Business meeting China - Catalonia in Barcelona to promote investments

From http://accio.gencat.cat/cat/agenda-activitats/actes/2014/04/el-foment-de-les-inversions.jsp (in Catalan)

The business meeting China - Catalonia that will take place on April 8th, 2014, is being organized in order to to strengthen the international relationship and the trade between them. This meeting will also be an excellent opportunity to highlight the importance of the internationalization of Catalan companies and also of the recent Chinese investments in Catalonia.

[gview file="http://accio.gencat.cat/cat/binaris/El-foment-de-les-inversions-Programa_tcm176-177875.pdf" save="1"]

Conference in Barcelona about the Chinese strategy towards global leadership

From http://www.casaasia.eu/actividad/detalle?id=213030 (in English)

On March 27th, 2014, the Centre for International Studies together with the Confucius Institute Foundation in Barcelona and Casa Asia organises a seminar on the external projection of China and its strategy towards the global economic and political leadership. This free event will take place at the Palau Macaya, Passeig de Sant Joan 108 of Barcelona between 3 pm and 7 pm.

Barcelona citizen rescues HTC CEO from traffic jam and takes him to the MWC

From http://www.lavanguardia.com/tecnologia/mobile-world-congress/20140305/54402062926/htc-motorista-rescate-ceo.html (in Spanish)

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="317"] Obdulio Herrera, the man that saved HTC's CEO Peter Chou from a traffic jam in Barcelona during the MWC 2014 (image from HTC's Spanish website)[/caption]

During the recent Mobile World Congress 2014 held in Barcelona, Peter Chou (周永明), CEO of HTC, was travelling in a taxi when he found himself in the middle of a severe traffic jam. Sensing that he would not make it to the Mobile World Congress on time, he paid the taxi driver and asked him to find a motorcycle rider that could take him to the convention centre. So he stopped one, who gently offered himself to take him there and he even let Peter Chou to use his daughter's helmet. Upon arrival to the MWC site -on time!-, the anonymous motorcycle rider refused to receive any kind of compensation from the HTC leader. After the event, Peter Chou started the quest to find and identify the man using the company's blog and social media. Soon, the local media also started to spread the news and finally the man was identified: it was 53-year old Obdulio Herrera, who was surprised by all the fuss made around his act. As a reward, Obdulio Herrera has been invited by HTC to its most important event of the year, the presentation of the new HTC smartphone, that will take place in London on March 25th, 2014.

Workshop on advanced Chinese paintings in Barcelona

From http://www.casaasia.eu/actividad/detalle?id=212746 (in Catalan)

[caption id="attachment_2893" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Workshop on Advanced Chinese Paintings[/caption]

Taiwanese teacher Hsiao-Lin Liu is going to offer a workshop on advanced Chinese paintings in the headquarters of Casa Àsia in Barcelona between March 12th and May 14th, 2014. Calm and harmony are very important in Chinese paintings and in this course the students will learn how to reflect it through the painting of flowers, fruits and birds. Students will also have the opportunity to practice the techniques of oriental paintings and discover their mystic side.

Hsiao-Lin Liu is currently working on her PhD on the Kuang Cao Chinese calligraphy and its relationship with the contemporary art at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Barcelona.

For further information, please visit the webpage of this workshop on Casa Àsia.

 

Casa Asia in Barcelona organizes course on Chinese cinema

From http://www.casaasia.eu/actividad/detalle?id=212741 (in English)

[caption id="attachment_2897" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Course "Chinese Cinema: Stories and Evolutions" (image from Casa Asia website)[/caption]

From the February 25th to April 1st, 2014, the headquarters of Casa Àsia in Barcelona will host a course entitled "Chinese Cinema: Stories and Evolutions" given by Manel Ollé, professor of Chinese History and Culture and coordinator of the Master in Chinese Studies at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra of Barcelona. For further information on the fees, the detailed schedule and the location, please visit its webpage at Casa Àsia.

