Boards Corner
Dear members, partners, and friends of the DCCC,
As May is drawing to an end, it is clear that 2022 as a whole will be marked as yet another year in the sign of Covid-19. Shanghai, and the surrounding cities and provinces, has been subdued by the continued lockdowns that started in March, expanded in April and still persist. We are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, cases all over China are decreasing dramatically. As we are resuming operations, we are simultaneously preparing for building resilience in our supply chains to cope with similar scenarios in the future.
In this environment, most businesses focus on short term, operational issues to ensure that colleagues remain safe, and customers’ demands can be met. This range from securing delivery of basic food supplies for colleagues locked down in their homes to going through a multitude of applications and operational precautions to be allowed to run a closed-loop operation in Shanghai. In the DCCC we believe in sharing knowledge and best practices and together with the Consulate General in Shanghai we hosted a logistics webinar on that topic on April 20th. We recently also hosted a session on crisis management to provide experiences from members operating in this environment that can serve as lessons learned if/when the next lockdown hits a city.
May was also the month where our new Secretary General, Anna Lin Yip, joined us. The recruitment was very thorough and involved representatives from all three chapter Boards – North, East, and South – and we are all very happy to now have Anna onboard and look forward to working with her with the aim to make the DCCC even better for all our members. Anna has provided a short introduction to herself in this newsletter, but please feel free to reach out to her with any questions or ideas for future initiatives you might have!
One of the focus areas we have at the DCCC is to be a stronger advocate for Danish business interests and to that extend we will work with our members to establish a mechanism to regularly collect specific challenges and issues faced. In May, the DCCC joined the Symposium for the 70th anniversary of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) which in the future can be one of the ways for us to feed back the input from the Danish business community through official channels. As a first step and following the May CCPIT event we are planning a debrief and analysis exclusively for our All China members in collaboration with the Danish Embassy.
The current restrictions across several cities are of course an obstacle for our long-established annual gatherings and it looks very unlikely that physical events will take place in Shanghai or Beijing before the Summer. That will only make us work even harder to make sure that the coming events will be that much more valuable and entertaining for all. To highlight a few, you should be looking forward to the Summer Barbeque in Shanghai, and Summer Nights in Beijing, both of them after the Summer – and not least the Business Person of the Year later in the Fall!
Best regards,
Andreas Lundqvist
Member of the Board of DCCC East and All-China
Updates from the DCCC Secretariat
The DCCC Welcomes Secretary General Anna Lin Yip
In an important and necessary next step in uniting all three chapters of the Danish Chamber of Commerce in China, we are excited to announce our new Secretary-General of the All-China Danish Chamber of Commerce, Anna Lin Yip.
Anna is from Copenhagen, her grandparents are from Fuzhou, and she has lived and worked in Beijing for the past 13 years. She has supported the Danish Chamber for over a decade and her strong background is management, strategy, branding and events make her the perfect leader for the next era of the DCCC.
“I have always dreamed of acting as a bridge between Denmark and China, and joining the Danish Chamber of Commerce in China allows me to be exactly that. I am excited to connect and engage with our almost 200 member companies across China, and understand how we can help you to succeed, through learning, teaching, advocacy, networking and cultural events, designed for you and your team. Together, we are stronger.”
This appointment wouldn’t have been possible without the expertise and efforts of our member company, Access People, EJ van Hurne and Jens Purup who personally filtered through 65 applications for us to help find the ideal candidate. Learn more about on Access People on www.access-people.com.
Please feel free to reach out on anna@dccc.com.cn.
DCCC Annal Member Survey
The DCCC is conducting a member survey to understand how we can help our members and associates most effectively in the future. You can read more about the survey here.
The survey is open until June 8th. Fill out the survey now and win two tickets to the biggest annual DCCC events!
DCCC Advocacy
Attends CCPIT 70th Anniversary Event and Symposium
The DCCC was present at the CCPIT 70th Anniversary and Symposium. CCPIT was the official sponsor of DCCC´s application to the Ministry of Civil Affairs in the year 2000 and as such our initiation to this event reaffirms our close relationship to CCPIT. In the coming months DCCC will work on establishing a continued dialogue with CCPIT on the issues that our companies are facing. Click here to read more about “DCCC’s Main Takeaways from CCPIT Symposium” (VPN ON).
