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Swiss
Centers Winter Newsletter December 2023
Dear Members, Partners and Friends,
While we
approach the end of another remarkable year, filled with challenges and
triumphs, moments of growth and resilience, and a tapestry of
experiences that have shaped us as an organization. Looking back in the
past year, Swiss Centers had the pleasure taking part in various events
and meetings facilitating Sino-Swiss economic relations, with quite a
number of high-level Chinese delegations coming to Switzerland, then in
November we organized successfully a Fact-Finding
Mission to China with 14 participants from Swiss institutions and companies.
At the 6th China International Import Expo (CIIE), the Swiss Centers Booth joining
27 brands under one roof has attracted the numerous Chinese visitors as
well the media attention, including the most viewed news program on the
Chinese Central Television. We have also participated and contributed
to the 2023 Academic Evaluation Report of the Sino-Swiss Free
Trade Agreement, which will
celebrate its 10-year anniversary next year.
Reflecting on
the past year, let us recognize the significance of building bridges
and physical interactions between the two countries and its people.
After 2023, a year of re-connecting and re-discovery, we look forward
to seeing and supporting more exchanges and visits, which will lead to concrete
and fruitful business development. We also look forward to having a new
Customer Success Manager joining our
dynamic team based in Shanghai,
Thanks to all
the members and partners, for your continuous trust and support. On
behalf of the Swiss Centers team, I wish you and your loved ones a
Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year!
Zhen XIAO
CEO
Swiss Centers
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Contents
§ New
Members
§ Renewed Members
§
Human Resources
§ Events and Activities in
Switzerland
§ Events and Activities in
China
§ Fact-Finding Mission:
(Re)discover China
§ Follow Us
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New Members
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IMD
is an independent academic institute with close ties to business and a
strong focus on impact. Through their Executive Education, MBA,
Executive MBA, and advisory work they help leaders and policymakers
navigate complexity and change. They support the transition to a new
model that balances prosperity and growth with ecological
sustainability and social inclusion.
Sustainability and diversity,
equity, and inclusion are in their DNA. They combine a deep understanding
of human dynamics with a pioneering approach to technology and AI.
They deliver powerful learning experiences for individuals and teams
across the globe.
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MTAG Switzerland is an
international engineering corporation specialized in the development of
innovative, efficient, and modernized solutions for the Steel Industry.
Our experience enables us to provide our customers with innovative
technological solutions and products.
They became leaders in
secondary metallurgy technology solutions by supporting the production
of high-quality steel for almost 30 years.
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Bcomp is the leading
solutions provider for natural fibre reinforcements in high performance
applications from race to space.
Today, Bcomp is
a leader in natural fiber composites for sustainable lightweighting.
Their solutions are found from sports and motorsports to automotive
interiors, luxury sailing yachts, bridges, and satellite panels. They
believe in providing solutions, combining product performance with deep
engineering knowledge, marketing communications and customer support
all the way from idea to final product.
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Renewed
Members
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Founded in 1988, Sukano developed the state-of-the-art,
market reference slip/antiblock additive masterbatch for PET
applications. Headquartered in Switzerland, it is a family-owned
business with a global distribution network and production facilities
in Europe, the Middle East & Africa, the Americas and Asia
Pacific.
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AlpVision is the world’s leader in
anti-counterfeiting digital technologies for product authentication
and counterfeit protection. In 2001, the company invented a
breakthrough authentication technology, which is widely used today by
Forbes 2000 companies. AlpVision reached profitability in 2003 and
has grown steadily ever since. AlpVision’s digital
anti-counterfeiting solutions for product authentication are
applicable to a wide variety of items, including packaging and
labelling, plastic and metal products, and high-value documents. Our
anti-counterfeiting solutions are commercialized worldwide under
license agreements as entirely customizable turnkey computerized
systems.
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Human
Resources
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Yulia Jin, who joined Swiss Centers in 2014, has been
appointed as General Manager.
With her positive attitude,
persistence, deep understanding of Swiss and Chinese culture, Yulia has
successfully handled countless cases and events for our clients.
We look forward to working
with her for many more years and wish her lots of success and enjoyment
in her new position!
