Rotary Club of Beijing

14 December 2021 Rotary dinner in Schindlers

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Schindlers Tankstelle –  Sanlitun

For the 14 December 2021 Rotary dinner in Schindlers we had Thierry Raymaekers as a speaker on the Winter Olympics. See the dishes I chose. Pretty nice! Gilbert presided the meeting and acted as Sergeant-at-Arms.

The New Year Party is planned for 11 January 2022 in Kempinski 7:00 pm, with a buffet, non-stop drinks and live music.
Price RMB 350, children half price. Guests and friends are welcome.

Speaker: Thierry Raymaekers

Topic:  Background on “ Winter Gold “ documentary ahead of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
With less than 60 days till the opening of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, lots of companies and people are involved around the clock with preparations. One of the companies, Thierry works with is in post-production phase of a 6 series documentary that will be aired on Jan 14 on CCTV.
In his presentation he gave a behind-the-scene look on how this co-production came to existence, and challenges they have been facing due to COVID-19 restrictions and 2022 Winter Olympics operational protocols. he introduced the athletes that are featured in the video.

Thierry is an astute executive with 20+ years of boots-on-the ground China experience. He is founder and principal of a Beijing based media consulting company in providing strategy and M&A services to clients that are in need of assistance when entering China’s media scene and driving profitability.
Known as a thought leader on China’s media & entertainment industry he is a public speaker at various events and conferences, and contributor to many articles.

7 December 2021 Rotary Beijing AGM

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Rotary Club of Beijing

On 7 December 2021 Rotary Beijing AGM in Kempinski Hotel for the Election of the 2022-23 Board and Officers.

With 13 members representing 29 members, the Beijing club Rotarians voted the following board members and club officers.

  • President: PE Benoit
  • IPP: P Didier
  • PE – Still to be filled
  • Treasurer – Rtn Kevin
  • Secretary – Rtn René
  • Vice-President – Rtn Jose
  • Membership – Still to be filled
  • Events Chair – Rtn Vivian
  • Foundation – Rtn Mike K.
  • Service – Rtn Ralf
  • Youth / International –Rtn Gilbert

It is noted that PE and the membership chair for 2022-23 are still vacant and members are encouraged to volunteer.

Membership and events

At the meeting, the membership chair Hans reported on the changes and challenges of membership for the past six months. With many expatriate members moving out of China, it is increasingly difficult to recruit and retain members. It is paramount that our members bring in their friends and colleagues to continually renew our membership.

Event Chair Vivian reported on the previously held and soon-to-take-place events, presenting the diversity of speakers and topics. The members recognized and appreciated Rtn. Vivian’s effort and good work on organizing interesting and lively meetings and events.

New Project Announcement

The board has in the last month agreed for members to donate to Yuhua Home for the Mentally Challenged. Yuhua Home has a history of 20 years, nursing children and young adults with mental disability. With the funding dwindling since the start of the pandemic, Yuhua Home, like many other such institutions, faced the same dilemma of staying open and providing food and shelter for those in need. The donation will go toward buying the food during the winter months.

30 November 2021 Rotary talk on asset management

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Kempinski Hotel

For our 30 November 2021 Rotary talk on asset management we had as speaker Gian-Marc Widmer on the topic  “Introduction to Chinese Asset and Fund Management Market”.

Our Rotary member Gian-Marc gave us an Introduction to Chinese Asset and Fund Management Market. Gian-Marc is the Director and Head of Cross-Border M&A at CITIC Securities since 2014. He has been focusing on M&A, restructuring and corporate development since 2001 with a track record of more than US$15bn of transactions executed in Europe, Asia and the Americas. Gian-Marc has been in China since 2005 and previously worked at Lazard in London and New York and at Altira Group as head of the China investment team in their renewable energy fund.

Summary of the presentation

(by Rtn Piper)

According to Gian-Marc, the asset under management AUM in China has grown ten folds to US$18 trillion in the past decade, and it is also going international. By comparison, Switzerland, Gian-Marc’s home country, has US$3-5 trillion under management and the US has US$48.6 trillion AUM, accounting for almost half of the world total. Gian-Marc presented his analysis by dissecting the value chain of investors, channels, fund managers, and assets, and how those four areas were being shaken up by the big trends in the industry.