Barcelona based rock band GAS releases Chinese version of FC Barcelona's anthem

GAS, a rock band based in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat (Barcelona province) that earlier this year took by storm the local music scene by releasing their first EP, "Chinese Works" with seven original songs sung in Mandarin Chinese, has again caused sensation by recording a Chinese version of the anthem of the legendary Catalan football team FC Barcelona. Entitled 巴薩的隊歌, the news has appeared in many media, both local and from abroad.



 

Hong Kong communications company Cronos sets in Barcelona

From http://www.lavanguardia.com/economia/20131124/54394458225/hong-kong-cronos-group-abre-oficina-en-barcelona.html (in Spanish)

Before the end of 2013 and backed by Invest in Catalonia, the office of the Catalan government to promote foreign investments in the regions, the Hong Kong communications company Cronos Group will open an office in the city of Barcelona. Cronos Group is a telecommunications provider that is already in 80 countries and that has chosen Barcelona as the see of their Spanish headquarters because of the business atmosphere brought by the annual Mobile World Congress organized in the Catalan capital. These new offices are expected to created around 25 new jobs.

Barcelona based Galeria Mayoral at the Hong Kong's edition of Art Basel

From http://www.galeriamayoral.com/en/Fires/Basel%20Hong%20Kong/21/ (in English)

Barcelona-based Galeria Mayoral is attending the Hong Kong's edition of Art Basel, where there will be on display the highest quality of paintings, sculptures, drawings, installations, photographs, video and artworks from the 20th and 21st centuries, by more than 2,000 artists from Asia and around the globe. Galeria Mayoral is going to display a Solo Show Miró, based on the works of renowned Catalan painter Joan Miró.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="414"] Personnages et oiseaux, by Joan Miró (Image from Art Basel website)[/caption]

Published booklet about the Chinese shop owners in Barcelona

From http://www.comercnouvinguts.pimec.org/ca/productes/72/colleccio--i-nosaltres-tambe-fem-ciutat-i-/llistat/els-comerciants-xinesos-de-barcelona (in Catalan)

PIMEC, the association grouping the micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and also the self-employed workers of Catalonia, has launched a project for the city of Barcelona called "Nosaltres també fem ciutat" ("We also contribute to the city") that has the goal of improving the integration of the foreign shop owners into the city's commercial network. One of the documents that has recently been released is the booklet "Els comerciants xinesos de Barcelona" ("Barcelona's Chinese shop owners"), which emphasizes their entrepreneurial capacity and their hard-working attitude. The document can be downloaded as a pd file from the link http://www.webmini.cat/repositori/documents/productes/ca/webmini-not103-uy19kg.pdf or read it down here in its embedded form.

Taiwanese company Toro chooses Barcelona as site for its European headquarters

From http://www.europapress.cat/economia/noticia-fira-taiwanesa-toro-escull-barcelona-per-installar-seva-seu-europea-atreta-per-mwcapital-20120731114842.html (in Catalan)

Taiwanese company Toro Development Limited, specialized in the development of digital wallet platforms and mWallet, will establish its new operation and R&D office in Barcelona in 2013. These offices will be located in the city's Mobile World Hub and they will directly serve the European market and also create international exchange opportunities for company employees. The company has started the selection process of 10 engineers from the Barcelona area, who will immediately travel to Taiwan to complete the training before taking their new responsabilities. Agustín Cordón, vicepresident of the Mobile World Capital’s Executive Committee, said that “Toro is undoubtedly one of the world’s leaders in NFC solutions and will play a decisive role in our mWallet program" and also that "Toro has extensive experience in the transformation of mobile devices into mobile wallets so we are very happy to have them onboard and are already looking forward to jointly develop new solutions in this field.”