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Events and Activities in Switzerland
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Scene of event on China International
Import Expo (CIIE) Bureau visiting Geneva
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Just a month ago, we successfully completed our participation of
the 6th CIIE in #Shanghai; last week
in #Geneva, we welcomed a
delegation of the CIIE Bureau who
visited Switzerland to meet their partners in preparation for the 7th
CIIE and Hongqiao International Economic Forum.
On December 6th, we participated a Symposium co-organized by the
Chinese Ministry of Commerce and Hainan IEDB | Invest in
Hainan, to learn about the 3 main exhibitions in China: the
Hainan Expo, China International Import
Expo as well the China International Fair for Trade
in Services. In the presence of Vice Minister of Commerce, Mr. SHENG
Qiuping and Chinese Ambassador in Switzerland, Mr. WANG Shihting, the
Swiss participants could have direct and fruitful exchanges to share
their experiences and expectations for future editions of these
fairs.
Read
more
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Scene
of visiting the Manufacture Officine Panerai in Neuchâtel
On 27 June, Swiss Centers Group had the pleasure of being part
of the Neuchâtel delegation that received Wang Shihting, Ambassador of
China to Switzerland, who was also accompanied by a number of his
staff.
For the past 7 years, the Swiss Centers China have been
one of the partners of the Canton of Neuchâtel's Department of Economic
Affairs, now headed by Matthieu Aubert.
The Chinese delegation was first received by a delegation from
the State Council (cantonal government) at the Neuchâtel Castle, made
up of Alain Ribaux, Head of the
Department of Economy, Security and Culture, State Councillor Crystel Graf, Head of the
Department of Education, Digitalization and Sport, and State
Chancellor Séverine Despland.
Read
more
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Events and Activities
in China
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Swiss Centers
booth at CIIE 2023
On November 5,
the 6th edition of the China
International Import Expo opened in Shanghai. Being an official
partner of CIIE in Switzerland, Swiss Centers had a booth in the “Food
& Agricultural Products” area which welcomed 27 Swiss brands on
the joint Swiss Centers Cluster Booth, mostly active in the F & B
field.
On
November 7, we had the honor of welcoming Swiss Ambassador to
China Juerg Burri, accompanied by Swiss Consul
General in Shanghai Sacha Bachmann to our booth at CIIE. The Ambassador
made a tour around the booth, spending time at each of our exhibitors
to inquire about their experience at CIIE and afterwards enjoying some
coffee. As an organization dedicated to support Swiss companies develop
their businesses in China, we are extremely pleased and honored to be a
consistent stop of the embassy’s visit to the exhibition.
During
the visit of our Fact-finding mission delegation in the afternoon, our
founder, Nicolas Musy, presented two newly
selected Swiss Wine Promotion ambassadors with their
certificates. Christina Wanyi Li and Wang Zhao are
influencers and key opinion leaders in the Chinese wine industry and
are experts particularly in Swiss wine.
We
are proud for being featured in many media outlets, i.e., CCTV1's 19:00
China-wide news show "Xinwen Lianbo", which is China's
most important and one of the worldwide most watched news shows. CCTV+
(Video News Agency), Sina Finance Global, 看看新闻KNEWS, Financial News,
Daily Economic News, Today Minhang, Radio Shanghai,
Zhoudao Shanghai, which significantly
increases recognition and brings a
better visibility to all our exhibitors. We also had the
pleasure to be approached and interviewed by several KOLs, e.g.,
Fanfan who are very active on Chinese social networks.
We would like
to thank the main sponsors of the booth, Schindler Group,
FHH - Fondation Haute Horlogerie and WE.UBS.
Without their generous support, the booth and presence would be as
successful!
Sino-Swiss Business Reception @
CIIE 2023
On November 7th, 2023, the Swiss
Centers together with the
Consulate General of Switzerland in
Shanghai, successfully held the
annual Sino-Swiss Business Reception during the 6th CIIE.
Around 260 people
celebrated the end of the year and exchanged during the casual evening
reception. The Consul General, Mr. Sacha
Bachmann, delivered a key-note
speech, and the official part was concluded by a fruitful speech of
Swiss Ambassador to China, Mr. Jürg
Burri. With the inspiring speech of Mr. Ambassador, Jürg
Burri on the Sino-Swiss Business Reception, marked by its compelling
and friendly nature, was truly enlightening and reflective of the
impactful contributions you consistently make. As Mr. Ambassador, Jürg
Burri highlighted, after this year of reconnecting, we also expect more
exchanges and fruitful cooperations between the two countries.
