great Wall Motor is China’s largest sport-utility vehicle (SUV) and pick-up manufacturer. If the deal goes ahead, it would be by far China’s largest overseas automotive industry deal – and possibly one of its largest ever overseas purchases – at USD20 billion dwarfing Geely’s acquisition of Volvo cars in 2010. FCA is larger than Great Wall, which has a market value of about USD16 billion.
Great Wall is especially interested in the Jeep brand, which targets sales of 2 million vehicles in 2018, up from 1.4 million in 2016, and could eventually reach 7 million a year as demand for sporty vehicles is set to keep rising. Great Wall said however that no talks had started yet.
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