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Dear Members and friends of FBCB,

The Chinese New Year marks the beginning of a new Chinese business year. This year - with Spring Festival being later than usual - January was actually still a part of the previous year. 2021 marks the beginning of China's 14th five-year plan. In the Two Sessions, a key event in the country's political calendar of 2021, the full and final 14th five-year-plan (FYP) will be released. The critical 10-day-meeting will start on March 5th.
According to Yao Yang from Peking University there are four significant areas of change being expected. These four areas will define China’s economic future for the next 10–15 years. China will likely spend more on R&D and education and use structural policies to support targeted sectors. These four key areas are below.

Autonomous technologies. Building autonomous technologies in key areas has become the top priority of China’s domestic circulation. Many predict there will be more of a policy push for higher spending in the coming years in emerging sectors, such as biotechnology, semiconductors and new energy vehicles. A new direction for urbanization. China’s urbanization has lagged behind the pace of economic development. The government plans to increase China’s urbanization rate from the recent 60% to 75–80 % over the next 15 years. Most of the new urban dwellers will be concentrated in a few urbanized regions, including the Pearl River Delta and Yangtze River Delta regions, as well as in Beijing, Tianjin, and other surrounding regions. Equal provision of public goods; To make China’s pension system sustainable, the country needs to raise the general age of retirement, particularly for women. Another task of equalization is to increase the provision of public goods in the countryside. China aims to become a fully modernized country by 2035. Universal coverage of social security is a key feature of modernized countries. Greener production. The environment is a key commitment. China has announced its aim to achieve “carbon neutrality” by 2060. China is expected to set a higher standard for environmental protection, which means demand for related equipment, services and investment.

What does this new FYP mean for foreign companies? Will technological self-reliance and promoting domestic demand lock international companies out of the playing field? According to Bloomberg experts building a self-reliant economy does not mean that China will close its doors to other countries. The plan in expected to implement policies to further open up two-way financial markets, strengthen trade competition, and improve international cooperation.

Among Finnish companies these themes (innovative technology, sustainability, R&D, education) are good news for many industries. The future looks bright, as long as we are able to grab onto these opportunities. In the beginning of March our TF China webinar will focus on China-US-EU relations, and what it means for Finnish/European companies in China. In March we will also have our kick-off for the new TF China term, and we’ll share and discuss about the draft of our new term plans with Finnish companies.

Although springtime is already here in Beijing, let’s not forget the winter sports and the approaching Winter Olympics. Our February guest writer comes from LADEC, one of our newest member-companies. Read how Lahti, leading sports city and European Green Capital 2021, is connected to Beijing Olympics.


Ulla Nurmenniemi
Executive Director
Finnish Business Council Beijing
 
Upcoming events
Recent Trends in Superpower Relations
Recent Trends in Superpower Relations

date

Mar 2, 2021
(3 PM - 4 PM) (GMT+8)
Team Finland China New Year Kick-off in Beijing March 26 - save the date
Team Finland China New Year Kick-off in Beijing March 26 - save the date
All Finnish Companies are invited to Team Finland China Beijing new term kick-off events on March 26 (TBC) at Finland Ambassador's Residence. Save the date. The event will begin in the afternoon. Detailed program, time, and invitation link will be sent later. In the kick-off we will go through and discuss with companies TF plans for 2021.
 
Beijing Design Week 24.9.- 7.10. Call to join - applications by 21.3.2021
The City of Helsinki is the official Guest City of the 2021 Beijing Design Week. Participation in the official Guest City Programme gives you the opportunity to take advantage of the city's diplomatic contacts and activities. Download the flyer HERE.


If you are interested, please send a short description of your company and projects to helena.fernstrom@helsinkidesignweek.com before 21.3.2021. Helsinki Design Week will contact all the companies interested in March.
Guest Writer LADEC: City of Lahti - the Sport Business Gateway between Europe and Asia
The goal of Lahti region is to become Europe's leading international hub of sports business, research and expertise. With it’s unbeatable location and the variety of sports expertise and facilities, Lahti forms a special gateway and innovation forum between European and Asian markets.

Lahti has a history of almost 100 years of arranging international sports events. For the first time Lahti hosted Nordic Skiing World Championship Games in the year 1926. Since then, Lahti has been the scene of Nordic skiing World championships a total of seven times. As a traditional city of sports events, Lahti has diverse expertise also in sports business development. In addition to winter sports, Lahti is also a major event venue for many other sports, such as the host city for the international Ironman and Moto GP competitions to be held in July 2021.

