The Antwerp Dragon Boat Race is organized on Saturday the 16th September 2017 by Antwerp Rotary-West, in Kattendijkdok-Antwerp. Dragon boat racing comes from China and is a very old famous Chinese tradition. These boats are 12 m long, with dragonhead in front and dragon tail at the end. A team of 16 rowers paddle on the rhythm of a drummer. The Antwerp Dragon Boat Festival is not only a teambuilding event for companies but also an excellent opportunity to invite their customers and co-workers + family, in one of the largest summer happenings in Antwerp. The entrance is completely free and last year over 6,000 visitors enjoyed the popular atmosphere around the water with live performances of Flemish crooners, DJ sets, Asian drum band, kids village, magicians, etc, topped with excellent catering, oyster and champagne bar, traditional snacks and Belgian beer. The event is covered on social media, newspapers and television (ATV). Last year, more than 50 company teams participated in the regatta, including Boortmalt, Jan De Nul Group, S, Q8, Meeus, Egemin, De Keyser Thornton, BASF, PSA, BDM, Monsanto, Total, Vandeputte, Verbeke, MSC, Imtech, Alcatel, BNP Paribas, Cepa, Contec, Evonik, Ivens, Messer, ING, Steel Force, Antwerp Terminal, Vopak, Brabo, etc. The profits of the Antwerp Dragon Festival will be donated to local charity works supported by the Rotary.

Find more info for participation and prices on: www.drakenbootfestival.be

The Qingdao SME Procurement at Home and Abroad and Investment Cooperation Negotiation Meeting will be held on 23 June 2017 in Qingdao, Shandong province.

More information is available here.

The ASEM High-Level Forum on Digital Connectivity will take place in Qingdao on June 19-20, 2017. This Forum is a follow-up event to the 11th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) held in July 2016, and co-organized by China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China and Ministry of Commerce of China.

19-20 June 2017 Shangri-La Hotel, Qingdao, China

Tentative Programme

18 June 2017 (Sunday) All day Arrival of Delegates
09:30 Optional Field Trip: Visits will be arranged to Qingdao Hi-tech
Development Zone, West Coast New District, Blue Silicon Valley,
Sino-German Ecological Park, Haier Group, Hisense Group, Red Collar
Group and etc.

19 June 2017 (Monday)
08:00 Registration
09:00 Opening Ceremony (Conference Hall, 2nd Floor, Qingdao Shangri-La Hotel) MC: Yin Zonghua, Deputy Chairman of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT)
Speech: JIANG Zengwei, Chairman of CCPIT
Welcome Remarks: Governor of Shandong Province
Speeches: High-Level Representatives from Co-Sponsors and other ASEM Members
Keynote Speech: … from the State Council of China (TBC)
10:20-10:40 Coffee Break
10:40 Plenary Session: Digital Connectivity – Unleashing Potential for Innovative Growth
Moderator: Yu Jianlong, Secretary-General of China Chamber of International Commerce (CCOIC)
Keynote Speeches by government officials and entrepreneurs from ASEM partners as well as international organization representatives
12:15 Buffet Lunch (Ballroom, 3rd Floor, Qingdao Shangri-La Hotel)
14:00 Session I: IT Industry Cooperation and Development
As IT technology keeps upgrading, Asia and Europe are in need of enhancing cooperation in IT industries and promoting connectivity to create “digital Asia-Europe”. This session will discuss current status, experience and cooperative directions of IT industry, IT industry development and copyright protection, Internet of Things/Internet of Vehicles, internet and finance, next generation of Internet and electric power development, Smart City building, shared economy – integrated development of IT industry and traditional industries and etc.
14:00 Session II: Digital Infrastructure
Infrastructure is the cornerstone of digital connectivity. The member countries of ASEM are working on filling the vast gap in digital world, raising investment for digital infrastructure and exploring potential of digital economy. This session will discuss current development, characteristics and cooperative visions of the construction of digital infrastructure, issues of opening international telecommunication market, case study on digital infrastructure investment, construction of telecommunication network (cross-border cables), market operation of digital infrastructure, digital infrastructure and 5G network, financing of digital
infrastructure and etc.(Session I and Session II are in parallel）
18:00 Reception and Dinner (Ballroom, 3rd Floor, Qingdao Shangri-La Hotel)

20 June 2017 (Tuesday)
09:00 Session III: Cross-Border E-commerce
As fundamental technology to drive the globalization of trade, cross-border e-commerce dose not only overcome the barriers of states, but also leads the revolution of international trade. This session will discuss trends of cross-border e-commerce, internet upgrading and new opportunities for cross-border e-commerce, effective methods to simplify goods imports-exports and transit procedures such as “single window”, payment and clearing, rights and interests protection, business cooperation in cross-border e-commerce and etc.
09:00 Session IV: Big Data and Industry Upgrading
The development and application of big data will stipulate the growth of productivity. Both traditional and emerging industrial countries highly value the integration of big data and manufacturing. This session will discuss intelligent manufacturing in Asia and Europe, big data for small and medium enterprises, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and service robot industry, security issues of big data, future of big data and cloud computing and etc. (Session III and Session IV are in parallel）
11:00 Coffee Break
11:10 Closing Ceremony (Conference Hall, 2nd Floor, Qingdao Shangri-La Hotel) MC: (TBC)
Moderators of the four sessions report to the plenary on the discussion.
Adoption of the outcome document (TBC)
Closing Remarks by officials from Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, CCPIT and
Co-Sponsors
12:00 Buffet Lunch (Ballroom, 3rd Floor, Qingdao Shangri-La Hotel

