The Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce and KBC Bank are organizing a briefing on “China’s economic outlook and key issues for foreign investors after the 19th Party Congress”. This event will take place on Wednesday 16 May 2018 from 9:00-11:00 at KBC Bank, Kortrijksesteenweg 1100, 9051 Ghent.

During this briefing, two bankers from KBC Bank in China will discuss the following topics:

• Economic outlook & key issues for foreign investors
• Major developments after the 19th Party Congress
• Opportunities for Belgian companies: Greater Bay Area, Belt & Road

Programme
08:30 Registration and networking
09:00 Introduction by Gwenn Sonck, Executive Director, Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce
09:10 Presentation by P.C Leung, General Manager, KBC Bank N.V. Shanghai Branch and William Ip, Head of Corporate Banking, KBC N.V. Hong Kong Branch
10:00 Q & A discussion

Practical Information
Location: KBC Bank, Kortrijksesteenweg 1100, 9051 Ghent
Price for members: €66,55 (incl. 21% VAT)
Price for non-members: €90,75 (incl. 21% VAT)

If you are interested in participating in this event, please subscribe before 11 May 2018. GO TO THIS EVENT

Contact
FCCC: info@flanders-china.be

About the speakers

P.C Leung, General Manager, KBC Bank N.V. Shanghai Branch
After 10 years with Bank of China Group, P. C. joined KBC Bank Hong Kong Branch at 1991 as Financial Controller. He started his China banking career in KBC Bank Shanghai Branch in 1997. He also worked in KBC Bank Taiwan Branch for 3 years thereafter. He is now the General Manager of KBC Bank Shanghai Branch. P.C. earned a MBA degree and a Master of Information System degree. He is a Chartered Professional Accountant of Canada.

William Ip, Head of Corporate Banking
Joining KBC Bank NV Hong Kong Branch since 2006, William Ip is now the Head of Corporate Banking. He has been working in the commercial banking field with primary focuses on credit and relationship management over 25 years. Prior to KBC, William had worked for Bank of China Group, Fortis Bank and DBS. William earned his bachelor degree in Industrial Economics from University of Warwick and master degree in Financial Management from University of London.

The Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce is organizing a luncheon focused on “China Insights: Partner Choice, Know-how Protection and Contract Enforcement”. This event will take place on Thursday 26 April at 12h00 in Brussels.

Keynote speaker: Mr Jan Holthuis, Partner at Buren N.V.

The topics discussed will be the following:
• Chinese partners background checks: what information is available in China? What are the most important facts to get?
• Technology transfer: Strategies to protect your know-how and IP
• Chinese legal practice: Can a foreign party win in Chinese courts

12h00 Registration & Networking lunch
12h30 Welcome by Gwenn Sonck, Executive Director,
Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce
12h35 Presentation by Mr Jan Holthuis, Partner at Buren NV
Q & A Session

If you are interested in this event, please subscribe before 24 April 2018 via this link: https://goo.gl/vPLfeJ

Price for members: 65 € excl VAT
Price for non-members: 95 € excl VAT

GO TO THIS EVENT

About the speaker

Jan Holthuis
Mr Jan Holthuis, partner at Buren N.V. is an experienced advisor in China-related cross-border M&A , international litigation and intellectual property related disputes. Jan is active in the China legal practice since 1995 and predominantly living and working in China.

Jan is a Dutch qualified lawyer and a solicitor registered with the Law Society of England & Wales. He is a visiting lecturer at Erasmus University (Chinese commercial and corporate law and practice), Wageningen University (Chinese agricultural law and practice) and East China University of Politics and Law in Shanghai (Intellectual Property dispute settlement & technology transfers). Jan is also a registered arbitrator at the China International Economic Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC) and at the Shanghai International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (SHAIC) / Shanghai International Arbitration Center (SIAC).

Jan holds various positions at multinational companies operating in China and Europe and is involved in China strategy decision-making processes.

The Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce (FCCC) and the Province of East-Flanders are organizing an information session on the opportunities of participating in the Belgian garden at the World Horticulture Expo in Beijing in 2019. The seminar will be held on 23 April 2019 at 17:30 at PAC – Het Zuid, Woodrow Wilsonplein 2, 9000 in Ghent.