Chinese Catalans, portrait of an emerging and entrepreneurial minority

From http://www.presencia.cat/index.php?Itemid=1080 (in Catalan)

[caption id="attachment_1316" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="Cover of Presència 12 February 2012"][/caption]

Catalan weekly magazine Presència has devoted the main report of its last edition to the Chinese community living in Catalonia. The title of the report is "Chinese Catalans, portrait of an emerging and entrepreneurial minority" and it explains what is the situation of the growing Chinese population in Catalonia. Chinese immigrants are the fifth most numerous minority (around 50,000 inhabitants), after the Moroccans, Romanians, Ecuadorians and Bolivians, and they mostly live in the Barcelona metropolitan area. Out of those 50,000 inhabitants, some 8,000 are entrepreneurs, the highest percentage among any other group, including the natives.  The report also includes interviews with Jia Jia Wang, owner of Jia Jia Ediciones, a publishing company she created in order to help teach Chinese language to local children. Other interviews are those of Zheng Lingteng and Ma Yinping, teachers of Chinese at the Girona-based language school, Nipponia, and Lam Chuen Ping, president of the Association of Chinese Entrepreneurs of Catalonia. The scans of the report can be seen on the Sinalunya Flickr site.

Celebrations of Chinese New Year in Barcelona

From http://www.casaasia.cat/actividad/detalle?id=205220 (in Catalan)

Celebrations of Chinese New Year in Barcelona will be held from 27-29 January 2012 at the Moll de la Fusta, organized by the Union of Chinese Associations of Catalonia, the Barcelona City Council and Casa Àsia, among others. This year's events will include tastings of Catalan and Chinese gastronomy, and dance and martial arts exhibitions. The complete program can be downloaded as pdf on Casa Àsia website.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="Chinese New Year 2012 in Barcelona - Image from Casa Àsia website"][/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]

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

 

 

 

Barcelona appointed as the sixth best European city to locate a business

From http://www.catalannewsagency.com/news/business/barcelona-sixth-best-european-city-locate-business (in English)

The capital city of Catalonia, Barcelona has recently been appointed as the sixth best European city to locate a business in 2011, behind London, Paris, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and Berlin, dropping one place from 2010's results, but one position ahead of Madrid. This European Cities Monitor list is compiled each year by the consultancy firm Cushman & Wakefield and is the result of analyzing twelve indicators. The position of Barcelona is expected to go even higher on the list if improvements are made in the future on telecommunications, international flights, market access and English language skills. For a more detailed information, either visit the link at the beginning of this post or go to the European Cities Monitor website.

[caption id="attachment_986" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="View of Barcelona from Gaudí's Parc Güell"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_987" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Agbar Tower, Barcelona"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_990" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Barcelona's recently developed Forum area"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_989" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Casa de les Punxes o Casa Terrades by Josep Puig i Cadafalch, Barcelona"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_988" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="La Rambla, Barcelona"][/caption]

Workshop on intellectual and industrial property in China organized in Barcelona

From http://www.eic.es/wps/PA_Jornades/fitxa.jsp?codi=1083482 (in Catalan)

The College of Industrial Engineers of Catalonia organizes a workshop on the intellectual and industrial property in China that will be held on October 10th, 2011 in their headquarters at Via Laietana 39, 5th floor, in Barcelona, at 6:30 pm. The workshop will allow to exchange opinions with experts on industrial property in China about regulations, procedures, registration (how to choose a Chinese name for a brand) and law application, among others. They will also report on experiences on these fields by Catalan companies already working on Chinese territory. For further information, call +34 933 192 304 (from 9 to 14 h and from 16 to 18 h).

Downloadables:

- Registration form for members

- Registration form for non-members

A visit to the headquarters of Casa Àsia in Barcelona

On September 15th we had the opportunity to visit the impressive headquarters of Casa Àsia in Barcelona, located in the beautiful modernistic building Palau del Baró de Quadras, at the 373 of Diagonal Avenue. The house was projected by Catalan architect Josep Puig i Cadafalch and built in 1904-1906. It has outstanding gothic and plateresque styles on the main façade on Diagonal Avenue, plus some notable decoration of Muslim inspiration inside. The building, just as many that can be seen in the streets of Barcelona, belongs to the period of Catalan Modernisme, a style of the late XIXth and early XXth centuries that influenced not only architecture, but also literature and plastic arts. In architecture, the most relevant names are Antoni Gaudí, Lluís Domènech i Montaner and Josep Puig i Cadafalch.

Here there is a sample of the views that such a magnificent building can offer to the visitors.

