The Swiss Centers are delighted to invite you to

Dear Friends of Swiss Centers,

The Swiss Centers, in collaboration with the Section romande de la Société Suisse-Chine (SRSSC), are delighted to invite you to a unique webinar that will allow you to better understand how China‘s economic and political climate is changing with the pandemic, especially its ever-growing and fast-changing consumer market.

If its GDP growth slowed to 7.9% year-on-year during the second quarter of this year, after plateauing at 18.3% in the previous 3 months, the dynamics of Chinese consumer spending remains strong. The total retail sales of consumer goods increased by 23% year-on-year in the first half of 2021, contributing 61.7% to the economic growth, according to data from the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The Swiss exports to China have fully recovered from the pandemic and continue to be on the rise. In the first half of 2021, Switzerland exported goods in the value of 10.1 billion Swiss francs to China including Hong Kong– a growth of 24.9% compared to the first half of 2020 and 8.6% higher than in 2019.

At the same time, many issues challenge the long-term growth prospects and the sustainability of investments by foreign companies already present in China or wishing to expand there. Let’s mention for instance the "dual circulation" strategy which aims to reorient China's economy by prioritizing domestic market while remaining open to international trade and investment. Besides, the geopolitical tensions may spill over into international trade and impact Chinese consumers sentiment towards foreign brands.

Do you need to know more about the opportunities and risks of the attractive but complex Chinese market? Does your company ambition to expand there? Or are you already present in China but would like to better understand where its market is going?

To answer all these questions, Swiss Centers bring you two speakers from China:  a serial entrepreneur living in China for the past 30 years, Nicolas Musy, founder of the Swiss Centers, and Tina Lenz, Asia Representative of Brauerei Locher AG, the only brewery left in the Appenzell region.

1.       Present a general understanding of the latest Chinese economic developments and climate.

2.       Highlight the evolving opportunities and risks for Swiss companies producing consumer goods.

3.       Get some initial elements to evaluate the business potential of your company in China.

Founded in 2000 as a non-profit Sino-Swiss public-private partnership, the Swiss Centers are by far the largest cluster of Swiss companies in Asia.

Swiss Centers practical solutions supported the businesses of over 400 companies in China – both SMEs and large enterprises. Among others, the Swiss Centers experts have established 50 production companies and more than 50 commercial offices for Swiss companies in both industrial and consumer goods. In cooperation with the Swiss diplomatic representations in China, Swiss Centers also conducts surveys that provide the most detailed expertise available on the situation of Swiss companies in China, and at the same time promotes the Swiss Made brand and Switzerland as a country for quality, innovation and industrial leadership.

With locations strategically situated on China's dynamic East Coast (Shanghai and Tianjin), Swiss Centers provide:

-        Instant physical office space as well as ready-to-use workshops, showrooms and warehouses;

-        Trade and supply chain management, including product registration, import/export, transport, warehouse and distribution.

-        Relations with local Chinese authorities and connections to Swiss government and institutions in China;

-        Support for secure technology transfer and intellectual property protection;

-        Access to professional services tailored to SMEs in all aspects of setting up and developing business in China (legal, tax, accounting, recruitment, HR management, IT, marketing).

For more information and some reference cases, kindly visit www.swisscenters.org