Optimism is the name of the game also globally. In the latest Economic Conditions Outlook (March 2021) by Mckinsey & Company views on the development of economy globally are most positive they have been for three years. Over 50% of the executives in the survey saw their home country’s economy improving during the last six months. Even bigger percentage of respondents were optimistic about the coming six months, in both economic conditions, company revenue prospects and the customer demand. An only exception to this was the Latin America where slightly under 50% of the respondents shared the optimism of others. However, while optimism has increased the Pandemic is still seen as the biggest threat to growth. Together with geopolitical instability these two are mentioned as the biggest question marks for positive development, as they have been in earlier surveys as well. We also heard the Q1 numbers from China an astonishing GDP growth of 18% y-o-y. So positivity is the air all around, albeit darker clouds are still looming.

The turn of the month signifies the start of a new term for FBCB. We held our AGM on the 22nd of April. Traditionally AGM reviews the activities of the ending term. During this term we achieved a significant milestone with growing number of company members. FBCB member number stands now at 53, up from 48 a year ago! At this point I want thank our members, old and new, for the trust you put on FBCB! In addition, a special thank you goes to CIB as our sponsor and Nokia as a Premium Member. In the AGM there was one special item on the agenda. Ambassador Jarno Syrjala was nominated as Finnish Business Council Beijing Honorary Member for his great support to the FBCB and Finnish companies. He has been an important partner for FBCB during his tenure and although he is not leaving quite yet, this tribute is a small token of gratitude for the relentless work he has done for Finnish business in China.

Looking back to this ending term, despite the challenges brought on by the Pandemic, FBCB was able to develop and grow. A big thank you for this belongs to my fellow board members and especially Executive Director Ulla Nurmenniemi!

The AGM also selected new board for the 2021-2022 term. As we had more active candidates wanting to continue developing FBCB the meeting approved extending the seats on the Board to 9. I am honored to continue as the Chairman for the starting term and am grateful for the trust from my fellow board members. I look forward to continue working with Seppo Selkälä (Vice Chairman) and Yuan Liu (Vice Chairman) as well as other BoD members Pekka Patja, Tommy Tang, Jenny Xiong, Larry Du, Charles Dong and Zhilin Yang.

We start the new term with an extremely busy May. Events include for example 3 Team Finland delegation visits and Women in Business -forum. In addition to these, FBCB together with JunctionX from Finland are organizing a Sino-Finnish technology forum in Tianjin in conjunction with the 5th World Intelligence Congress 21st-22nd of May. As always, you can find more information on the events further on in this Newsletter.

Finally, while the uncertainty of general situation in terms of the Pandemic continue, one sure thing during the new term is that you will hearing much more about wintersports and the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics. And what better way to start than reading about a prime example of Finnish wintersports knowhow with several years of successful cooperation with China. This month’s guest writer article comes from Vuokatti, a world leading wintersport training center in Northern Finland.

As we are going into the May Day Holiday, on behalf of all of us in FBCB I want to wish all our readers Happy Holidays and Hyvää Vappua!

Sincerely Yours,

Juha Tuominen

Chairman, FBCB

Vuokatti Olympic Training Center, established in 1945, is Finland’s leading training center for Nordic ski sport. Acredited and lead by Finnish Olympic Committee, Co-operation with national sport associations, Ministry of Education & Culture. Specialized in Finnish and international Elite sports and co-operation. Providing all-year-round training services for XC Ski, Biathlon, Nordic Combined, Ski jumping equipped with facilities, medical services and world top level Winter sport laboratory. Coaching of Paralympic winter sports is one of special fields. Chinese Winter Sports Administration Center and Vuokatti Sport signed a contract of coaching Winter sport athletes for Beijing Olympics 2022. Now Vuokatti Sport Olympic Training Center is the one of important abroad training base for Chinese Winter Sport National Teams.

Form 08 Feb to 14 Feb 2021, FIS Nordic Junior World Championships is held in Vuokatti. As the authorized organization, Vuokatti Sport Olympic Training Centre warmly welcome all the young athletes from 37 countries and will present one of the most wonderful and top level cross country ski competitions to the whole world. Two Chinese young athletes will participate in this competition. Wish they success in their competitions. Elisa streaming product and Yle areena will broadcast live competitions.  

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