Category: 2 China

Ohio-Hubei Partnership

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G1×7: Ohio, USA
Ohio ranks seventh in GDP among US States, and is positioned at the 1×7 slot within the G8x8.
G2×8: Hubei, China
Hubei ranks eighth in GDP among provinces of China, and is positioned at the 2×8 slot within the G8x8.

Amid rising trade tensions between China and the Trump administration, Chinese officials met with Ohio business leaders in Columbus on Wednesday for a business and policy luncheon.

The Greater Columbus Chinese Chamber of Commerce and JobsOhio organized the meeting, which was held at The Blackwell Inn, to discuss the business relationship between the U.S. and China.

Yumin Zhao, the Acting Consul General in New York, says they’re focused on collaboration in light of the escalating trade war with the U.S.

“The Chinese people did notice there are some differences compared to the past decades with the relationship between China and the United States,” Zhao says. “We do see it as a reflection of the average American people.”

He urged Americans and Chinese people to focus on how they can work together.

“We still think that only by cooperation we can overcome the difficulties. Not setting the barriers or lifting the tariffs and make the flow of people, flow of goods slower,” Zhao says. “That’s not our goal.”

Monica Xia, chair of the Greater Columbus Chinese Chamber of Commerce, says some Ohio businesses look to Hubei, China, for advancement in medicine and biotechnology.

“I think globalization cannot be stopped. I think that’s the message that we want our audience to take away,” Xia says. “Just let’s contribute positively to this globalization trend.”

Hubei, China, and Ohio have been sister provinces for almost 40 years.

Both of Ohio’s U.S. senators, and Gov. John Kasich, have raised concerns about the Trump administration’s trade policies. Ohio’s agricultural industry has been particularly hard hit by Chinese retaliation against soybeans and pork, though Trump has tried to offset some damages to farmers with subsidies.

Ohio exports $4 billion in agricultural goods to China every year.

Image and info source: http://radio.wosu.org/post/chinese-officials-discuss-trade-ohio-business-leaders

Google CEO at Wuzhen Summit

World Internet Conference in Zhejiang

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The fourth World Internet Conference, also known as the “Wuzhen Summit”, concluded Tuesday, 5 December 2017, in Wuzhen town of Zhejiang province after three days of discussions and exhibitions of cutting-edge internet products.

The World Internet Conference in Wuzhen is an annual gathering of internet officials and internet company executives as well as administrators from developing countries. The previous three conferences in 2014, 2015 and 2016 were not attended by top US tech executives, but this year, leaders of IBM, Oracle, and Google participated in the event, along with the CEOs of well-known Chinese internet giants such as Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, Huawei and Xiaomi.

The conference was also addressed by Chinese President Xi Jinping and Apple CEO Tim Cook. In his written congratulatory address, Xi said that online developments were raising many new challenges to sovereignty and security, and China was “willing to work with the international community to respect cyberspace sovereignty and promote partnerships”. Apple chief executive Cook’s presence indicated the importance of the Chinese market for the iPhone maker, even though Apple’s market share of China’s smartphone market is shrinking.

Will Google Return to China?

Google’s India-born CEO Sundar Pichai made a strong case for the search giant’s return to China, saying it is already helping Chinese companies gain global access. Google was shut down in China in 2010 following a showdown with the government over censor policies. Since then Google, Gmail, Youtube and its other products are banned in the world’s second largest economy. “A lot of work Google does is to help Chinese companies”, the 45-year-old Google CEO, who has a BTech degree from IIT Kharagpur, said at the conference.

“Many small and medium-sized businesses in China take advantage of Google to get their products to many other countries outside of China,” Pichai told the meeting, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported. After the ban, Google subsequently shifted its operations to Hong Kong. In its absence, Chinese firms like Tencent, Alibaba, Baidu and JD.com emerged most powerful players in China and abroad. Google and its products can be accessed in China through Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) over which Beijing has stepped up a crackdown in recent times. Apple this year agreed to the Chinese government’s requests to remove dozens of virtual private network (VPN) apps services that allow Chinese users to access blocked websites from its local App Store. Skype, the calling app, was removed from its mainland App Store this autumn. Pichai’s attendance at the state sponsored internet meeting came after China recently lifted the ban on Google translation services.

Besides Google, a number of global social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter remain banned in China over fears that their presence would open-up to millions of China’s social media users marginalising the official media. In his address, Cook said “the theme of this conference – developing a digital economy for openness and shared benefits – is a vision we at Apple share”, adding that Apple “is proud to have worked alongside many of our partners in China to help build a community that will join a common future in cyberspace”.

Info source: The Tribune, Image source: World Internet Conference

Zhejiang ranks fourth in GDP among Chinese provinces, and is positioned at the 2×4 slot within the G8x8. In 2015, it achieved a GDP of 549.8 billion € and a share of 5.9 percent of the Chinese total. Its GDP was higher than that of Argentina and Sweden, but slightly lower than that of Saudi Arabia.

