British Chamber of Commerce in China (BritCham China)

Incoming ambassador, new Russia sanctions and China's bet on winter sports. It's all here in this week's China in 5.

Only one more week until we present the ‘Students for Sustainability Award’ of the China Schools Awards 2025 hosted by the British Chamber of Commerce in China (BritCham China)! ??? ? This award recognises the sustainability project that best showcases its students’ innovative thought, design skills and true understanding of the impact sustainability projects have on our environment and communities. From rainwater harvesting and mangrove restoration to setting up a food composting business, we're excited to share the efforts of the students from the shortlisted schools – Dulwich College Shanghai Pudong, Keystone Academy, Beijing and Malvern College Chengdu. Learn more about each of these projects below?? ? We look forward to announcing the winner and connecting with sustainability-driven schools at the Education Forum and Gala Dinner to be held in Beijing on March 7th! #sustainabilityinschools #studentaction #studentledinitiatives

As part of our regular government engagement, we were delighted to meet with the Chinese Ministry of Commerce's European Department last Friday. These key avenues for dialogue allow BritCham to feed member advocacy concerns directly to officials at the highest levels of the Chinese government. The meeting was an opportunity to introduce Graeme Wallace, the Chamber's incoming Managing Director, as well as to share priorities for the upcoming year. MOFCOM explained that the Chamber's two annual advocacy reports – the Position Paper and Sentiment Survey – play a key role in understanding British businesses and their challenges in the Chinese market. The Chamber looks forward to working with MOFCOM on some of our members' biggest concerns in this year's Position Paper. With roundtables for the paper well underway, we look forward to refreshing our key government priorities with members in the coming weeks. If you'd like to learn more about how British Chamber members are working together on key government issues, visit our website at britishchamber.cn/advocacy.

The British Chamber of Commerce in China (BritCham China) is about to begin another cycle of round-tables, interviews and research that will lead towards our 7th Position Paper. Since the announcement of Brexit, the chamber has produced a Sentiment Survey every November to understand what business is thinking, a Position Paper every May to advocate for change with the Chinese government, and, more recently, a Briefing for Britain for the UK government only, in June. 1.????If you’re a British company, why does this matter to you? Advocacy matters: in the past year alone there has been movement on areas as broad as cloud computing, classic cars. whisky lot codes, medicine, construction engineering design, and professional qualifications. It’s not a perfect science, and results are not always immediate or direct, but if you aren’t raising market access and business environment issues they won’t change. 2.????And why is the chamber the vehicle for your voice? The British Chamber is the independent voice of British business in China, non-politically aligned, entirely funded by members, and thrives when there are diverse voices and power in numbers. There are 18 legally-registered chambers in China and they have a unique status and significance in the country. With a unique license (that defines things in as much detail as “The name of a foreign chamber of commerce in China shall be preceded by the name of its own country plus the word ‘China’” and having the following positions “Chair, Vice Chair and Managing Director”) they can advocate openly for improvements to the business environment, and engage with the highest levels of government. 3.????And why this year? The UK-China bilateral is stabilising, with recent visits by David Lammy and Rachel Reeves a positive sign. As government-to-government engagement increases (as it should, China is the second largest economy on earth, and one of the UK’s biggest trading partners), there will be more opportunities to flag concerns and make changes. How do we know? Because the recent chancellor’s visit and EFD led to a raft of agreements based on positions and recommendations from previous Chamber position papers. While both the British and Chinese economies face headwinds, there are opportunities to increase bilateral trade; focusing on balance, growth, and long-term sustainability. 4.????How to get engaged? If you’re a member, speak to Harry Bell, our Policy and Advocacy Manager. Or reach out to our incoming managing director Graeme Wallace for broader conversations. If you’re not a member, why not? Annual membership fees start at 5000RMB (550GBP), but the impact on your business could be immeasurable. And it’s not just advocacy… it’s also connections, BD, insight, and a community for your China-based team. Please connect with Charlie Williams 魏家礼 to learn more. #timetogetinvolved #makeyourvoiceheard

We're excited to be working together with the Institute of Directors (IoD) to host their upcoming course, "Leadership for Directors," on 7th and 8th April in Beijing. This two-day intensive course provides a valuable opportunity for director to explore strategic leadership issues both within and beyond their organisation. You'll assess different leadership and decision-making techniques (including bias), determine how to build, and sustain high-performing and diverse teams, manage conflict, and influence others, and evaluate how these can be applied to your own organisation to contribute to its increased success – and contribute key modules towards the IoD Certification in Company Direction Qualification. To express interest or to learn more, email us at [email protected].

Starmer plans China trip, Xi meets tech giants and China’s population decline. All this and more in this week's China in 5.

Still thinking about whether to sign up for our China Schools Forum and Awards on 7th March? Click through to hear what some top school leaders and business owners had to say about our last forum in 2024. With top insights from leading headteachers, presentations from school leaders with PhDs on innovative educational research, data on the market from the Economist and EY, and top tips on using AI in the classroom, it's an unmissable event for anyone working in or with K-12 international schools in China. Register now at https://lnkd.in/gnYweuzT.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited the UK last week to co-chair the 10th UK-China Strategic Dialogue, alongside British Foreign Secretary David Lammy. It's the first time this dialogue has been held in seven years. Six key outcomes were agreed between the two sides – including three ministerial visits from the UK to China – as well as deeper cooperation in a number of sectors that are well-represented by British Chamber members. Check out our update and thoughts on the visit here.

Members across China are hiring for roles in content creation, government affairs, events management, and more! If you're a member of the British Chamber, post your jobs for free on our jobs board and get seen by thousands of potential hires. For more information, visit us at britishchamber.cn.

Our Year of the Snake kicked off with a bang last Tuesday with "Trends for 2025: What to Expect in the Year of the Snake." Journalists Laura Bicker from the BBC, Joe Leahy from the Financial Times, and Liwei Wang from Caixin Global guided a packed-out audience on what to expect in the news this year. Discussing issues like Trump's tariffs on China and the UK's evolving approach to dealing with Beijing in a panel discussion and insightful Q+A, this closed-door annual highlight event and networking event left plenty of food for thought about how to make the most of 2025 for British businesses. Along with expert insights on everything from economics and politics, rumours on upcoming UK-China visits, and predictions from our journalists and audience on what to follow in the news this year, we were delighted to host the event at BritCham member Overtone Brewing Co – an opportunity to enjoy Glaswegian-made beers as fresh as the analysis from our pundits!?