[Hybrid] Updates on COVID situation in China, local business operations and China's economic outlook Go back »
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Time2022-10-13 | 14:00 - 15:30
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Venue:Zoom/European Chamber Office Beijing, Room C405
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Address:
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Fee:Members: Free |
Non Members: 200
* All member companies are welcome to join this event free of charge.
* Offline seating is limited to a maximum of 25 on a first-come-first-served basis.
* Each embassy and consulate of European member states may receive one complimentary ticket.
While Hong Kong put an end to its quarantine policy for inbound travellers on 26th September, marking a significant step towards re-engaging with the rest of the world, it remains ambiguous when China will ease its zero COVID measures.
The European Chamber has recently expressed fears that China may not be able to fully reopen its borders until the latter half of 2023. This estimation is based on the low vaccination rates among high-risk sections of the population and the slow introduction of mRNA vaccines. China’s continued adherence to zero COVID comes at an extremely high and ever-increasing economic cost. Consecutive lockdowns in major cities—including Shenzhen, Shanghai and Beijing—since early 2022, to contain the spread of Omicron variant, have led to severe social, economic and supply chain disruptions on an epic scale and caused a considerable drop in business confidence of foreign business, especially European businesses, to operate in China.
As there are no significant signs indicating China will adopt zero-COVID-exit strategies in the coming months, what is the current status of COVID-19 and vaccination in the country? How do enterprises and local authorities cope with the mounting economic costs of implementing Beijing’s pandemic control playbook? What may be the consequences of the constant use of masks and hand sanitisers have on people’s—especially children’s—immune systems?
To address these issues and more, the European Chamber welcomes experts from the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs and an international clinic, as well as chairs from six Chamber chapters across China, to share their insights, expertise and observations on the latest COVID-19 updates, the impact of zero COVID on local businesses and economies, and the outlook for both the pandemic situation and China’s economy.
Agenda
14:00–14:05 Remarks from the President
- Jörg Wuttke, president, European Chamber
14:05–14:20 Updates from local chairs
- Dr Andreas Risch, chair, Nanjing Chapter, European Chamber
- Francis Liekens, vice chair, Shanghai Chapter, European Chamber
- Harald Kumpfert, vice chair, Shenyang Chapter, European Chamber
- Klaus Zenkel, chair, South China Chapter, European Chamber
- Massimo Bagnasco, chair, Southwest China Chapter, European Chamber
- Dr Christoph Schrempp, chair, Tianjin Chapter, European Chamber
Hosted by Jörg Wuttke, president, European Chamber
14:20–14:50 Insights sharing
- Dr Bernhard Schwartländer, former chef de cabinet of Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization; global health envoy of the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Dr Emanuel Luttersdorfer, general practitioner, Raffles Medical
14:50–15:30 Q&A
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For further information contact Luyang Syvänen at lsyvanen@europeanchamber.com.cn.
Speakers
Dr. Bernhard Schwartländer
Dr. Bernhard Schwartländer
Dr. Bernhard Schwartländer, Global Health Envoy, the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also the former Chef de Cabinet of Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the WHO, is a medical doctor and holds a doctorate in medical epidemiology. He received his education and professional training in Germany and the US at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He use to be the WHO Representative in China. Before joining WHO in China, he served as Director for Evidence, Policy, and Innovation at UNAIDS headquarters in Geneva and as the United Nations Country Coordinator on AIDS in Beijing, China. Prior to these assignments, Dr. Schwartländer held a number of senior international positions including the Director for Performance Evaluation and Policy at the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria; Director of the World Health Organization’s HIV Department; and as the Director of Evaluation and Strategic Information at UNAIDS.
In 2000, Dr. Schwartländer undertook a special assignment at the World Bank to perform economic analyses on the cost and impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the responses to it. Prior to joining the United Nations, Dr. Schwartländer was the Director of the national AIDS program in Germany and the Director of the Division of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at the Robert Koch-Institute in Berlin, the central biomedical and infectious disease research and reference laboratory of the federal Ministry of Health, Germany.
