First complete study on Chinese tourism in Spain

From http://comunicatur.info/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1819&Itemid=37 (in Catalan)

Despite the fact that Chinese tourism is relatively recent, during the recent years the awesome economic growth figures have brought the attention of many agents and professionals of the touristic sector, in order to start approaching themselves to this emerging market. Forecasts say that during the next decade one out of two tourists that are supposed to visit Europe will come from Asia, specially from China . When the average expense on their trips abroad is also taken into account (between 1,500 and 3,000€ per person and trip), the reasons why this is a priority market for the future are pretty evident. Because of this, in July 2011, the Spanish Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Miguel Sebastián, publicly announced the "Plan Turismo China", where the strategy of Spanish government to attract Chinese tourists was disclosed. The study on Chinese tourism in Spain has been authored by Daniel Tomás Gaimundiz, who has had the support of the China Outbound Tourism Research Institute (COTRI). The report contains many statistical data on arrivals, distribution and origin of the Chinese touristic flows, as well as on the profile of the average tourist and his/her expenses.

Chinese tourism offers also a great opportunity for Catalonia, since it is their favorite region in Spain to visit. According to estimations, in 2010 47% of the tourists that visited Spain had at least gone through Catalonia, thanks to the attraction of the city of Barcelona and to the vicinity to countries like France and Italy.

The 118-page document written in Spanish can be downloaded as pdf file from the Comunicatur website at http://comunicatur.info/cms/images/stories/documents/turismochinoespana.pdf.

[caption id="attachment_1141" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Chinese tourists visiting the Santa Clotilde Gardens, Lloret de Mar, Costa Brava"][/caption]

Catalan workshop on the development of Chinese tour operators

From http://workshops.catalunya.com/wsxina2011 (in Catalan)

The Catalan Tourism Agency has recently organized a workshop aimed at Chinese tour operators in order to bring tourists to Catalonia. The event has been designed to promote holiday and cultural packages and has been hosted by Casa Àsia in Barcelona.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="614" caption="Catalan workshop on Chinese tour operators (Image from workshop website)"][/caption]

FC Barcelona closes deal with Chinese internet provider Tencent

From http://www.fcbarcelona.com/club/detail/article/barca-closes-deal-with-chinese-internet-giant-tencent (in English)

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="384" caption="FC Barcelona closes deal with Tencent (Image from FC Barcelona website)"][/caption]

A delegation from FC Barcelona has recently visited China in order to sign a deal with Tencent, the main internet service provider of the Asian country. This deal is expected to allow FC Barcelona a massive audience in China and also to generate new financial resources for the Catalan football club. The Director of the Technology Area (New Technologies) of FC Barcelona, Dídac Lee, from Taiwanese origin, has declared to be very satisfied with this agreement, both because of his cultural origins and because it is also related with his field of work and expertise. Tencent will develop FC Barcelona's new Chinese website and will also commercialize applications and mobile games using the FC Barcelona brand.

FC Barcelona is already the leader among Spanish football clubs on social networks, with nearly 23 million fans on Facebook and 4.5 million followers on Twitter (accounts in Catalan, Spanish and English) and its website is the most visited Spanish football site with over 100 million visits per year. The deal with Tencent is expected to consolidate this position, thanks to the 900 million users of QQ, 500 million users of Qzone and 130 million users of Pengyou, their main several social media sites. FC Barcelona will also open a verified account on Tencent Weibo, known as the Chinese Twitter, which has some 300 million users.

Seven Catalan companies have attended Shanghai's Food & Hotel China 2011

From http://www.icex.es/icex/cda/controller/pageICEX/0,6558,5518394_5519005_6366453_4533228,00.html (in Spanish)

Seven Catalan companies have traveled to Shanghai to attend the Food & Hotel China 2011 trade fair. Together with other 56 Spanish companies, they have showcased their products at the Spain's Official Pavillion, under the wing of the Spanish Agriculture and Food Plan in China (Plan Agroalimentario en China), Spanish Institute of Foreign Trade (ICEX) and the Spanish Economic and Commercial Office in Shanghai (Oficina Económica y Comercial de España en Shanghai). Food & Hotel China trade fair is a great opportunity for foreign products to enter the Chinese market, due to the growing interest by the Chinese consumers and their new trend in seeking high quality food products.

Catalan glasses manufacturer Etnia Barcelona sets joint venture in China

From http://www.expansion.com/2011/11/20/catalunya/1321823146.html (in Spanish)

Etnia Barcelona, a Catalan company specialized in manufacturing glasses, has invested 400,000 euros in a new production plant in Shenzhen and has created a joint venture in China with the Hong Kong based company Future Visionaries. Each of the two companies will hold half of the shares of the new one, which is expected to produce up to 800,000 units per year and increase sales up to 35 million € by 2014. Etnia Barcelona, based in Esplugues de Llobregat (Barcelona province), has 195 employees and exports account for 87% of its sales.