We thank our main sponsors
for the support: Schindler Group, FHH - Fondation Haute Horlogerie, WE.UBS and Sika China; Without the generous support, the event could not
be held! Also, a big thanks to our various in-kind sponsors, Alpes
d’Or, Appenzeller Bier, Distillerie Louis Morand
& Cie SA, E.I.S,
Jura, Kübler Absinthe (Yves Kübler), Schuler Wine, JwB, Compers’5, Mövenpick Holding AG, IQAir, Alpine White, Kambly SA , La Pulovce, M-industry, Vitalp, AromaStick.
Scene of
Watches and Wonders in Shanghai
From Geneva to Shanghai!
We
are delighted to have contributed to CHARRIOL's (Charriol, Swiss watches and jewellery) presence at Watches and Wonders Shanghai, which took place
from September 13 to 17 at the West Bund Art Center. Alongside 13 other
Maisons, CHARRIOL presented its latest collections.
The Swiss Centers China were tasked with organizing
the #transport of exhibition and decoration
material, as well as gifts, in record time. Acting as #logistics service supplier, we handled
import & export #customs declaration, domestic
delivery, #warehouse and #stock #management, as well as general coordination
with the exhibition organizer, CHARRIOL designated #forwarder, #broker, warehouse and truck company.
A mission that required all the
expertise and reactivity of our teams, and especially our Trade &
Logistics Specialist Lucky Ding. One of the main #challenges was to ensure that the
transported goods arrived punctually before the start of the
exhibition, and also to quickly resolve a number of technical and
logistical obstacles inherent in express shipments. But thanks to
our #experience and #network, everything arrived on time for
what we hope will be a very successful tradeshow for CHARRIOL!
Charriol, Swiss watches and jewellery is a prestigious #luxury brand of #timepieces, fine #jewelry and accessories,
encompassing #fragrances, #eyewear and #leather goods. Founded in 1983 by
French entrepreneur Philippe Charriol (1942-2019), the brand remains an
independent enterprise. A network of 285 boutiques and 3,800 points of
sale distributes CHARRIOL's creations worldwide.
We thank CHARRIOL for their
confidence and look forward to future collaborations!
Read
more
Scene of 2 wine tasting events at
the residence of Swiss Ambassador
On December 14th and
15th, Swiss Centers China, on behalf of Swiss Wine Promotion (SWP), invited 3 Swiss wine
importers/representatives in China —E.I.S, Schuler St.Jakobskellerei, and KEJIA— participated in 2
wine tasting events showcasing the viticultural diversity of
Switzerland 🇨🇭. The events were hosted at the
residence of the Swiss Ambassador Juerg Burri.
The event commenced with a
welcoming address from Mr. Ambassador Burri, who expressed his warm
welcome to the guests and Swiss wine importers/representatives. Mr.
Ambassador Burri emphasized that Swiss wines not only represent Swiss
quality but also carry many lesser-known legendary stories. He hoped
that through such events, more people would come to understand and
appreciate Swiss wines.
Read
more
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Fact-Finding Mission: (Re)discover
China
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November 6th
marked the start of our fact-finding mission entitled “(Re)discover
China: from World Factory to Global Innovator?
Until November 11th, in #Shanghai, #Hangzhou and #Shenzhen, we were pursuing the dual
objective of:
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(Re)#connect with #China, a country that has been virtually isolated for almost
3 years;
·
to discover a
little-known aspect of China, namely the #innovation capabilities of companies
based there, both Chinese and foreign.
14
participants joined our fact-finding mission for a program that we
hope will be as informative as it is inspiring.
Frist
stop: Shanghai
On the first
day, we visited Schindler City, Schindler Group China's headquarter since
2017. The modern campus with around 325'000 m2 is home of a 200m test
tower, several factories, an R&D center (the biggest of Schindler
worldwide) and a training center.
The 2nd day
began with a visit to the first Chinese company on our trip: DeepBlue Technology Official. Founded in 2014 and a pioneer in
the #AI industry ecosystem, the Shanghai-based company
now has 1'000 employees. It is active in technologies as varied as
computer vision, autonomous driving, biological intelligence and
cognitive intelligence. Among their biggest successes in 2019 was the
launch of #Smart Panda Bus, whose special feature is its ability
to drive with AI without a driver, while remaining under human
supervision (= L4 Autonomous Vehicles). A lively exchange took place with
Dr. Li Zehan, Group Vice President.