6th China-India Forum

Karnataka – Sichuan Cooperation

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Chief Minister Siddaramaiah of the State of Karnataka, India, inaugurated the 6th China-India Forum on 10 November 2017 in Bengaluru. The meeting was jointly hosted by the Government of Karnataka, the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), the China-India Friendship Association (CIFA), and Podar Enterprise. Semiconductor Alliance of China and Beijing Construction & Highway Development Group presented EoI letters to the Karnataka government. Forum slogan was “Innovation – Building Strong and Harmonious Future Together – Promoting Beautiful China & Wonderful India.”

Karnataka had signed a Sister-State-Province agreement with the Provincial Government of  Sichuan of the People’s Republic of China in May 2015, during the Forum of Leaders of the Regions of India and China in Beijing, and with participation of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. At the China-India Forum 2017, however, other provinces of China were also invited. Podar Enterprise signed a strategic cooperation MoU with Hebei Provincial Government. Podar Advisory and Consulting Enterprise signed tri-party MoU of cooperation with Baoding City Government and Hebei Information Investment Group. Fortune Plus, China, signed MoU for setting up electric vehicle hub with Imperator Autocorp Pvt Ltd. Podar Holding International Pte Ltd signed MoU for cooperation in education with Yingcai University in Jinan, Shandong province.

All Chinese Investors Welcome

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah invited Chinese investors, saying the state is ready to receive them with open arms and promised the speedy implementation of projects. “India’s exports to China touched USD 8.86 billion, whereas China’s exports were USD 61.54 billion. I urge investors from China to invest in Karnataka,” he said at the inauguration of the 6th India-China Forum here.  India-China bilateral trade also had reached USD 70.4 billion in 2015, he added. “We will do everything possible to enable seamless conduct of business, with total transparency and with the assurance that your projects will be speedily implemented,” he said.

Karnataka government will continue to actively engage with China and explore all possible avenues to make them its valued partners in building of a strong and prosperous state, Siddaramaiah said. “It is just the beginning of identifying synergies in  technologies which would strengthen and deepen the foundation  of a Future-oriented Partnership between India and China and  Karnataka and China, evolving business ties, particularly in  defence, energy, infrastructure, agriculture and food processing, Information Technology and environment, to name a few,” he said.

Siddaramaiah said Karnataka’s Industrial Policy for 2014-19 was manufacturing centric with a vision is to make the state an innovative and hi-tech manufacturing hub of India. He said India and China’s relations had undergone an evolution in recent years developing along a positive track, into a friendly partnership. “It has made great strides in recent years and has become truly multi-dimensional, spurred by a significant convergence  of interests, mutual goodwill and high-level exchanges,” he  added.

Sources: The Deccan Chronicle, The Hindu BusinessLine

Image source: NDTV

Karnataka and Sichuan are both G8x8 territories. The former is ranking fourth in GDP among Indian states, placing it at the 7×4 position. Sichuan ranks sixth among Chinese provinces to take the 2×6 field on the board. In 2016, Karnataka took a share of 7.4% of the India total GDP. Sichuan posted a GDP share of 4.2 percent of the China national total.

Sino-German TVET Alliance Founded

Vocational Education Alliance

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On 21 October 2017, organisations and enterprises of vocational education formally established a “Sino-German Alliance on Dual Vocational Education” in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province. Different from already existing bilateral VET associations, the new alliance will, according to its Chinese name, focus on the cooperation between enterprises and schools, and thus focus on truly “dual” vocational education.

The alliance was founded at the “International Summit for Vocational Education”, which was part of Education Plus 2017, an exhibition organized by Messe Stuttgart Nanjing Ltd. During the constituting session, founding members adopted by-laws and unanimously elected their chairman, Simon Zhao. He is CEO of the National Center for Open  & Distance Education in Beijing.

Simon Zhao pointed out the significance of founding this alliance at this time, as China formulates new goals for its economic development. “At present, speeding up the development of modern vocational education is a major strategic plan that the country has made. The plan demands to shift gears in economic growth, and requires structural adjustments and the transformation of old into new kinetic energy. It is also an inevitable requirement of China to achieve the goal of becoming an innovation-oriented country and to strengthen its human resources.”

Linking the German “Industry 4.0” approach to the “Made in China 2025” objectives, he further explained the connotation of internationalization in vocational education and said, “We should strive to explore the road of international cooperation in running schools, focus on the needs of regional economic and social development, regard international standards, employ international teachers, apply international management, and so develop a highly competitive, highly skilled workforce.”

Mark Ma, Vice General Manager of Open Education, referred to a 2016 study which estimated the vocational education market volume of China at 600 billion RMB (about 78 billion Euro) and further growing.  “In this market, the new alliance aims at developing the cooperation of enterprises and schools in vocational education, supporting the implementation of the Sino-German vocational education strategy, and establishing a new and sustainable type of cooperation.”