Conference in Barcelona about China's financial sector and the global crisis

From http://www.casaasia.es/media/asset_publics/resources/000/019/559/original/Invitaci_n_22.11.11_-_castellano.pdf (in Spanish)

Xinghai Fang, director of the Office for Financial Services of Shanghai Metropolitan Government, is announced to give a conference in Barcelona on Tuesday November 22nd, 2011. The title of the talk is "China’s financial sector and the global crisis. Challenges and opportunities" and it will take place at 12 pm at the Círculo Ecuestre, at 169 bis Balmes Street. Xinghai Fang will be introduced by Juan María Nin (Executive Vice President and Chief Executive of CaixaBank). The event will also have the participation of Borja García-Nieto, president of Círculo Ecuestre, and Pablo García-Berdoy, general secretary of Aspen Institute España. For additional information, please call at +34 93 415 60 00. Simultaneous translation will be provided.

Chinese company Sunfor Light settles in Catalonia

From http://www.globalasia.com/actualidad/la-empresa-china-sunfor-light-se-instala-en-cataluna (in Spanish)

Chinese company Sunfor Light has chosen Catalonia as home for its distribution center aimed at serving the European and Latin American markets. Sunfor Light has settled in Llinars del Vallès (Barcelona), where 70 new jobs have already been created. The company has also announced an investment of 4 million € for the next 4 years, whereas the sales are expected to reach 3 million € by 2012. Sunfor Light is based in Chengdu, the capital of the province of Sichuan, and has some 300 employees that have developed some hundred patents based on the LED technology.

Catalan rumba band La Pegatina tours China successfully

From http://www.ara.cat/cultura/Pegatina-popularitza-Xina-gracies-socials_0_590341074.html (in Catalan)

[caption id="attachment_1085" align="alignleft" width="159"] La Pegatina[/caption]

Catalan rumba band La Pegatina is back from a successful musical tour in China, where they played at the Hangzhou Festival for 15,000 people and at several smaller venues. The band originally hails from Montcada i Reixac (Barcelona) and after 7 years they have already played in 13 countries and had millions of downloads of their records, which can be obtained for free as digital files in their website at http://www.lapegatina.com/en/multimedia/downloads, together with other material such as lyrics and chords, clips, wallpapers and even an iPhone/Android app.

La Pegatina was invited to play in China by the organizers by the Hangzhou Festival, which encouraged the band to find other gigs in cities like Beijing and Shanghai. A chronicle of the concert in Beijing can be read at the Beijing Daze blog, under the title of "Catalonia and Mongolia collide when La Pegatina meets Hanggai for a fun show". They are the third Spanish band to play in China, after Berri Txarrak and Fito.

According to one of the members of the band, Rubén Sierra, "Chinese audiences are very interested by everything that comes from the West, due to the recent opening of the society to foreign influences". He also pointed out that they have received a proposal to perform again in China, at the 2012 Midi Festival.

Publications in Chinese of Barcelona City Council

From http://w42.bcn.cat/web/en/media-room/chinesepublications/index.jsp (in English / Chinese)

Because of its position as one of the leading European cities for business matters (see our previous post of Barcelona being voted the 6th best city in 2011), Barcelona City Council has a complete set of information about these issues on its website. Foreign visitors can find an impressive amount of information in English at the Barcelona/Business portal, in which there is a useful Media Room that also features a section of publications in Chinese in order to attract investments from China. The four documents available in Chinese so far are:

Barcelona Datasheet 2011 (Chinese) 数据 巴塞罗那 2011

Barcelona Economic Triangle (Chinese) 巴塞罗那经济三角区

Setting up in Barcelona (Chinese)

10 reasons to invest in barcelona (Chinese) 我巴塞罗那投资的十大理由
Other presentations in English can be viewed and downloaded from Barcelona BusinessSlideshare account. 

Catalan commercial missions to China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam

From http://agenda.acc10.cat/agenda/default.php?id=6575 and http://agenda.acc10.cat/agenda/default.php?id=6490 (in Catalan)

Two new Catalan commercial missions to East Asia have been arranged for November 2011. Both are departing from Barcelona on November 19th and one is addressed to Shanghai, in China, whereas the other one, organized by the Terrassa Chamber of Commerce, is addressed to the markets in Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam.

The goals of the mission to China are: i) to improve the knowledge of Chinese market; ii) to increase the networking with local companies and organizations; and iii) to seek business opportunities.

The proposed schedule is:

Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 November: Flight Barcelona - Shanghai
Monday 21 November: Presentation of Amec-China and information workshop
Tuesday 22 November: Visit to technological parks and to Spanish companies working in China
Wednesday 23 November: Individualized meetings (optional)/Networking dinner with experts
Thursday 24 November: Workshop – Individual advisory interviews to understand the Chinese market
Divendres 25 November: Flight Shanghai - Barcelona

Venue: 1201 Westgate Mall, 1038 Nanjing (w) Road, Shanghai


View Larger Map

The goals of the mission to in Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam are to analyze the economic opportunities and the competitive factors that these countries can offer and to establish business relationships with local companies.

