The year 2020 so far has been one that no one foresaw. It looks like the worst of the pandemic should be behind us. While life is close to normal in China already, also Finland and the rest of Europe is starting to lift restrictions. According to McKinsey & Company’s The coronavirus effect on global economic sentiment, May 2020, a survey conducted among global business leaders, near-term outlook on economy has improved from previous month but still remains rather gloomy. Unsurprisingly, the most positive views come from executives operating in Greater China: 76 percent expect the conditions to improve during the next six months. In Europe this view is only shared by 34 percent of the respondents. Naturally, the biggest worry among the executives is weak consumer demand as it might take much longer than the pandemic to recover. Supply chain disruptions are another commonly shared worry especially in industries like pharmaceuticals, packaged goods, automotive and chemicals. When asked about value-chain disruptions due to COVID-19 in industrial and manufacturing sectors, 15 percent of respondents report no material disruption. But at the same time one-third of the respondents report the current disruption to be the worst their companies have ever experienced.

But as mentioned, especially here in China we are getting closer to normal. Thus, it is also important to look forward. This year is the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Finland. While the actual festivities and business activities will take place earliest in autumn, that is definitely something to look forward to. In the meantime, we have three events in the pipeline. First time after the outbreak we are coming back with our Afterworks Series, Friday 5th of June we will get together in the newly renovated Zhaolong Hotel. The following week Team Finland China Days are organized, still in the pandemic spirit, meaning online. Program for companies is planned for 10th of June, more detailed information will be shared to all of you soon. And finally, another online event on IPR protection during COVID-19 by China IPR SME Helpdesk on 16th of June. For more details on these events check later in this newsletter.

This month’s guest writer article comes from one of our newest members, VEXVE. The story of VEXVE is yet another great example of long experience and expertise of a Finnish companies in the energy sector.

 

On behalf of whole FBCB, wishing you a great beginning of summer!

 

Juha Tuominen

Chairman

FBCB

Finnish Business Council Beijing is part of Team Finland in China, and an outstanding platform for all Finnish businesses in China. For those companies which need more visibility, we have just launched a Premium Membership. It's an upgrade from normal membership, as you can see from the table below.

For those companies in Finland, who are planning to expand their businesses to China, or are in the early stage and don't have an office in China yet, we have a distant membership. It's called Proxy Membership. A very cost-effective way to make your company known to a large audience, and get essential contacts for your future.

 

The supply of high-quality products to our Chinese customers is our top priority.

High quality means high price. As a supplier in a big and highly competitive market, to sell high-price products is a huge challenge to us. However, we have always adopted a long-term view and never compromised product quality. This conviction of ours in the past 20 years has won us trust and reputation across the field.

 

We have proactively responded to our customers’ demands by focusing attention on research and development. In the past 20 years, China has seen a huge boom in the real estate market. Increasing attention has also been paid to environmental protection and green development. Responding the heating demand of new buildings, district heating development has been very rapid. VEXVE has proactively responded to market demand and developed new products, including Dn1000, DN1200, DN1400, and DN1600 in the past years for new heating transportation lines. Meanwhile, maintaining the high-quality of all of our products has been the top priority in research and development. In recent years, we have worked on some high-profile projects:

 

2013-2014, Beijing four DHP DN1400 heating lines.

2015-2016, the biggest DN1400x4 Taiyuan Taigu long-distance transportation project.

2015-2019, As imported valve supplier to the Tianjin Energy Group One net reform.

2019-2020, The biggest DN1600x2 Zhengzhou long-distance transportation project.

High-quality customer service is an integral component of our product deliveries:

More than 90% of our products operate in very demandingcircumstances underground. We call the underground transportation lines a ‘huge hot dragon crouching beneath the beautiful city’. The small cabinet temperature in these underground environments where our products are applied reaches 50 to 70 degrees Celsius. Providing high-quality customer service in such an environment is hard work. However, we always adhere to our service slogan of firmly standing together with our end users as the face of VEXVE in China. 

 

To respect our end-user’s strenuous working conditions and face them together – only with this attitude could we learn how to improve our products. We are always trying to better understand the real needs of our customers and make localization possible one step at a time.

 

Our service people never give excuses and always make themselves available to our customers to fulfill their needs. We regard this approach to customer service as the only way to win the respect and trust of our end-users.

 

Long-term cooperation with our supplier – VEXVE Oy – on the one hand, and our end-user – the district heating Co. around China – on the other hand, is the working principle of Beijing CQV Co. As a lynchpin figure, we must establish long-term partnerships with both our supplier and end users. Through proactive communication with both sides, we must relay the correct market information to VEXVE and deliver the best products and services to our Chinese customers. This is our duty and only way to survive and thrive.

 

Our work would not be possible without the generous support of both of our customers and VEXVE in the past twenty years. We are also very grateful for the warm support of the Finnish Embassy in China and the FBC in recent years. 

 

We are a small but very proud new member of the FBC. We are always looking for new ways to improve our work, with our supplier VEXVE Oy standing next to us every day to reach our target.