China's automotive market is showing signs of a slowdown, with a sales drop in July, the second monthly dip within six months, but the country's leading industry association is maintaining its estimate of slight growth for the year. A total of 1.89 million vehicles were sold in July, a 4 percent fall from the same month last year, according to statistics the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers released on Friday, 10th August. That brought total sales from January to July to 15.96 million, up 4.3 percent year-on-year. Despite growth in the seven-month period, which is in line with the association's estimate, there are signs that the market will enter a period of volatility in the second half of the year. What would be the opportunities and challenges in “New Era” for foreign auto parts manufacturers in China?
Agenda:
09:00 – 10:30 am
·Roundtable Introduction;
·Opening Remarks by Chair of Auto Components Working Group Shanghai;
·Presentation by Christoph Hezel, Partner at Taylor Wessing and Johnny Zhao, Partner at Taylor Wessing, on Opportunities and Challenges in “New Era” for Foreign Auto Parts Manufacturers in China
- Background (including high-level introduction of industrial trend and economic environment in 2018)
- Legal updates (including the Foreign Investment Negative List (2018) and the draft of new automotive policy released by the NDRC early this year)
- Opportunities and challenges for foreign auto parts manufacturers
·Q&A and Discussion;
·Any other business;
Our speaker:
Mr. Christoph Hezel - Chief Representative and Partner, Taylor Wessing
Mr. Christoph Hezel is the Chief Representative and Partner of our Taylor Wessing Beijing office. He is mainly assigned to the firm’s general corporate practice advising multinational as well as medium-sized corporations on their business operations and investments in mainland China. His special focus in this regard is on foreign direct investment, mergers & acquisitions, corporate restructuring as well as on the PRC tax regime. Christoph advises clients from various industries with an emphasis on automotive, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, medical institutions and renewables.
Mr. Johnny Zhao - Partner, Taylor Wessing
Mr. Johnny Zhao is a partner of Taylor Wessing Beijing office. As a Chinese corporate lawyer, he advises MNCs as well as medium-sized foreign companies in relation to their investments and various operations in China. Johnny has developed a profound expertise in the automotive industry advising both OEM as well as suppliers in this field. Johnny is a specialist in M&A and corporate restructuring involving complicated cross-border and domestic transactions. His experience also extends to advising on merger control, competition compliance, corporate governance and trade issues.
Registration:
If you would like to attend this meeting in our Shanghai office, please register via sending an email to Ms. Yue Zhong at Yzhong@europeanchamber.com.cn before 16 October 2018.