The World Horticulture Expo, themed ‘Live Green, Live Better’, will be held from April 29 till October 7, 2019. The Expo covers an area of 503 hectares, of which the Belgian garden will cover 1,500 square meters to promote Belgian horticulture. The organizers expect to welcome 16 million visitors, 20% from outside China. Expo 2019 will be organized for the first time in the vicinity of the Great Wall.

The Expo will focus on green technology, the best available technology and innovative applications, including vertical cultivation, multilayer cultivation and hydroponics.

Programme

17:30 Registration
18:00 Welcome by Martine Verhoeve, Vice Governor Foreign Affairs and Economy, Province of East-Flanders
18:10 – 18:20 Introduction by Gwenn Sonck, Executive Director, Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce
18:20 – 18:35 Speech by Pieter Van Oost, Secretary, Belgian Nurserymen and Growers Federation (AVBS)
18:35 – 18:55 “The Belgian garden at the World Horticulture Expo”, by Aldwin Dekkers, Belgian Commissioner General’s Office of International Expositions, FOD Economy
18:55 – 19:10 Testimonial Deroose Plants & Exotic Plant in China, by Reginald Deroose, CEO
19:05 – 19:20 Q&A
19:20 – 20:00 Networking

Practical information

Location: PAC Het Zuid, Woodrow Wilsonplein 2, 9000 Ghent
Starting at 17:30
Participation is free of charge.

Please register before April 20, 2018 GO TO THIS EVENT

Contact: FCCC info@flanders-china.be

“Building a win-win partnership through the art of negotiation”

The Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce, VOKA West Flanders and the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business have the pleasure to invite you to the workshop: ‘Negotiating with the Chinese: Cultural Roots & Practical Recommendations’, which will take place on April 24 at 13h30 at Bekaert NV, Bekaertstraat 2, 8550 Zwevegem.

Mr Bo Ji, Chief Representative Europe & Assistant Dean Global Executive Education of the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, will be the keynote speaker.

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. It delivers direct impact on a company’s bottom line to support individuals who are doing business with a fast-changing China.

Attendees will gain a comparative understanding of the practical Chinese and Western approaches to negotiation as well as sharpen their own negotiation skills through learning from multiple case studies and real-life contexts. Furthermore, they will identify the cultural roots behind business scenarios, which will provide them with the knowledge to reshape their strategies and tactics. The attending business leaders will also learn to optimize their approach to a win-win value creation through negotiating with the Chinese to achieve a sustainable partnership.

Programme

13:30 Registration
14:00-14:15 Opening Remarks by Ms Gwenn Sonck, Executive Director, Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce
14:15-15:00 China vs West: different cultural negotiating models
15:00-15:45 Chinese cultural roots and elements to shape the negotiating skills
15:45-16:00 Break
16:00-16:45 Strategies that lead you to a better negotiation outcome
16:45-17:00 Group discussion
17:00-18:00 Networking

If you are interested in attending this event, please register here.

Practical information
Location: Bekaertstraat 2, 8550 Zwevegem
Price for members: € 180 (excl. VAT) – Price for non-members: € 240 (excl. VAT)

Contact
Ms. Lijuan Yu – CKGSB: lijuanyu-pt@ckgsb.edu.cn
FCCC: info@flanders-china.be

The Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce and Startups.be have the pleasure to invite you to our conference on ‘Unicorn or Dragon: How to Tap into the Chinese Market for Growth?’ on Wednesday 25 April 2018 from 17:30-19:30 at BECENTRAL, Cantersteen 10, 1000 Brussels.

With a population over 1.3 billion and 1 billion cyber citizens, sharing 1/5 of world GDP, China is now the second largest economy in the world. It is definitely a booming market.

Global business leaders consider China as a key market in their global business strategies. Chinese business models, consumer behaviours, e-commerce, and social media have changed tremendously in the last 30 years.

It is essential for entrepreneurs to understand the way of doing business in China taking into account the important potential of the Chinese market. Expanding to China becomes a must but with challenges to lead ahead.