[caption id="attachment_913" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Casa Àsia - Palau Baró de Quadras"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_914" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Casa Àsia - Palau Baró de Quadras"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_915" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Casa Àsia - Palau Baró de Quadras"][/caption]

You can view the rest of the photographic report on  on Sinalunya's Flickr site.

For further information on this remarkable construction, take a look at  http://www.gaudiallgaudi.com/AA208.htm, and for detailed information on Catalan Modernistic architecture, you can visit http://www.gaudiallgaudi.com/EA001.htm.

Chinese writer Diane Wei Liang presents her new book in Barcelona

From http://www.casaasia.es/actividad/detalle?id=203306 (in Spanish)

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="La Casa del Espíritu Dorado - Diane Wei Liang - Ediciones Siruela"][/caption]

In the framework of a series of activities related to asian detective fiction literature, Casa Àsia and Ediciones Siruela have organized a meeting with Chinese writer Diane Wei Liang, who has recently released her third novel "The House of Golden Spirit", that has been translated into Spanish as "La Casa del Espíritu Dorado". After the success of "The eye of Jade" and "Paper butterfly", Diane Wei Liang has written a new story for her fictional character, the female detective Mei Wang. The plot on this new book is set on the city of Beijing after the Olympic Games of 2008, where Mei Wang has to deal with a noisy and busy environment, and with people whose only drive in life is money or power. Diane Wei Liang will be giving a talk entitled "Mei Wang's Beijing" ("El Pequín de la detectiu Mei Wang" (catalan) / "El Pequín de la detective Mei Wang" (Spanish)) and presenting her book in Barcelona on September 15th, 2011. The event will take place at the headquarters of Casa Àsia in Barcelona, Tagore Auditorium, Avinguda Diagonal, 373 and she will be introduced by Ofelia Grande, Director of Ediciones Siruela, and Rafael Bueno, Director of Politics and Society of Casa Àsia. One day earlier, a similar activity is scheduled in Madrid's Casa Asia's headquarters. An interview in Spanish with Diane Wei Liang can be dowloaded from Ediciones Siruela website, whereas Casa Àsia website also offers an invitation card to the event, both as pdf files. For further information contact casaasia@casaasia.es.

Chinese-Catalan TV series starts on July 18th on Catalan channel TV3

From http://www.lavanguardia.com/television/20110712/54185009419/una-telenovela-chino-catalana-sustituye-a-la-riera-en-tv3-este-verano.html (in Spanish)

A truly original TV series will start being broadcast on July 18th on TV3, the publicly owned Catalan channel. This new TV series is a co-production by China and Catalonia and will be offered during the early aftenoon prime time of the summer 2011. Its title is "Secrets de Xangai" (Secrets of Shanghai), is mainly focused on human relationships (love, passion, intrigue) and consists of 23 episodes. The only Catalan main role is played by actress Montse Alcoverro, who's character is a Catalan woman that lives in Barcelona and that is married to a man that left China more than 20 years ago and that has been able to create a big company in Spain. The pleasant life of the couple, that has a 20-year old son named Josep, is broken when the husband decides to go back to China to look for the woman and the wife he left there.

The series has already been broadcast during February and March 2011 in China, on the Dragon TV channel, and has been followed by more than 100 million fans. It was originally filmed in English and the length of the chapters has been adapted for the different tastes of the audiences -shorter episodes in Catalonia and longer in China-.

The trailer of the series can be watched at http://www.tv3.cat/videos/3619010/Estrena-de-Secrets-de-Xangai until July 18th, 2011

http://www.tv3.cat/3alacarta/#/videos/36190

Video summary of Casa Asia Film Week in Barcelona

From http://www.casaasia.es/internet_y_tecnologia/multimedia?video_id=14660 (in Spanish)

Casa Asia has posted an 8-minute video that summarizes the highlights of the first edition of the Casa Asia Film Week that was held in Barcelona between June 6 and 12th, 2011. The video starts with the opening ceremony, is followed by the tribute to Ann Hui and the award ceremony to Buddha Mountain, directed by Li Yu, and ends up with the closing ceremony. Main languages in the video are Spanish and Catalan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1rKns1w9Mw