The China Brand Trade Center (CBTC) organized the CEE Business Forum as part of the China Brands and Exhibition Forum on 25 June 2013. A EuCham delegation was invited to participate in the round table discussion at the event. The debate was started by Keynote Speaker Ms Agnes Szunomar (Research Fellow, Institute for World Economics of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), who highlighted the current tendencies between China and the CEE Region.
The Keynote speech was followed by a lively round table discussion in which high representatives from companies and institutions from China and the CEE Region participated. The main topic of the discussion was the economic role and business relations of China in CEE. Participants in the discussions shared their personal and business experiences, insights and visions and talked about the characteristics of doing business in China representing CEE and vice versa.
Furthermore, representatives from CEE discussed the role of their governments with regards to trading with China, and to what extent they think the government should play a role.
Also, the question was raised whether or not small and medium enterprises should build new business relations in China in order for them to maintain their competitiveness. This was followed by a debate on the current situation of trade relations between Chinese and CEE companies, and the benefits of Chinese branding strategies for European companies. The round table discussion ended by the participants sharing their view upon the future of manufacturing and the possibly growing role of Europe.
EuCham highlighted the European strategy of re-creating a balance in its GDP structure, by setting a target of 20% of the GDP generated again by the industrial sector.
Additionally, EuCham put emphasis on the importance of learning from each other: Europe can reconsider its efficiency targets when compared to China, whereas China may embed environmental issues in its industrial policies.