Update on Omicron and Recommended Actions Go back »
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Time2022-01-21 | 13:45 - 14:45
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Venue:Zoom Online/European Chamber Beijing Office C405
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Address:Zoom Online/C405, Beijing Lufthansa Center, Liangmaqiao Road 50, Beijing
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Fee:Members: 150 |
Non Members: 300
Onsite seats will be reserved on a first-come-first-served basis, please indicate when submitting your registration.
At the end of 2021, Omicron, the fifth highly significant variant of the original SARS-COV-2, was designated a ‘variant of concern’ by the World Health Organization (WHO), based on its transmissibility and the severity of illness it can cause. South Africa, where Omicron was first reported, was the focus of the world’s attention as the number of infections surged within a few weeks. The new variant is now prevalent worldwide. The situation in China is also gloomy, given the increasing number of Omicron cases being reported across the country, which is likely to put China’s zero-COVID strategy to perhaps its toughest test yet.
To brief the European business and diplomatic community in China on the latest about Omicron, the effectiveness of current vaccines and treatments, as well as recommended actions for countries and individuals, the European Chamber has invited a group of prominent speakers to provide their different perspectives on the developing situation.
Agenda
13:45-13:50 Opening remarks
· Jörg Wuttke, President of the European Chamber
13:50-14:00 Ambassador’s address
· HE Nicolas Chapuis, Ambassador of the Delegation of the European Union to China
14:00-14:10 Key facts on Omicron and what you need to be aware
· Dr Bernhard Schwartländer, Global Health Envoy, German Ministry of Foreign Affairs; former Chef de Cabinet of Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the WHO
14:10-14:20 Effectiveness of vaccines and current treatment
· Dr Emanuel Luttersdorfer, Clinic Doctor, Raffles Medical
14:20-14:45 Discussion and Q&A
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Speakers
Mr. Jörg Wuttke
Mr. Jörg Wuttke
Jörg Wuttke is Chief Representative of BASF China, based in Beijing.
Jörg Wuttke was President of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China from 2007 to 2010, 2014 to 2017 and again from 2019 to 2023. From 2001 to 2004 Mr. Wuttke was the Chairman of the German Chamber of Commerce in China.
Since its establishment in 2013, Mr. Wuttke is member of the Advisory Board of Germany’s foremost Think Tank on China, Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS), in Berlin. He lived in China for more than 30 years.
Mr. Nicolas Chapuis
Mr. Nicolas Chapuis
Mr. Chapuis began his career in the 1980s as the Press Attaché at the Embassy of France in Beijing. In 1983, he was appointed Second Secretary (Political Affairs) at the Embassy of France in Beijing and then Desk Officer for China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Mongolia at the Asia-Oceania Department of France’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). Between 1987 and 1988, he was a CFIA Fellow at Harvard University.
In 1988 and 1989, he held the position of Desk Officer for NATO & European Security at the Political Affairs Department of France’s MFA. From 1989 to 1992, he was the Cultural Counsellor at the Embassy of France in Beijing.
Mr. Chapuis's diplomatic career continued in the role of Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of France in Singapore. Following this, he held the position of Personal Assistant to the Deputy General Secretary for European and Economic Affairs at the MFA before becoming the Deputy Director (East Asia) of the Asia-Oceania Department of the MFA from 1995 to 1998.
In 1998, returned to China as the Consul General in Shanghai. Between 2002 and 2003, he was First Counsellor (Cultural Affairs) at the Embassy of France in the United Kingdom and the Director of Institut français du Royaume-Uni.
From 2003 until 2005 Mr. Chapuis served as Ambassador of France in Mongolia and in 2005–2009 he was Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of France in Beijing.
In 2009–2010, served as Prefect of the département of Hautes-Alpes. Following this, held the position of Chief Coordinator of the MFA WikiLeaks Taskforce until 2011.
Mr. Chapuis has been the Ambassador of France to Canada since February 4th, 2015. In September 2018 was nominated as Head of the EU Delegation to China
Dr. Bernhard Schwartländer
Dr. Bernhard Schwartländer
Dr. Bernhard Schwartländer, Global Health Envoy, the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also the former Chef de Cabinet of Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the WHO, is a medical doctor and holds a doctorate in medical epidemiology. He received his education and professional training in Germany and the US at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He use to be the WHO Representative in China. Before joining WHO in China, he served as Director for Evidence, Policy, and Innovation at UNAIDS headquarters in Geneva and as the United Nations Country Coordinator on AIDS in Beijing, China. Prior to these assignments, Dr. Schwartländer held a number of senior international positions including the Director for Performance Evaluation and Policy at the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria; Director of the World Health Organization’s HIV Department; and as the Director of Evaluation and Strategic Information at UNAIDS.
In 2000, Dr. Schwartländer undertook a special assignment at the World Bank to perform economic analyses on the cost and impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the responses to it. Prior to joining the United Nations, Dr. Schwartländer was the Director of the national AIDS program in Germany and the Director of the Division of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at the Robert Koch-Institute in Berlin, the central biomedical and infectious disease research and reference laboratory of the federal Ministry of Health, Germany.
Dr. Schwartländer has published widely in scientific journals and books and taught applied epidemiology in Berlin. He brings extensive experience in development policies as well as infectious disease epidemiology and programming at global and country levels.
Dr. Emanuel Luttersdorfer
Dr. Emanuel Luttersdorfer
Austrian born Dr. Emanuel Luttersdorfer holds a doctoral degree in Medicine from the Medical University at Graz, Austria. He has undergone postgraduate training in the fields of Tropical Medicine and Occupational Health being awarded degrees by Mahidol University in Bangkok, Thailand and Manchester University in the United Kingdom. He is living and working in Beijing since 2009. Next to his duties as a Clinic Doctor working for Raffles Medical he is a certified Emergency Doctor and the Austrian Embassy associated doctor as well as one of the designated consulting doctors for the German Embassy.