The new alliance is a branch organisation of the “China External Cooperative Alliance of Vocational  Education” in Beijing.

Objectives

The alliance aims to

  • Establish a benchmark of vocational education in China by localizing German curricula into the Chinese system.
  • Explore methods of developing vocational talents that are highly demanded by industry.
  • Research German philosophy of skills transfer in vocational education.
  • Apply the German quality assurance mechanism in China.
  • Set up a Qualification Assessment Center based on German qualification standards.
  • Train teachers by working closely with member enterprises and schools.
  • Develop a significant number of senior managers to apply German learning techniques in Chinese colleges.
  • Reduce the gap between vocational college graduates and industry needs.
  • Provide German employers in China with qualified workers.

For more details on the assocation, contact liw@mail.open.com.cn.

For more details on the exhibition Education Plus, see our related article.

Image source: National Center for Open and Distance Education (OPEN)

Jiangsu ranks second in GDP among Chinese provinces and takes position 2×2 on the G8x8 chess board. In 2015, the province produced 7,011.6 billion RMB worth of goods and services, contributing 9.7 percent to the total GDP of China. Depending on the exchange rate, this was almost as much as the GDP of Australia.

 

Education+ in Nanjing, Jiangsu

Education Plus in Jiangsu

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Education Plus is the annual international summit and exhibition for vocational education. The 2017 fair was held in Jiangsu’s capital Nanjing from 19 to 21 October. Exhibition topics included

  • Information Communication Technology
  • Manufacturing and Engineering
  • Modern Agriculture
  • Modern Service Industry
  • Vocational Education Training Providers
  • School Pavilion

More information at http://en.educationplus.com.cn/

Jiangsu ranks second in GDP among Chinese provinces and takes position 2×2 on the G8x8 chess board. In 2015, the province produced 7,011.6 billion RMB worth of goods and services, contributing 9.7 percent to the total GDP of China. Depending on the exchange rate, this was almost as much as the GDP of Australia.

 

CN-GD

Guangdong Free Trade Zone

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The pilot free trade zone of Guangdong province, aiming at the promotion of foreign trade and investment, has been opened in 2015 with great enthusiasm. Their website at http://www.china-gdftz.gov.cn , however, has no “news” in English since June, 2016. You might think that enthusiasm has died down, but no! News in Chinese are updated almost daily. Seems that only the English language team has been on vacation…

Guangdong ranks first in GDP among Chinese provinces and is placed at field 2×1 on the G8x8 chess board. In 2015, its GDP of 7,281.3 billion CNY contributed 10.1 percent to the national total of China. In international comparison, this is more than the GDP of Indonesia and a bit less than Mexico.

 

New York

New York Promotes Guangxi

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The Greater New York Chamber of Commerce will hold an investment and trade promotion event for Guangxi province of China on 25 October 2017. Participation is free for members, non-members will be charged $25. Contact +1 212-686-7220 or info@chamber.nyc for more information and to register, or see their event announcement here.

The event is promoted by the Guangxi provincial department of commerce.

A similar event was hosted by the Greater New York Chamber in October 2015. At that time, the Guangxi delegation included six governmental delegates, six economic and trade delegates, and five delegates from the Chinese Consulate General in New York. They spoke about investment opportunities in Guangxi.

Information and image source: Greater New York Chamber of Commerce.

The State of New York ranks third among US states in GDP, placing it on the 1×3 field of the global G8x8 chess board of most productive territories of the most productive countries. In 2016, the state contributed 8.1 percent to the national GDP. This was an amount of $1,488 billion, almost as much as all of Canada produced at the same time. Guangxi Autonomous Region, on the other hand, ranks only 17th among Chinese provinces and is not yet listed a G8x8 member.

 

Open Education Delegation

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A delegation of the Chinese National Center for Open and Distance Education visited the Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University (Dual University DHBW) in Stuttgart on 28 June 2017. The group was received by Prof. Harald Stuhler, head of vehicle systems engineering studies at DHBW.

With 3.5 million registered students, the National Center for Open and Distance Education is one of the largest education institutions worldwide. It is specialized on online education and is cooperating with all notable universities of China. The Center is a joint venture of the electronics giant TCL with the Chinese Ministry of Education. The Center has recently started to establish a vocational education programme similar to the German dual system through its subsidiary I-Vocedu.

Simon Zhao, CEO of Open Education, headed the delegation. Other members were Wu Shujun, Director of the Vocational Education Center, Mark Ma, Vice General Manager, and Tina Jin, Vice President of Shenzhen TCL Education Technology Co., Ltd.

The visit to Germany was organized by the former China Project Director of BMW AG, Kayjay Brix, who is now advisor of I-Vocedu in Shenzhen. Further participants were Oliver Schindler, CEO of ITW Schindler GmbH, and the former Programme Director of GIZ in China, Helmut Schoenleber.