The virus hit the World in waves starting from China followed by Europe. This can also be seen in the current recovery patterns, while China and most of Europe are starting to dismantle the restrictive measures in places, like the US, South America and Africa the virus is still going strong. In this regard the World seems to be temporarily divided. While according to the The coronavirus effect on global economic sentiment, July 2020 Global Executive Survey by McKinley, respondents are more positive towards economic growth during the next six months compared to previous months, except in North America and developing markets. The overall expectations are turning positive in global context according to the survey, as for the first time in 2020 the respondents foresee a increase than decline in companies’ profit during the next six months.  

 

As China was the first country to encounter the COVID 19 outbreak, it is also among the first places chasing the “new normal”, life after the virus. The development towards lifting restrictions has been strong. From Beijing’s point of view things were looking very good before the Xinfadi meat market discovery last month, which took us back a few steps in terms of recovery. Regardless, the domestic restrictions in China in terms are loosening and business is its on way to resuming normality. To some extend this also applies to international business travelers. After several months Finnair was able to resume a direct flight connection between Shanghai and Helsinki 23rd of July. More information on China travel policy later in this newsletter.

Building on what was mentioned earlier, we are preparing for several good offline events in August and September. First of all, we will have an end of summer dinner and mingle at the relaxed atmosphere of Eudora station Roof Patio on the 14th of August. As a real return to business mode, the Ambassador will lead a delegation visit to Chengdu at the end of August. Turning to September, China International Fair for Trade in Services or CIFTIS will take place in Beijing. FBCB is joining the Nordic Pavilion and all member companies are welcome to join as well. Finally, the Zhongguancun Forum will take place 17th-20th September. For all of these events you can find more information later in this newsletter.

This month’s guestwriter article comes from IndoorAtlas, one of our long-time member companies. While we have gotten used to positioning on a ma and outdoors, IndoorAtlas is taking indoor positioning to a whole new level.

 

Sincerely Yours,

 

Juha Tuominen

Chairman

Finnair has received permission from Chinese authorities to begin operating one weekly flight as of 23 July between Helsinki and Shanghai with its Airbus A350 aircraft. The flight schedule will be published in all Finnair sales channels. Finland has opened its borders for work-related travel from China but entry to Finland is still restricted for the time being pending an EU level decision on reciprocity. Finnair currently offers smooth connections to 24 European destinations from Helsinki.

“The re-opening of our Shanghai route is great news for our customers and an important step for us, as China continues to play a key role in Finnair’s strategy”, says Ole Orvér, Chief Commercial Officer, Finnair. “We look forward to increasing our service to the Chinese market soonest.”

Business Finland´s Winter Sports Activities is organizing a monthly online meeting to connect with piers, and share information and ideas.

Next meeting will be held August 26 and September 23

To receive invitation to these meetings and to join Business Finland Winter Sport contact list, please send a message to sari.paavilainen@businessfinland.fi

·      Offline SDK available for China. The 3.x series of IndoorAtlas SDKs runs the state-of-the-art positioning algorithms in the device. Network breaks are no longer an issue, and accurate magnetic-aided tracking is available uninterrupted.

·      Cart mode, AKA on-wheels mode, a new mode of positioning, which can used to locate objects which don’t take steps.

·      Points of Interest, or POIs, can be added to your locations in app.indooratlas.com, and can now be downloaded to your app through the SDK.

·      Improvements to background positioning in the (default) high-accuracy mode, for cases where the device is in a pocket, hand bag, etc.

·      Improved low-power mode, to enable better positioning performance in apps running in low end devices, in the background, and other challenging use cases.

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 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.

See all membership options HERE

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