Prof. Dr. Taco C.R. van Someren in our Rotary lunch

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Author van Someren, from The Netherlands, was the speaker on 8 October in our Beijing Rotary Club. His speech was pretty interesting and received a lot of attention from our members.


Prof. Dr Taco van Someren is the founder of Ynnovate, see see http://www.Ynnovate.com and this introduction:
“He is an expert in strategic innovation and China business development specialized in environment, energy and water sector. He is good at new business development and has an extended experience with cross cultural project management based on his international career at Rothmans International, KPMG, Ynnovate and Universities. He is professor on strategic innovation and sustainability in Chinese and Dutch universities.”
He introduced his book “Green China – Sustainable Growth in East and West”.
The book flyer presents it as follows:

  • Intriguing ideas for dealing with Green China for managers, politicians and academics
  • Unique insight in both Chinese and Western decision making on high level in government and corporations
  • Focus on creation of competitive advantage while dealing with the new trend of green economy and creating new firms and industries
  • Written by authors with experience in academia and industry in China and Europe

And:
“After the agricultural and industrial revolution, China is creating the third growth wave based on sustainability. This greening of the Chinese economy offers threats and opportunities for Western organizations. Getting a piece of this new cake requires strategic innovations in both policy and corporate strategy. Based on the theory of strategic innovation and their extensive practical experiences in doing business with China, the authors propose potential areas and activities for strategic innovation in the West in response to Green China.
As my own book “Toxic Capitalism” also addresses environmental issues (with a focus on the horrors of pollution of China), I listened with interest. His angle is more towards business. As I am a bit cynical on how the Chinese system works, I am still not sure what real opportunities exist for foreign companies and how much they can share of the cake. But for sure, sustainability is high on the Chinese agenda, as I explain in my book, and some foreign companies do have something to offer. See for example the whole story of urbanization, eco-cities and so on. All nice but… as I discussed today in the French Embassy, what in it for us? Companies involved in water treatment and related do have opportunities, just to give one example. But like the e-vehicles, as I commented today, once again foreigners are squeezed out of the real market, not to wonder why sales are not picking up – do not blame only the lack of charging stations.
Checking the price of his (printed) book, a bit on the high side. And a “Printed eBook” available only to apparently a very limited public (at €24.95, name your currency but the amount is always the same!) is also new for me. My e-book: just over US$3. So as a publisher, springer.com raise some questions on how they operate.
Prof. van Someren also co-published “Innovative China – Innovation Race Between East and West”, among other works.

What is “InterNations”?

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Mission
InterNations is the first international online community for people who live and work abroad. As a network based on trust, we enable our members to interact with other global minds in a similar situation, with comparable interests and needs. InterNation users can keep in touch with friends and business contacts; they can exchange reliable information on expat-specific topics, both on a global and a local level.
Members
InterNations reaches out to the international community: diplomats, members of IGOs and NGOs, foreign correspondents, expatriates employed by multinational companies and their family members. We also cater to the interests of local residents with strong ties to this community (e.g. journalists).
Our network is represented by more than 390 local communities all over the world – the perfect platform to exchange opinions and information on local particularities.
Gilbert is a member since June 2008 of the Beijing Community. See here the presence in Greater China:

  • Beijing – 13,216 members (a large number are actually local Chinese!)
  • Tianjin – 275 members
  • Shanghai – 15,994 members
  • Chongqing – 164 members
  • Hong Kong – 16,141 members
  • Taipei – 3,352 members


Membership is strictly invitation-based: You may join the community only after receiving an invitation from a current member. In this way, InterNations will remain a network of personal trust, where data security and privacy protection are top priorities.
With InterNations you can:

  • Meet other global minds
  • Stay in touch with international friends
  • Receive advice from expats
  • Share your thoughts in the World Forum or the Town Talk
  • Help young people from a less privileged background

Founders
InterNations is the idea of Christian Leifeld, Philipp von Plato and Malte Zeeck. All of them have studied and worked in various foreign countries. During their stays they discovered, like many other expatriates, it was often difficult to find other like-minded people, to get around and to find the right locations in a foreign country. Building upon work experience in international management consultancies and media companies, Christian, Malte and Philipp decided to set up InterNations to make living abroad easier. Today InterNations is run by Malte and a team of dedicated global minds.
See the website for further details:
http://www.internations.org/about/internations?ref=fo_ab
More posts about InterNations, see my other blog http://www.beijing1980.com

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.