2021 - Jul 09, 2021

Breakfast seminar: China in the post-COVID era: behind record economic growth, what (new) risks & opportunities for Swiss companies?”

To read more in French, click here.

Very engaging presentations followed by a lively Q&A Friday July 2nd at Microcity Neuchâtel. On the topic “China in the post-COVID era: behind record economic growth, what (new) risks & opportunities for Swiss companies?”, Nicolas Musy, founder of Swiss Centers and China Integrated, followed by Joe Liu, managing director of Fraisa China and president of SwissCham Shanghai, shared their analysis and views on the subject.

Nicolas Musy, with more than 30 years of experience in business development in China, shared the latest developments, especially related to the COVID pandemic and the trade war with the US. The “dual circulation” strategy, announced 1 year ago by President Xi Jinping, the role of innovation, the increase of exports, the growth of the middle class and its consumption were discussed. At the same time, several issues were raised, such as the country’s growth model based on massive state investment in infrastructure projects.

Click here to read Presentation of Nicolas Musy.

This raised a fundamental question: Can domestic consumption and innovation, encouraged by “dual circulation”, become the main engine of China’s growth while the potential for infrastructure investment is diminishing?

While the answer is divisive, one thing is certain: the country continues to get richer at a rapid pace, albeit very unevenly: for example, did you know that in 2020 China “produced” 2 new billionaires every 3 days and saw the sale of luxury goods jump by 49%?

Joe Liu presented the particular case of Fraisa, an independent company that has been supplying high-precision Swiss tools since 1934. Fraisa has been present in China since 2003 and has gradually expanded until it established its own WOFE in 2018. This constant adaptation to the market reality has allowed them to finally not be affected by the pandemic and even, on the contrary, to experience a record growth in 2020 and double digits over the last 3 years! The future looks very promising for Fraisa in the Chinese market with ambitious sales targets and a significant increase in the number of employees.

Click here to read Presentation of Joe Liu.

Nearly 45 people with a varied profile attended the conference: C-level managers from start-ups and SMEs active in various fields, representatives of umbrella associations and cantonal government, who came from all over the canton of Neuchâtel but also from Basel, Geneva and Zurich!

And you: would you like to better understand the concrete opportunities for your domain on this attractive but complex market that is China? Do not hesitate to contact us!

 

About Swiss Centers China (SCC):

Founded in 2000 as a non-profit Sino-Swiss public-private partnership, the Swiss Centers China (SCC) are by far the largest cluster of Swiss companies in Asia.

SCC’s practical solutions supported the businesses of over 400 companies in China – both SMEs and large enterprises. Among them, SCC’s have established more than 100 companies in China, both B2B and B2C, production companies and offices, active in various fields. In cooperation with the diplomatic representations in China, SCC also conducts surveys that provide the most detailed expertise available on the situation of Swiss companies in China, and at the same time promotes the Swiss Made brand and Switzerland as a country for quality, innovation and industrial leadership.

With locations strategically situated on China’s dynamic East Coast (Shanghai and Tianjin), SCC provide :

  • Instant physical office space as well as ready-to-use workshops, showrooms and warehouses;
  • Relations with local Chinese authorities and connections to Swiss government and institutions in China;
  • Support for secure technology transfer and intellectual property protection;
  • Access to professional services tailored to SMEs in all aspects of setting up and developing business in China (legal, tax, accounting, recruitment, HR management, IT, marketing).

For more information and some reference cases, kindly visit www.swisscenters.org

 

Speakers: 

Nicolas Musy

-MSc. Physics Engineering from Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), Lausanne.
-Project Manager and Managing Director of the first industrial Swiss SME in China, and Managing Director of LX Precision, first Swiss precision turned parts enterprise established in China.
-Working and residing in Shanghai since 1988.
-Founder of China integrated in 1997 and of the Swiss Centers China in 2001.
-CEO Alexander Hughes China.
-Established and successfully implemented strategies for more than 100 companies and institutions.
-Coordinating the Chinese relations for the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne since 2006.
-Delivering regular seminars for EMBAs and Publishing analysis and articles about China.

 

Joe Liu

-English and German speaker, Joe has an education background in mechanical engineering. He then obtained an EMBA from Washington University in St. Louis (USA).

-Joe is currently the managing Director of FRAISA China, a Swiss-based family-owned company, which plays a technical leading position in cutting tool section. He started 10 year ago in China as the first employee and built up a local sales team. In 2018, he was able to establish the company as a WOFE.

-At the same time, Joe is the President of Swiss Chamber of Commerce (SwissCham) in Shanghai. In this framework and with the support of Board of Directors from SWISSMEM in Zurich, he has created the SMA (Swiss Machining Association), which is the machinery committee of SwissCham.

 

Romain Barrabas

-Graduating in 2013 with a Multidisciplinary Master in Asian Studies (University of Geneva, Graduate Institute Geneva), Romain is currently based in Switzerland where he works as a Customer Relations Executive for Swiss Centers China, a non-profit organization that has been supporting Swiss companies wishing to expand into China for over 20 years.

-He spent most of the last decade in China: first in Nanjing to perfect his Mandarin and then in Shanghai in event management and communication for the watch manufacturer Breguet. He then spent more than 6 years in Beijing, at the Swiss Chamber of Commerce (SwissCham Beijing) as Marketing & Events Manager and then General Manager. Romain was then employed by the Embassy of Switzerland as Deputy Head of the Culture & Media Section. Finally, he chaired the Swiss School of Beijing for more than 3 years where he still serves as a member of the Board of Directors.

-In Switzerland, he has held positions in communication and sales for the watch brands Baume & Mercier and Girard-Perregaux.