In recent years, Chinese professionals and young graduates are flowing into “new first-tier” or second-tier cities such as Chengdu, Chongqing and Hangzhou; high-tech companies have been proliferating in 35 major cities besides Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou; manufacturing industries have been relocated from first-tier cities to their neighbouring areas…The areas beyond the biggest and most developed cities are undergoing rapid expansion with vast improvements in infrastructure, transportation, education, employment and standards of living, thus playing a significant role in China’s economic transformation. How can EU SMEs benefit from China’s diverse zones and regions outside tier-one cities? What are the differing characteristics, business environments and preferential policies within the new Pilot Free Trade Zones and the Economic and Technological Development Zones?
Agenda
15:00 – 15:30 : Registration and networking (offline)
15:30 – 15:40: Opening remarks
15:40 – 16:30: Panel discussion
16:30 – 17:00: Q&A session
You can find the recorded workshop on Youtube:
About the speakers: Mr. Kyle Freeman
Partner at Dezan Shira & Associates
Kyle Freeman is a Partner at Dezan Shira & Associates, and leads the International Business Advisory team in North China as well as the firm’s North American client services desk in Asia. He advises clients on market entry strategy, corporate structuring and establishment, and related tax and legal issues concerning investment in China, Hong Kong, and Southeast Asia. Prior to joining Dezan Shira & Associates, Kyle worked in government relations and China trade policy for various public and private organizations. His work included assisting in high-level, US-China bilateral trade dialogues and organizing public-private cooperation programs to promote US and foreign investment in China. Kyle has a master’s degree in economics and international trade from the University of International Business and Economics, in Beijing, and dual bachelor’s degrees in economics and global affairs from George Mason University, in Washington D.C. He has also been a visiting fellow at the University of Oxford and the Beijing Language Culture University.
Mr. Mark Hui Xu
Mark Xu is the Sector Lead for Advanced Manufacturing and Transportation (AMT) at China Britain Business Council (CBBC) for the past three years. He has spent over twelve years in an UK engineering company before taking up his current position at CBBC to provide support and consultation to UK manufacturing companies in entering the Chinese market. Mark is bilingual in Chinese and English, has a BEng in Manufacturing Engineering and BCom in Commerce from the University of Birmingham, an MBA from Business School Netherlands and is a Certified Financial Analyst.
Ben has worked for the China-Britain Business Council since 2018. He is responsible for ensuring CBBC’s research output fulfils clients’ requirements and is accurate, consistent, and of a high quality. He also oversees the creation of a range of long-form reports, including those for the EU SME Centre and CBBC’s In the Zone series. Ben has worked in a number of cities throughout China since 2009, including Shanghai, Beijing, Qingdao, and Wuhan. He has a BSc in Economics from the University of York and is fluent in both written and spoken Chinese.
If you sign up today you’ll be able to
