Meeting with China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Guangxi Branch
2019-05-30 | Beijing
During this meeting, Mr. Carl Hayward first appreciated this visit by CCPIT Guangxi. Then he introduced extensively the European Chamber, including its purposes, work, activities, and publication. During the introduction of the latest Business Confidence Survey, released on 20th May, Mr. Hayward raised the concerns of European Chamber’s members in the current business environment in China and emphasized the optimism still persist among European companies in China. Mr. Hayward ended the introduction by stating the European Chamber’s stance on the trade war, that European Chamber oppose the use of tariffs and believe in the framework of WTO.
Then, Mr. DING, Vice Chairman of the CCPIT Guangxi expressed gratitude for this meeting with the Chamber. He introduced CCPIT and the main topic of this visit, 2019 China(Liuzhou) International Smart Industries Exhibition (2019首届中国（柳州）国际智能工业博览会).He invited European Chamber to participate and particularly asked Mr. Hayward to visit there and to deliver a keynote speech. This exhibition will be held between 26-28th, July in Liuzhou. In 2018, a similar exhibition called Sino-German Smart Industries Forum was held there.
Mr. Ding then introduced Liuzhou, a manufacturing hub in south China. Liuzhou has strong automotive and machinery industries. A joint venture company named SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile (上汽通用五菱汽车股份有限公司and abbreviated as SGMW), between SAIC Motor, General Motors, and Liuzhou Wuling Motors Co Ltd. makes about 2 million units of cars annually. Another important company there is Guangxi Liugong Co. (广西柳工机械股份有限公司). Mr. DING emphasized the strong industrial foundation in Liuzhou. He sought to bring more European companies there to cooperate with local ones, upgrading the local manufacturers who so far mostly engaged in primary and low-end production. He said there was plenty room for improvement in local manufacturers’ quality and technology. Specifically, he mentioned the sugar and aluminum industries. Guangxi is a region with abundant raw materials of those two, but so far local manufacturers only have rudimentary processing capability.
Mr. Ding explained the advantages of Guangxi, and Liuzhou in particular, including its geography, natural environment, connection with ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries, and newly acquired transportation convenience. This place is the center of cooperation between China and ASEAN countries.
Mr. Hayward then raised two questions regarding: 1) Existing cooperation between European enterprises and local ones 2) measures to attract talents. Mr. Ding responded elaborately, which summarized as 1) that existing examples are: one German manufacturer on aluminum production, Electricite De France (EDF) and British Telecom etc. 2) the biggest push to attract talents to Guangxi has started this year (2019) with determination stronger than ever. He expressed the desire to attract more European businesses to Guangxi.
The two sides exchanged documents at the end of this meeting. Mr. Hayward presented the Positon Paper and Business Confidence Survey. Mr. Ding gave the official invitation to the exhibition.