To explore business opportunities in food and technology, AmCham China led a delegation of 15 member companies to visit Xiamen and Fuzhou from Sept. 7 to 9. The trip also coincided with the 19th China International Fair for Investment and Trade (CIFIT).
The companies on the trip were mostly food and technology companies, reflecting the province’s major investment policy. The delegation attended a private meeting with Fujian Vice Governor Liang Jianyong, and had an effective conversation with Liang and his colleagues in chief.
AmCham China President Alan Beebe and Fujian Vice Governor Liang Jianyong
CIFIT activities
The first two days of the trip were dedicated to CIFIT key events in Xiamen, including the opening ceremony with political leaders and business elites, and the International Investment Forum featuring speeches from international business giants like Wang Jianlin of Dalian Wanda Group and governemnt leaders, and a 2.5 hour Foreign Multinationals Roundtable Symposium personally moderated by Vice Premier Wang Yang.
Almost every year since CIFIT started, AmCham China has had a presence at the event, indicated by the chamber’s healthy relationship with MOFCOM, which is the founder and main organizer of this global event.
AmCham China member companies, including Coca-Cola, Dell, IBM, McDonalds and Monsanto, were featured prominently at the roundtable. Topics such as equal treatment of multinationals, the need for open innovation, data and internet restrictions, intellectual property protection, and the role of MNCs in China’s globalization drive were discussed in a candid manner. AmCham China’s own data entered the conversation, too, as Vice Premier Wang Yang, who spoke at AmCham China’s annual Appreciation Dinner last year, referred to the AmCham China Business Climate Survey results several times during his remarks.
During CIFIT, the AmCham China group also met with Myron Brilliant and Jeremie Waterman from the US Chamber of Commerce for an insightful update on recent perspectives on China from Washington, DC, particularly in light of upcoming US presidential elections, ongoing China-US Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) negotiations and potential ratification of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) by Congress later this year.
Fuzhou activities
From Xiamen, the group traveled to Fuzhou where Fuzhou Vice Mayor Hu Zhenjie hosted the AmCham China delegation. The delegation met with senior city government officials over a private lunch, toured Fuzhou Area of China (Fujian) Pilot Free Trade Zone and later visited several cultural and historical sites, including San Fang Qi Xiang, and a fascinating shipbuilding museum. Also, member company Starbucks treated the delegation to an intimate event demonstrating the art of brewing fine coffee at their first store in Fujian Province, which was opened in 2010 with strong support from the Fuzhou municipal government.
All in all, the Fuzhou trip was an efficient way for delegates to create senior government official relationships, understand Fuzhou’s investment climate and identify potential business opportunities.
The delegation included:
- Accenture
- ADM
- Cargill
- Hylands
- IBM
- Novozymes
- OSI
- PwC
- Sanofi
- Seagate
- Starbucks
- United Technologies
Breeze Wang is a Manager in AmCham China's Government Affairs Department.