Some activities of Beijing Rotary Club early 2017

See the pics with their respective dates, Beijing Rotary Club early 2017 has been pretty busy and this is only a limited overview of our activities.

Lunch 24 January in Kempinski: speaker Bernhard Weber

The European Chamber Nanjing Chapter Chair Mr. Bernhard Weber gave a sneak view on the upcoming Local Position paper, which he will launch on 21 February. The Nanjing Chapter was founded in 2004, and currently has almost 100 member companies based in Nanjing, Changzhou, Suzhou, Wuxi, Zhenjiang and Xuzhou. The chapter is devoted to helping its members address their concerns to the local authorities at both senior and working levels through various meetings and events. While the Thirteenth Five-Year Economic and Social Development Plan of Jiangsu (FYP) attempts to further much of the success that Jiangsu has experienced in recent years, it includes several components that concern European business. These concerns fall into one of two general categories: content and implementation. The Nanjing Chapter holds serious concerns about how the FYP will be transformed from words into actions, having grown accustomed to hearing promises and grand plans in the past, but seeing limited action actually taken. The FYP therefore provides an opportunity for the government to demonstrate their resolve to further open up to the world, allow market forces to act freely and provide fair and equal enforcement of the law.

Dinner 31 January in Opposite House: a social get-together in Sureño Restaurant

See the pics.

Lunch 14 February in Kempinski

See the pics
Rtn Sven announced the mentoring and training initiative for our Rotaractors.

Lunch 21 February in Kempinski: speaker Joerg Wuttke, president European Chamber

On 7th March, 2017, the European Chamber of Commerce in China will release a major study on the China Manufacturing 2025 (CM2025) industrial policy initiative that officially commenced in 2015. Titled China Manufacturing 2025: Trying to Plan What the Market Should Decide, the report provides a detailed examination of the focus and goals of the initiative for upgrading China’s industrial base and moving to the forefront in ten industries that the Chinese authorities have identified as future drivers of the economy. It also evaluates the initiative’s ramifications for European business, both in China, Europe and third-country markets. Recommendations for adjusting and responding to the initiative are also provided for the Chinese Government, European Union authorities and Member States’ governments, and European business.
It is available here: http://www.europeanchamber.com.cn/en/european-chamber-publications

Lunch 14 March in Kempinski: Gilbert introducing his book

Gilbert is the founder and president of a Beijing-based management consulting company that provides strategy guidance to foreign and Chinese clients. He was deeply involved in the building of the 2008 Olympic venues and as a result got the highest decorations from the Chinese government.
His talk focused on how the idea of his book “Toxic Capitalism” was born, on the challenges of researching and compiling data and then on his experience with publishing.
Toxic Capitalism – The orgy of consumerism and waste: Are we the last generation on earth?
Gilbert elaborated on the theme by shedding light on consumerism and the consequences of too much waste.
Living in China since 1980 Gilbert became alarmed by the dramatic pollution levels in Beijing and the trends of overconsumption and waste around the world.
As an engineer he delved into the data to better understand the seriousness of the situation, the reasons why it had come to all that and what we can do about it.

Lunch 28 March in Kempinski

Speaker Dr. Michal Meidan, Asia Analyst, Energy Aspects (London), on oil and gas market in China.
Over the past decade, as China’s crude oil imports surged from 2.5 mb/d in 2005 to 6.7 mb/d in 2015, the country has become increasingly concerned with the economic and strategic vulnerabilities associated with import dependence. Beijing has sought to hedge against supply disruptions and ensure a steady flow of oil supplies by supporting its national oil companies’ (NOCs) investments in oil and gas fields overseas, as well as by offering loans to producer countries which are repaid with oil. Often, the two have gone hand in hand: Chinese policy banks have awarded credit lines to recipient countries that they have used for infrastructure development in return for exports of crude to China. Similarly, the NOCs, which had limited access to capital during their initial outbound investments in the late 1990s and early 2000s, developed new project financing structures whereby the loans to finance their upstream investments were secured by equity from these assets.
As a result, by 2015, Chinese NOCs’ participation in overseas production reached 1.7 mb/d, and oil-backed loans generated an additional estimated 1.4-1.6 mb/d of crude that is available to Chinese traders. To be sure, not all these barrels make their way directly back to China, and China’s upstream investments are under a number of different contract structures, leading to varying volumes of oil supplies made available to them, but from Beijing’s perspective, its supply situation is looking less precarious.