In previous years, summer breaks were quite dull, everyone was slowing down, no major events were expected to happen. Well, for the summer of 2019 this was far from true. We were flooded with tweets as never before, and the compass needle indicating the economic course of its author was swinging wildly. The P.R.C. government’s countermeasures were moderate and deliberate. Nevertheless, the days of a predictable outlook for the world economy seems to be a distant memory.

The recent developments increase the importance of Switzerland as a safe haven and a neutral place for the world economy. Take R&D for instance. Major American and Chinese companies have already established or are planning to set up significant R&D centers in Switzerland. A trend that will likely gain strength in the next few years. The treaties signed by China and Switzerland in the past few years were ideally timed, and they become more valuable by the day. I am not only talking about the well-known FTA, but also about the double tax treaty, the social insurance treaty, and the various MOU’s between many institutions. They bode well for Switzerland and its economy in the near and mid-term future.

To capture all these opportunities, however, hard work and dedication are needed to turn them into tangible results. I have already written here that SCCC is in discussions with various market players to establish a «Swiss Pavilion» on one of Alibaba’s e-commerce platforms. It took us some time, but finally we have found an organization that has the same goal with Swiss Post. Swiss Post has all the contacts, network and logistic infrastructure to partner with Alibaba for creating a «Swiss Pavilion». Swiss brands can now offer their products to Chinese consumers, making it easy for Chinese consumers to buy the «real SWISS thing» and not having to worry about fakes. Now it is up to you, our members, to pick up the ball and check out if this could be the solution for your brand to enter the mainland China market. Find more information here.

September is the start of the fall season – and the calendar is full of China related events. To name a but few: SCCC will host or co-host «Mastering China at Board Level», the «3rd Swiss-Chinese Life Science Forum», and the «4th New Silk Road Forum». As always, you will find the registration details on our website.

I wish you a good return from the summer break, with plenty of energy, ideas and motivation to turn your China vision into reality.

Kind regards,

Felix Sutter

Yī xiào jiě qiān chóu

A smile dispels many worries