Lahti Region represents the know-how of more than 400 sports disciplines, multipurpose sports facilities and a wide range of interesting natural sites suitable for self-exercising. Destinations are located within a maximum radius of only 30 minutes from each other. Helsinki and the international airport are also less than an hour away. Our goal is to develop new business, research and know-how around the existing sports infrastructure, which will bring international visibility and local well-being to the region.
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International testing platform for top athletes and sports equipment manufacturers

Lahti is aiming to be the leading area for innovation and development in the Nordic countries for sports business. Our goal is to form a platform of international research and testing activities in the Lahti region through the cooperation of universities and Olympic Training Centres. The new test and research centre with high level research expertise and facilities serves the needs of top athletes and international manufacturers of sports equipment and technology.

Top-level research, world-class sports conditions and innovative business development in local universities and companies make Lahti one of the most interesting areas for Asian companies to develop business in collaboration with Nordic experts. In addition, Lahti also provides Chinese operators a gateway to the EU market. One important part of Lahti sport ecosystem and a special platform for sports business development is the SMASH Lahti event, which annually brings together sports technology and environmental expertise, as well as start-up activities linked around them. The concept will be developed into a permanent and year-round sports business startup accelerator and innovation platform that brings together the best know-how on a Finnish, Nordic, European and Asian scale.

The Lahti region's international co-operation in the Asian market and good connections to the Nordic and EU sports business, research and coaching networks create a special position for Lahti as a development area for sports business between Europe and Asia.
In the near future, international innovation activities will also be strengthened with international partners in the Asian target markets by organizing sports business startup and innovation events with our Chinese friends in connection with the Olympic games in Beijing 2022.
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Towards carbon neutrality and green sports events

Lahti is a leading sports city, but above all Lahti is a sports city that takes into account sustainable development, carbon neutrality and environmental aspects in all development work. Lahti has been chosen as the European Green Capital of 2021. The nomination, awarded by the European Commission, is awarded each year to one European city that is a pioneer in environmental actions, setting an example for other cities and developing innovative solutions to environmental challenges. Lahti takes sustainability seriously in sport business development and can act as a key partner when planning the carbon neutral future in Chinese sports centres and facilities.

Author:
Isto Vanhamäki, Head of Business Development
Lahti Region Development LADEC Ltd
 
Past Events
Afterwork at the Centro Bar, Feb 19
Afterwork at the Centro Bar, Feb 19
Finnish Business Council Beijing monthly after work was held this time in Centro, Kerry Hotel. 35 companies, representatives, and friends of Finnish businesses participating. These monthly after works have become an important platform for companies combining social and professional networking.
Profit Repatriation methods for Foreign Companies in China Feb 25
Profit Repatriation methods for Foreign Companies in China Feb 25
This concrete and practical fully-booked webinar focused on best methods to repatriate profits from China subsidiary to mother company: dividends, service agreements, royalties and foreign loan interest payments. Managing Director Pierre Wong from Integra Group explained processes step-by-step, and with case studies. Presentation can be downloaded HERE
FBCB Women in Business Afternoon Tea Feb 27
FBCB Women in Business Afternoon Tea Feb 27
FBCB Professional women in Beijing gather together once a month. February guest speaker was H.E.Ambassador Mrs Ma Keqing (Finland 2006-2009) who shared her personal career story from a student to an ambassador. Madam Ma has served China as a diplomat for 40 years. The event was exceptionally warm and intime.
 
Does your company need more visibility and contacts in China?
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
Premium Membership benefits:
  • Get your logo on frontpage of FBCB website
  • Get your logo on all newsletters and event invitations
  • Get an advertisement to FBCB webpage
  • Write an article to FBCB Newsletter once a year
  • Organize an event for other members and other people using FBCB event platform once a year
PLUS normal Membership benefits:
  • Network opportunities with all other member companies
  • Keep updated what's happening in China-Finnish business
  • Make new business contacts
  • Access FBCB events with member price or free of charge, access member-only events
  • Enjoy discounts of various service and product providers (hotels, health care, tailor, scarfs, air purifiers, etc)
  • Get your company logo, description and key products to membership directory in FBCB website
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Proxy membership benefits:
  • Get monthly newsletter
  • Get one article to newsletter when joining
  • Network opportunities with all other member companies through FBCB
  • Keep updated what's happening in China-Finnish business
  • Make new business contacts
  • When visiting in Beijing, access events with member price or free of charge, access member-only events
  • Enjoy discounts of various service providers in Beijing (e.g.hotels)
  • Get company logo, description and key products to membership directory on FBCB website


CONTACT for more information:
Ulla Nurmenniemi, Executive Director, FBCB
ulla@bluecloud.ltd

Meet the FBCB Board and operative team 2020-2021
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