A registration form is available by sending an e-mail to info@flanders-china.be

The Bank of China, in partnership with EUROCHAMBERS, and supported by the EU-SME Centre and the EU-China Business Association (EUCBA), is organizing the 2017 China- EU SME Cross-Border Investment and Trade Conference.

More than 200 companies have already registered to this event. More than 100 Chinese companies will be available to discuss business opportunities.

Several subsidiaries of the Alibaba Group will be present, among which Ant Financial Services Group, formerly known as Alipay. This company operates the Alipay payment platform. It also runs the Zhima credit rating system. For our event, Ant Financial Services Group will be allocated in the E-Commerce and Overseas Tourism sector.

Alibaba Cloud is another subsidiary of the Alibaba Group. Alibaba Cloud provides computer services covering Iaas, Paas, Saas, big data and bespoke solutions.

However, the best known Alibaba company in this group is Alibaba.com (Europe) Ldt, which is the leading English-language wholesale marketplace for global trade. Buyers on Alibaba.com, who are located in more than 200 countries and regions all over the world, are typically trade agents, wholesalers, retailers, manufacturers and SMEs engaged in the import and export business. (www.alibaba.com).

Belgian and European companies will be able to discuss with them the possibility of entering the Chinese market through their internet channel. There will be plenty of opportunities for future cooperation.

Companies are divided into sectors. Most of the companies already registered come from the following sectors:

• agriculture and food
• high-end equipment manufacturing
• high technology
• environment and renewable energies

Matching will be done through the B2B platform. This will allow to maximize the matches and to ensure the quality of each bilateral meeting.

The updated website www.bocsmeevent.com will give you a lot of additional information on this exceptional event.

The presence of Alibaba will allow a very large group of entrepreneurs to open the path to China. E-commerce is indeed a giant opportunity to establish direct links with the Chinese end consumers.

Time: 2 June 2017.
Venue: Brussels
Participating enterprises: 100 Chinese enterprises and 200 EU enterprises will be invited to attend the Cross-Border Matchmaking Event, which conducts several rounds of “One to One” negotiation and connection.
Industry focus: & Food Industry; Pharmacy & Health Care; Chemical Industry; E-Commerce; Environment and Renewable Energies; High Technology; High-end Equipment Manufacturing; Winter Sports and Cross-Border Tourism
Advantages:

• During the 19thEU-China Summit
• To realise China-EU bilateral benefits – Multi-Industry Matchmaking
• One to one on site negotiations
• Debt-Equity Combination Financing – BOC Customized Service

Fee: Registration: Free of Charge
Lunch and Coffee Breaks: Provided by BOC for all Participants
Interpreters (Chinese-English): Available during the Conference
Registration: www.bocsmeevent.eu
Contacts:
Tel: 0032-2405 6663；0032-2405 6691
Email: sme.be@bankofchina.com
sme.be@mail.notes.bank-of-china.com
Contact Address : 20 Avenue des Arts, 1000 Brussels, Belgium

The 2017 Chinese Enterprises Outbound Investment Conference will be held on May 26-27 at Meixi Lake Hotel in Changsha, Hunan province.

Program:
Friday, May 26, 2017

14:00-17:00     Registration
18:00-20:00     Welcome dinner (by invitation only)
Welcome speeches by Mr. Wang Jinzhen, Vice Chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) and by the Governor of Hunan province

Saturday, May 27, 2017
08:00                Registration
09:00-09:40    Opening ceremony hosted by the Changsha Municipal Government
09:40-10:00     Agreement signing ceremony and release
10:00-10:20     Coffee break
10:20-11:20      Plenary session 1: Tendency of transnational investment – keynote speaker of the Development Research Center of the State Council
11:20-12:20      Plenary session 2: International cooperation on production capacity – keynote speaker of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC)
12:20-13:30     Buffet luncheon
13:30-15:10      Parallel meeting 1: Agricultural international cooperation – keynote speaker of the Ministry of Agriculture
Parallel meeting 2: Overseas economic and trade cooperation zone – keynote speaker of the Ministry of Commerce

15:10-15:30     Coffee break
15:20-17:10     Parallel meeting 3: Support service for transnational investment – keynote speaker of the Silk Road Fund
Parallel meeting 4: Intelligent manufacturing – keynote speaker of the Sany Heavy Industry Co
17:30               Buffet dinner

Confirmation of attendance to be received before May 10.

Contacts:
Ms. Zhang Yingping zhangyingping@ccpit.org
Mr. Yu Biao yubiao@ccpit.org
Ms. Guan Cong guancong@ccpit.org