DCCC All China C-Table on June 2nd
On June 2nd, the DCCC is hosting our first C-Table for C-suite members of All China DCCC member organisations, where we will analyse the impact for Danish Business in China. There will be updates on the CCPIT event, followed by comments from The Embassy of the Kingdom of Denmark to People’s Republic of China, Thomas Østrup Møller. If you would like to attend more exclusive DCCC events and hear more about becoming a DCCC All China member, you can reach out to anna@dccc.com.cn
Updates from Danish Mission in China
The Embassy of the Kingdom of Denmark in Beijing
Postponement of Sino-Danish Exhibition on Sustainable Urban Development in Beijing between May 24th. – 30th June
The City of Copenhagen, the Local Government of Beijing and Beijing Planning Institute is together with the Embassy of the Kingdom of Denmark jointly organizing the Beijing-Copenhagen, A Fairytale of Two Cities – Imagine the Sustainable Future of Cities exhibition in Beijing. The exhibition follows three themes focusing on Eco-friendly, Green Mobility and Children Friendly cities and curated by The Future Lab at Tsinghua University.
Unfortunately in light of the continued Covid-19 restrictions in Beijing, Shanghai and many other cities around China it has been decided, in coordination with our co-hosts and co-organizers to postpone the exhibition until fall 2022.
Survey of Danish Companies in China
In November/December, 2021, the Danish Embassy and Danish missions in China, the Danish Chamber of Commerce (DCCC), Danish-Chinese Business Forum (DCBF) and the Sino-Danish Center for Education and Research (SDC) jointly launched the second comprehensive survey of Danish companies in China. In light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the disrupting effects of the latest COVID-19 outbreak in Shanghai and China and the expected impact it will have on trade, supply chains and companies in China and all over the world an additional flash survey was conducted in order to supplement the initial findings.
Since the first survey in 2020 Danish exports to China has grown and China have now become Denmark’s fifth largest export market, but traditional cross-border trade statistics only tell part of the story that links the Danish business community to China. The survey therefore intends to provide policy makers and company executives with information which can guide decisions and priorities in the years to come by providing comprehensive data on the views and assessments of the executives representing the Danish business community in China.
The preliminary findings of the survey can be found here.
Consulate General Shanghai
As of 1 June the Consulate General is open during normal business hours from 9.00-17.00. For personal access to our office, please follow the guidelines when you enter our office building.
Hvis du har planer om at rejse til Danmark fra Shanghai, og har spørgsmål er du velkommen til at henvende dig til generalkonsulatet på telefon: +86 (021) 80250600, på mail: shagkl@um.dk
Generalkonsulatet opfordrer alle danskere, der opholder sig i Shanghai, til at registrere sig på Udenrigsministeriets danskerliste. Tilmelding via app’en Rejseklar (downloades fra App Store) eller fra Udenrigsministeriets hjemmeside: Danskerlisten
Invest in Denmark
Invest in Denmark, Shanghai co-hosted a workshop on Plant-based food with one of the largest media platforms in China, Phoenix TV. Four speakers from University of Aarhus, University of Copenhagen, China Agriculture University as well as two companies from China and Denmark joining the webinar to share valuable knowledge in the Plant-based industry. As a pioneering sector, IDK looks forward to having many interesting collaborations and events to further enhance this sector between China and Denmark.
Innovation Centre Denmark, Shanghai
ICDK Shanghai in a collaboration with State of Green, Creative Denmark, BLOXHUB and Impact Design Hub Shanghai of the Trade Council, Shanghai co-hosted the event on ‘Beyond Buildings: Denmark & China for a more sustainable tomorrow’ aiming to discuss sustainable solutions in buildings and how circular processes can contribute to a more circular economy. In addition, the Chinese version of the white paper was launched.
ICDK Shanghai co-organized the pitching event with SDG Landing Pad and Jiangsu (Yixing) Institute of Environmental Industry inviting companies to pitch their innovative solutions in front of Chinese water and wastewater stakeholders to overcome challenges in ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation.
ICDK Shanghai held the webinar on ‘Start-up Ecosystems in China’ in a partnership with Nordic Asian Venture Alliance. The webinar provided insights into Chinese investment to Nordic start-ups and the most active Chinese investors in the Nordics, events, and accelerators available for foreign startups interested in China.
ICDK Shanghai participated in the seminar by Yixing Municipal Government addressing the development opportunities and challenges under the double carbon background and how to speed up internalization of Yixing’s environmental protection industry. Additionally, the Yixing Municipal Government held a forum on innovation and development of energy-saving and environmental protection.
Updates from Danes Worldwide
How much money could you save?
As a member of Danes Worldwide, you enjoy several benefits including discounts on such services as renting cars, sending flowers, shopping in supermarkets outside Denmark, and much more.
However, it may not be clear exactly how much money you actually save. That’s why we have now set up a page on danes.dk where we show examples of each discount (say, 10%).
The initial examples are posted, and we will add more. We will of course update the information as time goes on.
View the examples (in Danish) here.