With the year shortly coming to a close I wanted to take the opportunity to briefly reflect and look ahead to the next few months. It’s been another busy quarter for AustCham Shanghai, with no shortage of business development initiatives, major events and new partnerships.
As many of you will have seen we have just launched the 2018 Westpac Australia-China Business Sentiment Survey. In partnership with Westpac and China Skinny, the survey will capture important data about the health of Australian business transacting in and with China, allowing us to understand more of the opportunities and threats, and how our community is responding to some key trends and initiatives like eCommerce and the Belt and Road Initiative. With a few short weeks left, please get involved.
The Australian Government recently released its Foreign Policy White Paper, a process that AustCham Shanghai made a submission to earlier this year on behalf of our members, focusing our recommendations focused on trade and education as a valuable input into the foreign policy sphere. We are supportive of the bipartisan acceptance of the report and are looking forward to doing more in this space as Australia continues to turn its eyes to Asia and China in particular. It is this type of advocacy and thought leadership that we will continue to progress into 2018. As an aside, I recently sat down with James Laurenceson, Deputy Director of the Australia-China Relations Institute to discuss some of the unique opportunities and challenges for Australian businesses in China on the ACRI Podcast. It is exciting to witness so many Australian businesses achieving great things in China.
Membership
Those looking to stay up to date will be well served with our latest Industry Insights documents, 1-page overviews of the Property & Construction and Financial Services sectors giving you all that you need to know to stay across the top issues.
I’d also like to take this opportunity to remind you of our Mates Rates offers for the July-December 2-17 period. Mates Rates aims to provide our members with unique and exclusive professional and personal discounts across a variety of industries including dining, healthcare, travel, leisure and business services.
Events
In September, we held our 19th annual Great Australian Ball, themed “Movie Madness” at Hyatt on the Bund. The night was a terrific success, with guests raising over 100,000 RMB on the night for local charity partners. This month we had the pleasure of hosting AustCham Shanghai’s first ‘Shanghai Melbourne Cup’ Gala Luncheon at the iconic Shanghai Tower. Over 200 guests enjoyed a day of fashion, fine dining and fun, while raising 95,000 RMB funds for charity.
In September we welcomed the Queensland Treasurer, the Honourable Curtis Pitt MP, who discussed Queensland’s economic growth, fiscal position and economic landscape over lunch. More recently, we were delighted to host Alibaba Group Australia/NZ Managing Director Maggie Zhou, who provided an exclusive briefing to members on Alibaba’s strategy for the 11:11 Global Shopping Festival and opportunities for Australian businesses through their eCommerce platform.
Looking ahead the annual Australia Day BBQ will be back and bigger than ever in just a few short months on Saturday January 27 at Kakadu restaurant. If you are interested in sponsorship opportunities or getting involved for the 2018 Australia Day Roast please get in touch.
Business Engagement
In October, high-level delegations from Australian sporting organisations including Tennis Australia, the National Basketball League, the AFL, and Football Federation Australia descended on Shanghai for the inaugural AustCham Shanghai Australia-China Sports Summit. Almost 200 sports-related industry professionals spent two days listening to over 40 speakers who discussed a range of topics on opportunities and the future of sport in both countries. Sport is a passion for us. The Summit will return in 2018 and we are looking forward to seeing some concrete trade outcomes from October’s activities.
And in a great development in the life of the Chamber, AustCham Shanghai has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Hangzhou Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, formalising the partnership between the two chambers. This strategic agreement aims to boost bilateral commercial investment in the region and strengthen exchanges in the tourism, cultural, healthcare and food and beverage sectors. It goes hand in hand with our strategy to do more in our region, and allows us great support into the thriving city of Hangzhou.
Yangtze River Delta
In September, the AustCham Shanghai team held an official launch party for the Yangtze River Delta region. Since then, we have hosted regular regional social and corporate events, including site visits to B&R Enclosures and Outotec facilities in Suzhou, and a market entry business seminar in Nanjing. We have also been strengthening relationships with district, city and provincial governments in order to help facilitate business investments and other activities outside of Shanghai. If you are looking to access the Delta region, AustCham Shanghai can offer introductions, referrals and opportunities to attend and/or speak at events and delegations. Reach out for more information.
For those taking a break, enjoy. And as always, please reach out if we can be of any assistance.
Regards,
Udo Doring CEO and Executive Director AustCham Shanghai
