Business is back full speed and while President Xi Jinping is heading for Brussels, a sizeable trade delegation organized by “FIT” visited Beijing. On the occasion, the Embassy of Belgium organized a walking buffet on Monday 24 March. Hosts were Ambassador Michel Malherbe and Peter Christiaen, Trade & Investment Counsellor of Flanders at the Embassy.

Belgium may not always make the headlines here but businessmen from Belgium – both Flanders and Wallonia – are frequent visitors to China and many have been operating here since decades.
Buffet was done by our friend Renaat Morel, great food and a lot of Belgian beer.

The seminar for RIT was held once more in the Guomao Jiamei Dental Clinic , on Monday 24 March. First time I gave a seminar to that Business School. For me an interesting experience as the group counted hearing-impaired students who were skillfully helped by sign language “translators”. Lively discussion followed.

Subject: the usual introduction on China plus an overview of the challenges China is facing today.

The Benelux Chamber of Commerce organized the BenCham’s “Young” Professional Series 2014 on 20 March in the Belgian embassy.
The idea was to interact, exchange and co-create an unprecedented experience with people passionate about their careers and interested in becoming the “next generation” that will make a difference. As active member I attended the event and met interesting young people. Also, opportunity to try some Belgian chocolate and beer…

Two speakers:
Cao Kai:
Having graduated from Linkoping University of Sweden, and Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales of France. He is currently working for the Science and Technology Talent Center of the Ministry of Science and Technology. At the same time, Vice President of Erasmus Mundus Alumni Chinese Chapter. He shared information about entrepreneurship and innovation in China with particular focus on Beijing, and introduced policy as well as opportunities to start a business in China.
Thierry De Dobbeleer:
After graduating from University of Louvain as a Software Engineer in 2001, Thierry left Belgium for Beijing to work for GEMALTO, the World Leader in Digital Security. Soon, he started to invest more and more time in side projects such as NEW SENSE Design & Communication Agency and BEER MANIA Belgian Bar & Restaurant. His first affinity towards China came after studying Chinese language with Professor Francoise Paron in Louvain-la-Neuve. He is particularly interested in the way businesses operate in a country like China and how to improve their processes to manage successful SME.
Beer Mania is now a well-known bar in Beijing and offers a wide range of Belgian beers. The customer base is more and more Chinese, a trend we see in the other Belgian places like Morel’s Restaurant and the three “The Tree” bars.