The first such trend is pension reform, which is strengthening institutional investors. While individual retail investors still make up the bulk of the investor profile, pension reforms pushing for higher rates of returns are driving the establishment of more professionally managed pension funds. Pension funds only constitute 5% of the total asset market in China, as opposed to 34% in the global market.

Individual investors at the same time are being positively affected by the regulatory reforms and the proliferation of fintech instruments. Chinese banks with their vast branch networks had in the past nursed a large individual customer base with mostly off-balance sheet third-party wealth management products. Many of those products often went without government or regulatory oversight and have caused many unscrupulous practices often with disastrous consequences. The recent reforms have banned the banks from selling third-party products and thus have spurred the banks to set up their own fund management subsidiaries, accelerating the development of professional managers. Furthermore, since the introduction of fintech products, many fintech giants like Alipay and WeChat wallet have trapped one-third of the circulated cash away from the traditional banks. Still, with US$ 28 trillion in bank deposits, China has a largely untapped pool of money up for grabs by asset managers.

China’s potentially large fund market has long attracted foreign players. Along with the regulatory and pension reforms, China has finally paved the way for foreign players to enter the market. At the same time, it also is preparing to allow the Chinese money to leave the country into overseas funds. HK Connect or Greater Bay Area Wealth Management Connect was the first such pilot to allow Chinese investors to invest in funds in Hong Kong.

Professionally managed funds will be the future for China, and as with many other fast-moving markets in China, we will see a vastly different landscape in this financial sector. Gian-Marc was bullish about the future, both for foreign fund managers, as well as for individuals who are looking for baskets to put their eggs in.

23 November 2021 Rotary talk on CSR

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Schindlers Tankstelle in Sanlitun

For our 23 November 2021 Rotary talk on CSR we welcomed as speaker Ying LI Joyce, the Head of Group CSR & Media Events, Volkswagen Group China.  Topic: Volkswagen Group China CSR strategy 2025

Joyce has over 15 years of experience in PR & Marketing filed by VGC, her expertise is in strategic planning and professional project management. She successfully executed the Volkswagen brand image rebuilt in China campaign; Volkswagen & 2008 Beijing Olympic Sponsorship; Volkswagen Group China CSR strategy 2025. This time she introduced the Volkswagen Group China CSR strategy 2025 from an insider perspective.
See some of the dishes!

Summary of the talk

(by Rtn Piper)

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has in recent decades moved from internal self-regulation to an integral part of overall corporate strategy. In the west, listed companies can often find themselves in need to design and institute vibrant CSR strategies to meet shareholders’ and activist calls. CSR has not only become an important PR tool but has also become a key share price driver for many of the publicly traded companies. In China, CSR can take on a different dimension for many domestic and multinational corporations. CSR not only has to align with corporate’s global strategies, but it also must meet the Chinese government’s priorities. As Joyce put it, Volkswagen China started its CSR fund in 2014, and during the years since has operated an active CSR program. After nearly a year of investigation and strategic planning in 2020, Volkswagen China unveiled its new five-year CSR strategy starting in 2021. This new strategy is integrated with Volkswagen’s global mission to commit to carbon neutrality and fighting climate change. In China, Volkswagen’s CSR strategy stands on four pillars: low carbon, economic empowerment, education, and social care. Except for the last pillar, Social Care, which expends on disaster relief, like Covid relief, the other three pillars are set in motion with well-crafted action plans. The low carbon Green Belt focuses on tree planting in the western provinces to fight deforestation and degradation of soil. Education Youth Summit aims to select and fund low carbon mobility projects started by university students. Through this Summit platform, Volkswagen China not only can uncover low carbon mobility but can also build competence for young people. Meeting the top leadership’s wants, Volkswagen also sets up grassroots football training to nurse the football capability of the young. As part of its community support program, Volkswagen donates sports equipment to schools and first aid kits and training to village clinics. As a group policy, Volkswagen companies do not give or operate direct CSR programs but give all donations through government-sponsored foundations. Besides financial expenditures, Volkswagen also encourages active employee volunteering, so its employees can share the pride and knowledge of the corporate CSR programs.

