Driving commercial and political engagement between Asia, the Middle East and Europe
Driving commercial and political engagement between Asia, the Middle East and Europe
Driving commercial and political engagement between Asia, the Middle East and Europe
The seventh World Chinese Economic Summit (WCES) which is taking place for the first time in London next week will offer insights into Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road initiative.
The two-day summit is taking place for the first time ever outside the Asia Pacific region at various London venues from 10 to 11 November.
More than 250 global business and political figures are flying in from China and Southeast Asia for the event, which will offer networking opportunities with government ministers, entrepreneurs, academics, and business leaders from China, Southeast Asia and the UK.
Dr Michael Yeoh, Chairman of WCES, said the focus of the summit last year had been on the relationship between China and Asia and this year the focus was on China and Asia’s relationship with Europe.
The theme of this year’s conference is ‘China and the World: Forging Euro-Asian Partnerships towards Shared Prosperity.’
“This is a forum for people in Europe to learn more from China and identify opportunities where they can invest in China and identify opportunities in Europe where they want China to invest,” Dr Yeoh said, speaking in an interview with Asia House, which is the UK Secretariat for the summit, on a brief trip to the UK ahead of the event.
He explained the summit was held every year around November time and had previously taken place in China, Malaysia and Australia. This is the first time it is being held in Europe, which is an important area in Xi Jinping’s ‘Belt and Road’ initiative.
The Belt and Road is a slogan coined by the Chinese authorities to describe their initiative to strengthen infrastructure, trade, financial and cultural exchange and improve connectivity between China and Europe along ancient ‘Silk Road’ trading routes. The idea is to create a Silk Road economic belt by land from China through Central Asia towards Europe as well as a 21st century maritime Silk Road following historical maritime trading routes through the South China Sea, the South Pacific Ocean, and the wider Indian Ocean area. Both will expand trade and cultural ties and open up new business and investment opportunities.
More than 900 global business leaders, government officials, ministers and academics, attended the sixth World Chinese Economic Summit, which was held in Chongqing, China.
“At the sixth Summit the Vice Premier of China Liu Yandong explained that Chongqing was the hub for connecting with Europe as there is a direct rail link between Chongqing and Germany. The Vice Premier spoke about how important China and Europe connectivity were. London was our preferred destination,” he said, not surprising given last month Chinese President Xi Jinping made a State Visit to the UK.
“The summit is a forum to connect China with Southeast Asia and the West and promote greater connections among the Chinese diaspora, which are largely based in Asia, Australia and Europe, to see how they can network among themselves to do business with each other and do business with other countries in Europe, Southeast Asia and China,” Dr Yeoh said, who is also CEO of the Asian Strategy & Leadership Institute (ASLI), a Kuala Lumpur-based think tank which focuses on Asia, which is organising the two-day summit.
“China is keen to get more investment from overseas Chinese. Currently more than half the foreign investment to China comes from the Chinese diaspora,” Dr Yeoh added.
The first day of the two-day summit will begin with a lunch at the House of Lords when the former Vice Premier of China and Chief Representative of China to and Vice Chairman of BOAO Forum for Asia H.E. Zeng Peiyan will make a keynote address on the Belt and Road and on shaping future cooperation between China and Europe, and China and Asia.
This is one of the top highlights of the whole conference, Dr Yeoh said. “H.E. Zeng Peiyan is now considered to be the chief economic advisor to President Xi. He was appointed by Xi to be the chairman of the China Centre for International Economic Exchanges (CCIEE), which was set up to promote China’s links with overseas countries,” he added.
Dr Yeoh explained that in China being a former position carried as much weight as having the current job title. “In China you have the same status even if you are no longer in position. You carry the status with you for life and many former government ministers are now key advisors to the government so they are very influential,” he said.
The lunch will be followed by two roundtables at The House of Lords – one with Young Entrepreneurs and one with Women Entrepreneurs.
Prince Andrew will receive the Award in recognition of his efforts to promote UK-China relations during the period when he was the UK’s Special Representative for Trade and Investment (2001- 2011), Dr Yeoh said.
HRH Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah, Sultan of Perak and H. E. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, former President of Indonesia, will present the Award to him at an invitation-only Patron’s Welcome Reception at the Palace. “The Benevolence Award is our Patron’s Award and is given to benevolent leaders,” Dr Yeoh said.
“The Duke of York was doing a lot of trade promotion with China during the time he was in the Special Representative position,” Dr Yeoh added.