Dr. Schwartländer has published widely in scientific journals and books and taught applied epidemiology in Berlin. He brings extensive experience in development policies as well as infectious disease epidemiology and programming at global and country levels.
Dr. Emanuel Luttersdorfer
Dr. Emanuel Luttersdorfer
Austrian born Dr. Emanuel Luttersdorfer holds a doctoral degree in Medicine from the Medical University at Graz, Austria. He has undergone postgraduate training in the fields of Tropical Medicine and Occupational Health being awarded degrees by Mahidol University in Bangkok, Thailand and Manchester University in the United Kingdom. He is living and working in Beijing since 2009. Next to his duties as a Clinic Doctor working for Raffles Medical he is a certified Emergency Doctor and the Austrian Embassy associated doctor as well as one of the designated consulting doctors for the German Embassy.
Mr. Jörg Wuttke
Mr. Jörg Wuttke
Jörg Wuttke is Chief Representative of BASF China, based in Beijing. Wuttke is President of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China – an office he already held from 2007 to 2010 and from 2014 to 2017. Wuttke is a member of the Advisory Board of the Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS) in Berlin. He contributes regularly to the Swiss financial blog https://themarket.ch/. Wuttke has lived in Beijing for more than three decades.
Dr. Andreas Risch
Dr. Andreas Risch
As an Engineer, graduated in Material Science & Technology and in Mechanical Engineering / Production Technology (RWTH Aachen), my professional path began in R&D and Production Technologies. During the past 21 years I worked for BORSIG, GEA and TURCK before joining Fette Compacting in Nanjing.
Since 2000 I have been holding General and Senior Management (International Group level) positions with main responsibilities for Sales, Production, Engineering and R&D in the machinery / equipment business for various industries. In my responsibilities, it has been always my duty to drive businesses and operations; including strategic business and organizational development, change management, administration and personnel management on international level. My “China experience” started with improving and extending the operations of a JV (joint venture) back in 2004/05. Since January 2010, I am living and working in China as MD for WFOEs in Shanghai, Tianjin and now Nanjing. I am married and have two grown-up daughters.
Mr. Francis Liekens
Mr. Francis Liekens
Francis was appointed Vice President, Atlas Copco (China) Investment Co., Ltd. in August, 2016. Based in Shanghai, he oversees Atlas Copco’s operations in Greater China and Mongolia, with more than 35 legal entities.
Over the past 23 years, he has held various managerial positions with increased responsibility within Atlas Copco Group and has been working most of his time in different countries in Europe and Asia. Prior to his current position, he was the General Manager of Atlas Copco Singapore & Malaysia.
Francis is a Belgian citizen, and holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration.
Mr. Harald Kumpfert
Mr. Harald Kumpfert
Harald Kumpfert serves as Co-Founder and General Manager ECO-WIT New Energy Co. Ltd. and Chairman of the Board, EU Chamber of Commerce in China, Shenyang Chapter.
Harald Kumpfert has been working for 20 years in China in the field of energy efficiency.
From 1996 to 2009 Harald used to work for Honeywell and Siemens in China to lead the controls business for heating and cooling systems. Many city heating systems were modernized using control systems to reduce energy consumption and to improve the operational safety.
Innovative system designs and control methods were introduced to the Chinese market.
In 2010, Harald Kumpfert joined SmartHeat and established the Heat Pump business through acquisitions in China and Germany.
In 2016, Harald Kumpfert founded and Established ECO-WIT New Energy Co. Ltd and Established Strategic Partnerships with Kuebler GmbH, to become the Representative for China. And established partnerships in China for joint market development.
Harald also introduced new technologies, designs and operational methods to the industry, helping companies to reduce their energy bills while contributing to the improvement of air quality.
In appreciation for his contribution to the development of the City of Shenyang and the Liaoning Province Harald was awarded the Rose Prize of Shenyang in 2013 and the Friendship Award of Liaoning in 2014.