Gilbert and CSR

I have been a speaker on CRI at several occasions.

  • The Asian-European ECA Coaching Congress (AECC), on the 6th and 7th of May 2013 in Beijing. My topic on 7 May 2013: “CSR and Sustainability”
  • 2nd ASIAN-EUROPEAN MANAGEMENT & COACHING CONGRESS 17-19 September 2014 – Shanghai. My topic on 18 September 2014: “CSR and Sustainability”.
    Responsible Innovation, Environmental Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility
    Speaker Mr. Gilbert Van Kerckhove, European Chamber Vice Chair, former ALSTOM Director East China
  • 22 November 2012 – the 2012 AGRION global summit. Panel Discussion: Sustainable Development & CSR.
    See: https://blog.strategy4china.com/2012/12/gilbert-at-the-agrion-seminar-event/

 

9 November 2021 Rotary talk on digital assets

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Dinner meeting in Schindlers Sanlitun

For our 9 November 2021 Rotary talk on digital assets we had as speaker Cici Lu.
Topic: Insights and outlook for digital assets

Highlight of the talk

Cici Lu, Senior Partner of Apollo Capital Asia – an Australian leading crypto asset manager. Cici was born in Beijing, her schooling and career brought her to Canada, the UK, briefly in Australia and now Singapore. Prior to joining the crypto asset management industry, she had over 10 years of institutional banking career, specifically in investment banking, FI & FX trading across 4 continents. Cici would love to share us her unique perspective on crypto assets as tools to enable UN Sustainable Development Goals to create a more inclusive and efficient world
Topic: “Crypto Assets as Tools to Create a More Inclusive and Efficient world.”

For many digital asset uninitiated who are often confused by all the fuss and the spectacular rise and fall of Bitcoin or the haute technological power of Blockchain, Cici Lu, a Beijing native, educated in Canada, has built a career in IB across four continents and now works as an asset manager for a Singapore-based Crypto asset fund, Apollo. In her talk, Cici put all confusions to rest and painted a simpler picture of digital assets and how those assets could change the way we conduct financial transactions in the future. Cici explained how fast-growing innovations in cryptocurrencies have created a new asset class that has grown fast to become the new darling among financial products. In her plain and easy-to-understand presentation, Cici explained the difference between Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies. Fueled by the development of Web 3.0 to be built on blockchain technology, the trend toward Decentralized Finance, DiFi, is gaining traction.

Compared to the traditional Web 2.0 which powered apps like Google, Facebook, and Amazon and allowed them to harvest profits from consumers, Web 3.0 on Blockchain provides enhanced security, better transparency, instant traceability, increased efficiency and speed, as well as automation via smart contracts. While blockchain and crypto have become popular vocabularies, few understand the differences between them. Blockchain is an open-source public ledger on a network that runs on cryptographic consensus. When participants validate their trades on the blockchain, they then ensure the integrity of the ledger, and the more validated trades on a blockchain the more participants will use this blockchain and thus allow the blockchain to scale. So those validating traders are rewarded with additional crypto assets.

The recent flurry of introductions of Smart Contracts, referring to transactions by self-executing digital agreements governed by software codes, fueled even more imaginations for future financial products. Available on many Blockchains, those smart contracts, accessible via computers or smartphones, can provide financial features of borrowing, lending, and even supply chain management. Those smart contracts are executed through payments using the native tokens of that blockchain, so the more people use this blockchain the more valuable those tokens become.

Currently, $275 billion, twice the HSBC market cap, is locked in DeFi smart contracts protocols and this number is fast growing. Cici finished her presentation by illustrating the importance of positive social impact and financial inclusion blockchain and smart contracts will bring to communities worldwide.