Following the Reception, there will be a Patron’s Dinner and Lifetime Achievement Awards ceremony at the Savoy Hotel. Sultan Nazrin will deliver the keynote address at that and there will also be a Special Address by Mr Yudhoyono.
They will also both present the Lifetime Achievement Awards. Mr Yudhoyono will give a speech about ASEAN-China relations. “He still wields a lot of influence in Indonesia as he is still chairman of a political party [the Democratic Party of Indonesia] that has a large number of seats in Parliament so he is a key power broker,” Dr Yeoh said
UK Business Secretary the Rt Hon Sajid Javid will deliver the Opening Keynote Address at the Opening Ceremony of the full-day conference on 11 November on the topic of ‘Enhancing UK-China relations: building a common future.’ Chairman of Asia House Sir John Boyd KCMG, who was a junior diplomat in the office of the British Chargé d’Affaires in Beijing from 1965 to 1967 and later First Secretary in the British Embassy there from 1973 to 1975, will make opening remarks.
The Hon Dato’ Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, will deliver the Keynote Address, ‘Deepening China-ASEAN Relations: Towards Shared Prosperity.’ H.E. Ambassador Liu Xiaoming, China Ambassador to United Kingdom, will also deliver a speech.
The Governor of Victoria, Australia H.E. Linda Dessau AM will deliver a Special Address at the same ceremony. “Australia has had a long relationship with the Summit and hosted the fourth one. Many Chinese tourists go to Victoria and lots have emigrated there,” Dr Yeoh said, explaining Australia’s strong ties to the event.
Another key figure coming from China attending is H. E. Zhou Wenzhong, Secretary General of the Boao Forum for Asia and former Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs for China. He will speak during the panel session ‘China in the New World Economy – what is next for China and the world?’ at The Savoy Hotel on 11 November.
“He is very strong on US-China relations and in his role on the Boao Forum he can talk about the international economic ties that China has with other countries,” Dr Yeoh said.
Ambassador Wu Jianmin and Dr. Yan Lijin will both speak during the panel session ‘The Belt and Road: Moving Paradigm, Addressing Opportunities.’ Ambassador Jianmin is Executive Vice Chairman of the China Institute for Innovation and Development Strategy, Adviser to the Chinese Foreign Ministry and former President of China Foreign Affairs University in Beijing.
“That is the university that trains all of China’s ambassadors and the Institute promotes entrepreneurship under President Xi’s administration,” De Yeoh explained.
Dr Lijin is Co-Chairman of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Council and Vice President of the Asia-Africa Development and Exchange Society of China. “That is the first corridor that came into being that President Xi announced in The Belt and Road initiative. That project is all about the development of economic corridors. He will talk about how economic corridors can be vehicles to welcome the Belt and Road initiative,” Dr Yeoh explained.
The winner of the Asian Business Leaders Award for 2015 Chairman of CIMB Group Nazir Razak is set to speak at the same session.
Other key speakers at the Summit include Ms Peng Zhaoxin, managing director, Mergers & Acquisitions Department, China Huarong International Holdings Ltd, the first overseas subsidiary of China’s largest state owned asset management company The Huarong Group. She will speak during the panel session ‘The Power of Business Networking: Connecting the Diaspora – promoting entrepreneurial growth’ on 11 November. “This is the Chinese Government national wealth fund for infrastructure and acquiring companies overseas,” Dr Yeoh said.
Another key speaker is Ambassador Tang Guoqiang, the Chair of the China National Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation (CNPCEC). He will speak at the panel discussion ‘Rising New Growth of the World: Climate Change, Going Green and Enduring Sustainability’ on 11 November. “He is an expert on China’s membership of APEC [Asia-Pacific Economic Cooprtaion] and China’s role in that,” Dr Yeoh explained.
The Minister of Transport of Malaysia the Hon. Dato’ Sri Liow Tiong Lai will talk about transport infrastructure in Malaysia and opportunities to build airports, ports and increase connectivity. He is the keynote speaker at ‘The Belt and Road – what’s in it for Asia and Europe?’ luncheon being held at The Savoy Hotel on 11 November.
“This summit is a chance for UK businesses to update themselves on new information coming out of China, have an in-depth analysis of trends and issues in China and it’s an opportunity to rethink and seek out business partners and see how they can do deals together. At one of the previous summits we had close to US$ one billion of deals agreed by the delegates attending,” Dr Yeoh concluded.
naomi.canton@asiahouse.co.uk
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