Event Description

The Research & Development Working Group is glad to invite you to the next Working Group meeting and Chair Election, which will take place on Friday, 15th March 2019, 9:30-12:00 at the European Chamber Shanghai Office.

Europe-China R&D Cooperation has entered a new stage since the 14th meeting of the Joint Steering Committee of the EU-China Agreement for Scientific and Technological Cooperation having taken place in Beijing on 13 December 2018. The meeting discussed potential Europe-China R&D cooperation in many thematic areas as well as the implementation of Co-Funding Mechanism (CFM).

Despite the existing financial supports at the local level, compared with Chinese domestic companies, foreign companies that operate R&D in China face difficulties when applying for public funding and R&D grants at the national level. To promote the innovation of both China and Europe, this working group meeting is going to discuss challenges and opportunities of Europe-China R&D Cooperation, especially from the angle of the Europe-China incentives program.

In addition, we will also have a Chair Election of 2019 R&D Working Group, as well as the R&D Position Paper (PP) 2019/2020 Discussion. We encourage our members to send us any comment about the current paper (see attachment), their correspondent concerns and potential new content. Any inputs, please send to Ms. Lizi Chen at lchen@europeanchamber.com.cn

Tentative Agenda

9:30-10:00               Registration and Networking

10:00-10:15             Welcome Remarks  and Review of R&D WG in 2018, Mr Denis Bortzmeyer, Chair of the Research & Development Working Group, European Chamber  

10:15-10:40             Chair Election+ Discussion on R&D Position Paper 2019/2020

10:40-11:10             R&D Funding Opportunities in China and Europe, Mr Alessio Petino, Project Expert, Development Solutions 

11:10-11:50             Panel Discussion: Challenge s and Opportunities of Europe-China R&D Cooperation

                               Panellists:

-          Mr Alessio Petino, Project Expert, Development Solutions

-          Mr Zhonghua Xu, Vice President and Head of Total R&D for Asia, Total in China

-          Mr Denis Bortzmeyer, Director, Arkema

-          Mr Phipps Xue, Strategic Partnership and Innovation Director, SAP

-          Ms Elisa Yu, Senior Advisor Innovation, Business Finland

                                Moderated by Mr Jack Chen, Vice Chair of the Research & Development Working Group, European Chamber

11:50-12:00              Closing remarks the New Chair of the Research & Development Working Group, European Chamber

Chair Elections: Call for Candidates

The Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson play a crucial role in driving the Working Group, which includes a leadership role in the drafting of the Position Paper, communicating key messages to Chinese and European government authorities and steering Working Group meetings. The desired characteristics of a Chair and Vice Chairs are a senior industry representative with relevant industry expertise and government contacts who has the time and willingness to support the Working Group. Previous participation in the Working Group is essential.

The duration of the term for both Chairs and Vice Chairs is one year. The maximum duration of Chairperson or Vice Chairperson of a Group is three consecutive years. Candidates are only eligible for Chair or Vice Chair positions if he/she is physically based in China. Corporate Members are eligible for Chair and Vice Chair positions. Representatives from industry associations and individual members are only eligible to hold one of the Working Group Vice Chair positions.

The R&D Working Group can have, at most, one National Chair and three National Vice-Chairs.

In accordance with European Chamber internal guidelines, the Business Manager will send another email to the Working Group at least 3 days prior to the election with the bios and motivation letters of all candidates attached. Voting for the election must be conducted in person at the Group meeting (one vote per company) after each candidate has been given an opportunity to give a short speech on why they would like to run for election. All elected Chairpersons must sign the attached Code of Conduct following election. 

Should you be interested in putting your name forward for election, please read the attached “Starter Kit for Chairs”.  To apply, please send following 3 documents to Ms. Lizi Chen at lchen@europeanchamber.com.cn in Shanghai by Friday, 1st March, 2019 COB:

·         a short biography,

·         a KR that you would like to suggest for the new PP and why (you can keep 1 from the previous PP or suggest a new one

·         a motivation letter, stating which position (Chair or Vice Chair) you intend to run for and why

Please kindly note that all relevant documents will be circulated to members in advance for review and consideration.

As usual, we welcome your suggestions for possible agenda topics and speakers for this and future meetings.We encourage as many of our members as possible to attend to have their say in the leadership and representation of the Working Group in the year ahead.