The
afternoon was dedicated to a visit to the 6th China International Import Expo, of which we are the official
partner for Swiss participation. We first stopped by our booth to give an
insight into how the Swiss SMEs we host promote their products and
services in China. The (very!) many #visitors proved to be a great #success! An opportunity to enjoy a glass of
wine, savor a biscuit or try your hand at watchmaking...Swiss, of course!
The day
ended with our iconic Sino-Swiss Business Reception, co-organized with
the Swiss #Consulate in Shanghai and attended by a
record 260 participants. Juerg Burri, Swiss Ambassador to China, was our
guest of honour, gives a interesting keynote speech, The event was
moderated by Sacha Bachmann, Swiss Consul General in Shanghai.
Day 3, We
first had the pleasure of welcoming our 14 participants to our premises
in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone. Present here since 2014, we host around
20 companies (Fraisa (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., OM Pharma, ClaroSwiss Filtration Technology (Shanghai) Co.,
Ltd., Microdia SA , MTAG Switzerland, etc.) who benefit from the many
advantages offered by this zone to companies importing into China.
Second
stop: Hangzhou
Day 4 for the 14 participants
in our fact-finding mission, we began with a visit to Alibaba
Cloud, founded in 2009 and a
subsidiary of the world-famous group of the same name Alibaba Group. Alibaba Cloud is one of the early players in this
field and is now present in 89 zones almost everywhere in the world. No.
1 in Asia, they also rank 3rd worldwide, with a 7.8% market share (by
2022). They are active in #financial services, #retail, #media and
#entertainment, #manufacturing and #web3.0.
The second
part of the day was devoted to a meeting with Lucas Rondez who has been based in Hangzhou
for the past 15 years. A true serial #entrepreneur, he now heads TAROMED, an innovative #medical equipment and supply company,
specialized in producing #protective #equipment for #healthcare professionals and civil
workers such as isolation gowns and liquid collection solutions.
Third
stop: Shenzhen
Day 5 we
visited 2 giants: BYD
and DJI. BYD was founded in 1995 and is a global
manufacturing conglomerate with a focus on #battery-driven products. Their portfolio
today includes #automobiles, #rail systems and solar panels. BYD's automobile segment has been especially successful,
overtaking #Tesla as the world's largest #EV manufacturer last year. We then visited DJI, by far the world's largest manufacturer of
consumer #drones. In addition to this well-known aspect, since
2020 the company has been developing a line of professional drones and
cameras, in partnership with Hasselblad. Founded in 2006 with a staff of
20, DJI now
employs 14,000 people, 20% of whom work in R&D.
For our
final evening, we co-organized with the #Consulate General of #Switzerland in #Guangzhou, the Swiss Business Hub China and SwissCham China South China chapter a
Sino-Swiss Business Afterwork in the SanYou bar, part of the Hope Group,
founded by 2 EHL alumni Bastien Ciocca and Andrew Ho.
For this 6th
day, we turned our attention to one of the world's best-known Chinese
companies: Huawei, where we had the chance to visit both their #HQ, where we visited their exhibition hall dedicated to
their B2B solutions. Then, after an hour's drive, the doors of their
Songshan Lake #Campus opened up to us.
All in all,
a visit as inspiring as it was informative, ending a dense week’s travel
that was as much about (re)connecting with China as it was about
discovering the innovative capabilities of companies based there, both
Chinese and foreign.
Finally, we
would like to sincerely thank all the participants in this fact-finding
mission for their presence, the many discussions, and the excellent
atmosphere throughout this dense trip!
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Follow Us
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SWISS CENTERS 2023
The Swiss Centers are invested and developed by
Foundation Swiss Centers, a non-profit foundation registered in
Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
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IN CHINA
A301, BLDG 3, 526 FUTE NO.3 RD
200131 PUDONG
SHANGHAI PILOT FREE TRADE ZONE
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IN SWITZERLAND
AVENUE DE
CHAMPS-MONTANTS 12B
2074 MARIN
NEUCHATEL
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www.swisscenters.org | admin@swisscenters.org
Call us: +86 21 2076 5593
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