I am already enjoying my new tasks at the European Chamber, even though I was only elected a short while ago. More than 10 years have passed since the creation of the Chamber, and I am glad to have been one of those who have seen the Chamber grow and achieve impressive results in the interest of the European Business Community in China.

It is my intention to work on the basis of continuity, with a view to maintaining steady and healthy growth for the Chamber.

Our Position Paper will remain our main lobbying tool. We will ensure an increasing degree of interaction between Executive Committee (ExCo) Members and Working Groups to better address issues cited in the Position Paper with both Chinese and European officials at various levels.

In particular, we would like to transform the Brussels Circuit, generally organised immediately after issuing the Position Paper, into a European Tour to present the Paper to key economic and political officials in a number of European capitals.

We will work more with EU Member States’ embassies to help us assess specific needs under a European platform. I look forward therefore to having more interaction with all 27 EU nations with the objective of better integrating the voice of smaller and younger Member States.

The European Chamber has become a primary stakeholder in the dialogue with the Chinese government; we will need to continue to strive for maximum accuracy, counting on our members support at all levels.

In May, the Chamber will publish its annual Business Confidence Survey. While the results of the survey demonstrate the increasing importance of China as a business destination, our members are clearly determined to seek more areas for improvement of the business environment.

I would like to thank you all for the confidence you have placed in me to serve as your president. I am grateful to my fellow members of ExCo for their support, and I look forward to continuing the work that we have begun.

And finally, being a founding member of the European Chamber and having maintained a long term relation with all my predecessors, I will surely seek the necessary advice from them in order to be able to serve the Chamber.