Biz, Economy and More

More serious stuff on business in China

BENCHAM lunch in Temple Restaurant Beijing

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

On Monday 21 October the Benelux Chamber of Commerce in China organized an “elaborate lunch for a selected group of diplomats, and high-level management of Benelux companies” (sic). The lunch was sponsored by Chimay and we had the chance to taste three different Trappist beers.
The lunch was to welcome the Belgian Ambassador H.E. Michel Malherbe.
Location: Temple Restaurant, the rather famous and exclusive restaurant, close to the north gate of the Forbidden City, in a small hutong. See www.temple-restaurant.com. A very nice setting, only a little difficult to find.
I am sure I was there many years ago for a company event when the restaurant was not there yet.


The food: well done and tasty, though all small portions – typical for those “high-end restaurants”. All dishes were prepared with Chimay beer:

  • Panache of Shellfish with Triple Chimay (mussels from Morel’s … little inside information!)
  • Braised Beef with Chimay Blue (better known in Flemish as stoverij!)
  • Gratinated Zabaglione with mandarin Orange with Red Chimay

The staff was not properly briefed on how to serve the Trappist beer (not as wine! hold the cup inclined! or you end up with a lot of foam and spilled beer…). Coffee was served at random, a bit strange.
The other guests seemed to be all Chinese. As far as I understand a typical meal there is easily RMB 500 to 700 without drinks.

HONAV: licensed Olympic goods and more

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

On 27 September I was invited for a visit to HONAV, as the company “Beijing Huajiang Culture Development Co. Ltd.” is known. I joined government officials from Beijing Dongcheng District (I am their advisor).
See: http://issuu.com/danielpeng/docs/honav_brochure


As reported by my friend Rachael Church-Sanders on MEI (Major Events International), on 12 August 2012:

Honav named official provider
Honav, the Chinese company that designed and made lapel pins for the Beijing and London Olympics, has become the official provider of pins for the Rio 2016 Games, becoming the first company to get pin-licensing rights three times in a row. Jack Chen, chairman of Honav, signed the agreement with Carlos Nuzman, president of the Rio 2016 organizing committee, in London during the 2012 Olympics.
Beijing-based Honav made its name in 2008 by turning waste steel at Beijing National Stadium, also known as the Bird’s Nest stadium, into Olympic souvenirs such as miniature torches and pins. Shortly after the Beijing Olympics, Honav was approached by organisers of the 2012 Olympics to bid for those Games’ pin-licensing rights. Honav won the bid over about 40 competitors worldwide.
Honav has become the only company in the world with the right to design, produce, and distribute official pins for the Olympics organisers, as well as for Olympic sponsors such as Coca-Cola Co and Dow Chemical Co.
For the London 2012 Games, Honav designed 2,012 pins with various themes. About 20 designers were involved, both Chinese and British.
See: http://www.majoreventsinternational.com/

I was impressed by the visit to their Beijing Office. Never seen such a well-designed, orderly and clean Chinese office. I personally congratulated its Chairman and CEO, Mr. Jack Chen, during the dinner.
See the pictures to have an idea.
After the visit we had a dinner in a pretty unusual hotel: Xizhao Temple Hotel. As it happened I had visited the temple (sitting behind and on top of parts of the hotel), during a cultural event years ago, finding my way out through the hotel.

James McGregor talking in our Rotary Club

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

On 24 September 2013 we welcomed James in our Rotary Club of Beijing. Follows his introduction on LinkedIn.
James McGregor is an American author, journalist and businessman who has lived in China for more than 25 years. He is chairman of APCO Worldwide, Greater China and a senior advisor to Pacific Epoch. A professional speaker and commentator who specializes in China’s business, politics and society, he regularly appears in the media to discuss China-related topics. He is also a contributor to The Atlantic.
McGregor is the author of the books “No Ancient Wisdom, No Followers: The Challenges of Chinese Authoritarian Capitalism” (2012) and “One Billion Customers: Lessons from the Front Lines of Doing Business in China” (2005). He also wrote the 2010 report “China’s Drive for ‘Indigenous Innovation’ – A Web of Industrial Policies.”
From 1987 to 1990 McGregor served as The Wall Street Journal’s bureau chief in Taiwan, and from 1990 to 1994 as the paper’s bureau chief in Mainland China. From 1994 to 2000, he was chief executive of Dow Jones & Company in China. After leaving Dow Jones, he was China managing partner for GIV Venture Partners, a $140 million venture capital fund specializing in the Chinese Internet and technology outsourcing.
In 1996, McGregor was elected as chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China. He also served for a decade as a governor of that organization. He is a member of the Atlantic Council, Council on Foreign Relations, National Committee on US-China Relations and International Council of the Asia Society. He serves on a variety of China-related advisory boards. He and his family live in Beijing.

James gave an eloquent and nicely packaged overview on the present political and business environment in China. Basically I share nearly all of his views. And oh well, he did not say anything I did not know myself (and also talk about in seminars, even in greater detail). But of course I am not “James McGregor”, I am just modest Gilbert. And as we say in Flemish: “You are never a prophet in your own land”.
He also referred the study “China 2030” that is covered pretty well in my book Toxic Capitalism. And that was written 18 months ago, and now people talk about it.

Interview with Gilbert in “The World and China Magazine”

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

In the interview I comment on the current difficulties for foreigners to obtain (and keep) a valid visa. Published in the edition August/September 2013:
http://www.shijiezhongguo.com/2013-46.pdf
“It is not easy to stay abord” (sic – should be aboard!) – Pages 23 to 25


The new regulations for visas, work permits and related are certainly not favorable for foreigners. In my opinion, China is closing its doors more and more for foreigners to work and live here. There is no real immigration as in other countries. The amount of foreigners in China is ridiculously low: maybe 1 million in a population of over 1.3 billion. Compare that to other countries.
And I guess it is only going to get worse. Once the new requirements trickle in, many will leave. Anyway a bunch of foreigners is already leaving (or refusing to come here) because of the horrendous pollution. Talk with people who do HR, moving, food and beverage, and you will get the picture.
China forgets that immigration has proved to be one of the vital factors for innovation and entrepreneurship in a country.
All the lip service of “China is a so friendly” and “China welcomes foreigners” is a lot of hot air.
China only welcomes our money and our technology?
I am preparing a more detailed report on the issue.

Interesting quotes in China Daily

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

China Daily has those quotes. Oh yes, some are at times strikingly honest, others like the one of Zong Qinghou are, the least to say, weird and puzzling; looks like he is inventing a new brand of communism. So, all his wealth belongs to the laobaixing? You bet.
Quotable – China Daily 28 September 2012
“Whoever governs autocratically and arbitrarily is walking toward a dead end. We must take note.”
Wang Yang, Party chief of Guangdong province, told Guangdong officials at an annual training class on law and discipline. He said among punished government heads in the province, 80% made decisions autocratically and arbitrarily.
Quotable – China Daily 16 August 2013
“There is no need for the public to hate rich people. The wealth of the rich deserves respect from society. All the wealth created in China belongs to the country.”
Zong Qinghou, chairman of China’s biggest beverage producer, Hangzhou Wahaha Group, quoted by the magazine China Philanthropist. Zong, ranked the country’s richest man with a net worth of $11.6 billion (8.7 billion euros), criticized the idea of helping the poor by robbing the rich. Doing that would provoke an exodus of wealthy people from the country, creating a loss of state assets, he said.