State of the Chamber July 2016
Dear Members and Friends,
Chinese New Year seems like it was only yesterday and yet we are nearly half way through 2016. What a year it has been so far. I wanted to give a brief overview of what we have accomplished so far and where we are heading.
Australia Week in China (AWIC)
Australia Week in China (AWIC) has now been and gone and what a week it was. Spearheaded by our friends at Austrade we saw 1000 Australian business delegates across 9 streams make the trip to China visiting 12 cities. The week was a celebration of the Australia China trade relationship and no event signaled this more than the AustCham Westpac Australia China Business Awards (the ACBAs). With over 620 people in the room, dignitaries from both Australia and China including Trade and Investment Minister the Hon Steven Ciobo,
Australia’s Ambassador to China Jan Adams and the CEO of Blackmores Christine Holgate (keynote speaker), we celebrated the ever increasing importance and success of our bilateral business relationship.
We were also thrilled to recognise an old friend of AustCham Shanghai in the room for his contribution to our business community. Andrew Robb, former Trade and Investment Minister was awarded a life membership to AustCham Shanghai for his role in finalising the China Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA).
Congratulations to all the nominees, finalists and winners and thank you to all of our sponsors.
For the Chamber this was just the beginning of AWIC as we hosted the Minister for Resources, Energy and Northern Australia Josh Frydenberg for a breakfast event the following day before the Prime Minister delivered a powerful address to an intimate audience of 2000 Austrade delegates, partners and potential clients. In partnership with Brisbane Airport Corporation, we capped the day off with our largest Aussie Drinks ever at the Pudong Shangri-La Hotel with over 600 people in attendance. Finally we rounded out the week with two terrific panel discussions focusing on Chinese consumers and a boardroom perspective of doing business in China. Thank you to all the speakers and moderators (notes from the discussions will be made available shortly).
Membership
We are committed to helping Australian businesses and organisations enter and thrive in China as well as playing a role in encouraging Chinese businesses to look to Australia. We announced an increase in our overall membership numbers earlier in the year. Our fastest growing category of membership are Australian based companies looking to access the Chinese domestic market. We have seen an increase of 44% in this category from 2014. Further to that our renewal rates from January to April 2016 are above 90%. What this means to us is that more Australian companies are looking to China and seeing promising signs in the market, enough to commit for a further 12 months.
This is also partially due to the changing face of Australian business in China as both the Australian and Chinese economies see growth in “non-traditional” markets. In light of this we are adding to our current industry committees in the coming months, the engine room of the Chamber.
We have hosted two new Member Events this year in our offices and they have been terrific opportunities for new members to learn about the Chamber and meet the team. We are aiming to host one every quarter.
Please contact us to find out more about our membership initiatives and learn how to get involved.
Communications
We are in the final stages of designing and building our new website. Our goal in all of this is to communicate more effectively with all of you and also to provide a more efficient way of engaging with us, whether it be registering for events, renewing membership, finding relevant news content or connecting with other members. The launch day can’t come soon enough and will just be the beginning of a complete overhaul of our communications over the coming year.
Events
The events keep coming! We are thrilled to be hosting the Great Aussie BBQ on the 4th of June with our partner the Australia Shanghai Association (ASA). This year will see us reclaim the silverware in the embers cricket match against the Brits, hopefully. We also have a Rugby game which will see the Northern hemisphere go up against the South and finally the Shanghai Tigers will take on the Beijing Bombers in Aussie Rules. There will be a jumping castle and kids activities, 15 food vendors, live music and plenty more. We would love to see you there.
You will also see that we are taking Aussie Drinks on the road. This week will see us in Suzhou for the second time this year at the Camel and El Luchador. Our Shanghai Aussie Drinks will be in the gardens of the wonderful Intercontinental Ruijin next week in partnership with Freedom Road Travel. The drinks will also be an opportunity to meet the candidates for the AustCham Shanghai Board for the coming term. We will also be in Hangzhou for the inaugural Aussie Drinks in June for our friends in that part of the world.
Our business events schedule is bursting at the seams for the next few months with topics covering eCommerce Regulations, IP Infringements, Innovation, Sales Management in SMEs, Superannuation Updates and much more. Visit our website for a full schedule.
New Initiatives
As the Chamber continues to evolve we are constantly looking for ways to bring additional benefit to our members. This year we have launched the AustCham Shanghai Medical Insurance Program that, through partnership, has enabled our members to access corporate pooling and rates for health insurance that would otherwise be reserved for large companies. To learn more about this click here. For our smaller companies, this should bring significant savings as well as the peace of mind that they have good medical cover.
We are also continuing to offer opportunities for our members to access professional development through courses in partnership with leading providers. The China Studies MBA Program in partnership with Shanghai Jiao Tong University is a highlight of that professional development schedule. It is perfect for busy professionals living and working in Shanghai as the program is delivered over 18 weekends. We have an autumn intake later this year. To find out more click here.
Finally our Annual General Meeting (AGM) is scheduled for the 24th of June. We encourage each and every one of you to attend. The AGM provides members the opportunity to hear directly from the Board and Secretariat about the performance of the Chamber in the past year and plans for the year ahead. We will also announce the newly elected Board Directors for the term ahead. The AGM will be followed by Aussies Drinks on the Anken Green rooftop. We look forward to seeing you all there.
AustCham Shanghai continues to look for ways to engage with, and deliver for our members.
We look forward to seeing you all soon. Please always feel most welcome to contact the Chamber.
Regards,
Udo Doring
CEO and Executive Director
AustCham Shanghai