An individualized schedule of business contacts will provided in collaboration with the ACC1Ó office in Singapore and with the Spanish Economic & Commercial Office in Vietnam, according with the requirements of each company. For further information, please contact Mrs. Natàlia Bertran at nbertran@cambraterrassa.es, phone +34 93 7339837.

 

Technological and innovation bridge to China organized in Barcelona

Barcelona NETactiva is organizing a promotional mission (“Pont Tecnològic”, Technological Bridge) to China from November 28th to December 2nd, 2011 specially addressed to information technology (IT) companies willing to work there. China is nowadays the first country in the world exporting IT products and offers great opportunities in the sectors of e-commerce, cell phone and mobile internet services, among others. This technological bridge will include a common program, with visits to Chinese companies and organizations, and attendance to workshops, networking events and showcases. There will also be a specific program of businesses contacts specially designed for each of the companies taking part on this mission. Companies may be eligible for receiving funding from ACC1Ó, provided the fulfillment of its requirements.

For further information contact Mrs. Laura Espiau with Barcelona NETactiva at laura.espiau@barcelonactiva.cat, phone +34 932917777, or Mrs. Judith Padrós, with the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce at jpadros@cambrabcn.org, phone +34934169356.

Casa Àsia Barcelona will hold the 8th East-West Dialogue 2011

From http://www.casaasia.es/dialogo/eng/index.html (in English)

The city of Barcelona will be holding the 8th East-West Dialogue on November 8th-9th, 2011, with the title of "For a New Global Governance Agenda", an event organized annually by Casa Àsia and the Barcelona City Council. This eighth Dialogue is devoted to analyzing the current world situation and the role played by international institutions, as well as by political leaders. The activities related to this event could be followed on Twitter using the hashtag #eastwest.

The program for the 8th East-West Dialogue is as follows:

8th of November 2011 / From 4.30pm to 7pm
Barcelona City Hall, Saló de Cent (Plaça Sant Jaume, 1 - Barcelona)

9th of November 2011 / From 10am to 7pm
Casa Asia, Tagore Auditorium (Avinguda Diagonal, 373 - Barcelona)

Free entry prior registration / Limited capacity

 

 

 

China acknowledges the leadership of Spanish water companies

From http://www.iagua.es/noticias/china/11/11/02/china-reconoce-el-liderazgo-de-las-empresas-espanolas-del-sector-del-agua-10854#.TrG9EOyLfew (in Spanish)

The Spanish Minister of Environment, and Rural and Marine Environments, Mrs. Rosa Aguilar, has held a meeting with the Chinese Vice Minister of Water Resources, Mr. Hu Siyi, with whom she has signed an agreement to reinforce cooperation between China and Spain on water-related issues. The agreement has been signed after the meeting and is supposed to serve for 5 years as a platform for Spanish companies of the water sector to work in the Chinese market, specially in areas such as planning strategies on water policies, water conservation on agricultural irrigation, reservoir management, desalination, wastewater treatment, water reuse and water quality control, as well as staff training. On the framework of this agreement, both countries have agreed to promote cooperation between river basin authorities, water research centers and companies, as well as to organize high-level visits for experts and joint workshops.

Mrs. Rosa Aguilar and Mr. Hu Siyi have stated that both China and Spain have irregular water distribution and the Chinese Vice Minister has acknowledged the work done by the Spanish government to secure water supply through desalination, which makes Spain as the 4th country in the world with the highest desalination capacity. Water reuse is another area in which Spain occupies a prominent position -second in the world, right after Israel. Because of all this, Mr. Hu Siyi has invited Spain to take part on the 5th International Forum on the the Yellow River (黄河), that will be held in China on October 2012.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="368"] Visit of environmental Chinese delegation to Costa Brava water reuse projects in October 2011[/caption]

Yellow RiverWikipedia: The Yellow River or Huang He is the second-longest river in Asia, following the Yangtze River, and the sixth-longest in the world at the estimated length of. →

China and Spain will sign a cooperation agreement on water management

From http://www.iagua.es/noticias/china/11/10/30/espana-y-china-firmaran-un-%E2%80%9Cmemorando-de-entendimiento-en-materia-de-recursos-de-agua%E2%80%9D-10848 (in Spanish)

The Spanish Minister of Environment, and Rural and Marine Environments, Mrs. Rosa Aguilar, has started an official trip to China aimed at showcasing the potential for exports of the Spanish food sector and also to reinforce the Spanish-Chinese cooperation on water management. She is expected to have a meeting with the Chinese Vice Minister of Water Resources, Mr. Hu Siyi, with whom she will sign a cooperation agreement on water management. Mrs. Rosa Aguilar will also introduce the leadership potential of Spanish water companies in order to help them get into the promising Chinese market.