This event provides a unique opportunity for start-ups to learn how to avoid failures, overcome difficulties and succeed in China. It provides participants with deep insights about Chinese business models and ways to enter the Chinese Market.

CEOs, founders and managers from start-ups and growth companies. People who are interested in doing business with China.

Agenda:
17:00 Signup & Networking
17:20 Welcome by startups.be
17:30 Speech by Gwenn Sonck, Executive Director, Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce
17:40 Keynote Speech “Unicorn or Dragon: How to tap into the Chinese Market for Growth”
Bo Ji, Chief Representative & Assistant Dean of CKGSB Europe
18:40 Q&A Session
18:50 Networking

If you are interested in the event, please subscribe here before 23 April 2018. FCCC members free, non-members: €55.

From 9 – 13 July 2018, Startups.be and EYnovation organise a high-level startup mission to Hong Kong and Shenzhen, with a focus on fintech, IOT and health. It is a perfect opportunity to discover the fast- growing Shenzhen and Hong Kong ecosystems by attending Asia’s most important startup conference (RISE Conference) and meet all the important players in the local communities.

Bo Ji is an inspiring TEDx speaker, a Chinapreneur, and a game changer for global startups expanding into China

Bo is currently the Assistant Dean & Chief Representative for Europe at Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (CKGSB), a top business school with more than 10,000 Chairman/CEO level alumni in China. Bo had an over-20-year successful business career in Global Business Development, Innovation, Strategy, Supply Chain Management, M&A, etc. He served as the senior executive at the headquarters of many fortune 500 companies such as Monsanto, Cargill, Pfizer, Wrigley, and Mars. He is also a well-sought conference speaker.

Combining his extensive business experiences and in-depth knowledge, Bo has been teaching EMBA/MBA at some of the world’s most prestigious business schools such as INSEAD, Esade, MIT, New York University, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Technology University of Munich, Tsinghua University, CKGSB, Zhejiang University, Sun Yat-Sen University, Shanghai Jiaotong University and Taiwan’s National Chengchi University etc. In addition, Bo also offers advice to Chairmen and CEOs. He is also a frequent speaker at renowned international conferences, forums, TV media and annual corporate meetings.

Bo created the first ever “China Start” program to systematically bring global startups to China. Bo is a strong advocate of startup China expansion. He is instrumental in developing “China Start” program to help European startups to expand to China. He frequently appears at tech conference all across Europe as keynote speaker.

About Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business
Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (CKGSB) aims to cultivate business leaders with a global vision, a humanistic spirit, a strong sense of social responsibility and an innovative mindset. Established in Beijing in November 2002 with generous support from the Li Ka Shing Foundation, CKGSB is China’s first faculty-governed, non-profit, independent business school.

Since its founding, CKGSB has developed into a prominent business school with more than 40 full-time professors, who have earned their PhDs or held tenured faculty positions at leading business schools such as Harvard, Wharton and Stanford. Their research has provided the basis for more than 400 case studies of both China-specific and global issues. CKGSB also stands apart for its unmatched alumni network. More than half of CKGSB’s 10,000+ alumni are at the CEO or Chairman level and, together, their companies’ revenues account for 1/5 of China’s GDP.

CKGSB strives to understand business in a better-rounded capacity, beyond the traditional boundaries of business schools. For instance, in 2005, CKGSB pioneered the integration of the humanities into its curricula to give students a long-term and holistic view of business and development. The school’s EMBA students—more than 80% of whom are above the Vice President level—are also required to complete six days of community work before receiving their degrees. In 2014, CKGSB was the first Chinese business school to develop a philanthropy program aimed at equipping the school’s alumni with expertise on setting up and managing foundations and engaging in philanthropy.

CKGSB is also Mainland China’s most globalized business school. Besides its three campuses in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, the school has established offices in London, New York and Hong Kong. Moreover, it has formed strategic partnerships for joint programs and research with leading schools worldwide, such as Columbia Engineering in the US, IMD in Switzerland and FDC in Brazil.

The school offers the following innovative courses: MBA, Finance MBA, Executive MBA, Business Scholars Program (DBA); and Executive Education programs.

For more information, please visit http://english.ckgsb.edu.cn/