In 2015 Harald Kumpfert joined the Board of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China and took over the position of Chairman of the Shenyang Chapter to support European Companies in developing their business in North East and to foster the ties with the society.
Mr. Klaus Zenkel
Mr. Klaus Zenkel
Biography:
Born in Germany and graduated in Industrial Engineering. Until late 80's mainly remained in Germany near his hometown in Erlangen, where he had a position at Siemens Healthcare HQ.
From 1993 to 2006 he was based in Hongkong, Malaysia, Germany and China for several executive management positions within the Siemens Healthcare organization, one of which was Technical Director at Siemens Healthineers facility(SSMR), based in Shenzhen's Hi-Tech Industrial Park.
In 2006 start-up and developed from scratch the Shenzhen subsidiary of a Swiss Company, Imedco AG. Imedco is global player involved in the healthcare Industry, manufacturing MRI shielding solutions for hospitals and research institutions.
Involvement at European Chamber South China Chapter board since 2016. As an active board member of the European Chamber South China Chapter he holds the Chair of the board position since 2021. In the capacity as EU Chamber Vice President supports the member companies and meets with government officials on a regular basis to discuss the current economic and technological issues.
In March 2021 Klaus was elected as a Director of the Board at the Swiss Chamber in South China. He is also a member of the German Chamber in South China.
Mr. Massimo Bagnasco
Mr. Massimo Bagnasco
Mr. Bagnasco has been actively involved in the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China (EUCCC) since his arrival in China. Since 2008, he has alternatively covered positions of Chairman and Vice Chairman of Construction Working Group. He has been also focusing on EU SME sector. In 2013, he was elected as Italian State Representative in the Supervisory Board of the EUCCC. Since 2014 till now, he became Member of the Chamber Executive Committee. Since 2017, he serves as Vice President. In 2021 he became also Chairman of Southwest China.
He has been involved in the preparation, implementation and development activities of EU-China Sustainable Urbanization Partnership. Mr. Bagnasco was also one of the four European experts, members of the Taskforce in charge EU-China Innovation Cooperation Dialogue framework agreement promoted by DG-RTD and MoST.
In 2016 he received the Knighthood of the Order of the Star by appointment of President of the Italian Republic to have acquired special credits and in the promotion of friendship cooperation of Italy with China.
Massimo Bagnasco is the CEO of China Europe Carbon Neutral Technology, a consulting firm which provide holistic solutions to the decarbonization target by the contribution of international academic experts and leading technology companies.
In 2004, he joined Progetto CMR, the only Italian integrated design firm ranked in the top 100 worldwide. The same year he moved to China setting up the local company (Progetto CMR Beijing) with offices in Beijing and Tianjin. He operated as Managing Director and was involved in several projects in China, including master plans, hotels, mixed use complexes, retail and sports venues. In 2009 he became a shareholder partner.
From 2017 to 2022, he is appointed as the visiting professor of School of Architecture and Design at Beijing Jiaotong University.
In 2019, he was appointed as member of advisory committee of International Centre for Creativity and Sustainable Development under the auspices of UNESCO (Category 2).
In 2021 he was appointed by the Politecnico of Turin University as China Centre advisory board member.
In 2023 he was nominated “Professional Affiliate" at IdM Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa
Mr. Bagnasco got a Master degree in Urban Planning and a bachelor degree in Architecture at University of Genoa.
Dr. Christoph Schrempp
Dr. Christoph Schrempp
Dr. Christoph Schrempp is the General Manager of Airbus Tianjin Delivery Centre Ltd. In 2021, he was elected again to be the Chairman of the EUCCC Tianjin Chapter Board. He is an experienced senior manager with over 22 years of international leadership and industrial lobbying, having worked in various roles at Airbus in China and in Germany as well as served on German Board of Standardization for Cabin DIN/NL. He has nearly 10 years of experience with being involved in government dialogue including with the Chinese government, having served on the Board of EUCCC Tianjin Chapter in various roles including the chairman and vice-chairman. He has a PhD in Aerospace Engineering from Stuttgart University in Germany.