Chinese cinema cycle in the Filmoteca de Catalunya

From http://www.filmoteca.cat/web/programacio/cicles/transformacions-del-cinema-xines (in Catalan)

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="250"] "Transformacions del cinema xinès", a Chinese cinema cycle at the Filmoteca de Catalunya[/caption]

Between September 25th and 29th, 2013, the Filmoteca de Catalunya will display a cycle of Chinese cinema entitled "Transformacions del cinema xinès" (Transformations of Chinese cinema). This cinema cycle will consist on a series of Chinese films about art or artists filmed in the last 20 years and that have their roots on the "cynical realism" movement. Landscape is an essential element in all the chosen titles.

 

Program

September 25th: 向日葵 ("Xiang ri kui"), presented by Manel Ollé

September 26th: 戲夢人生 ("Xì mèng rénshēng")

September 27th: 极度寒冷 ("Jidu hanleng")

September 28th: Ai Weiwei: Never sorry

September 29th: 变脸 ("Bian lian")

[caption id="attachment_2629" align="aligncenter" width="627"] Transformacions del cinema xinès at the Filmoteca de Catalunya[/caption]

 

 

Taiwanese delegation visits Girona to learn from its touristic promotion

From http://bit.ly/1gX3nxp (in Catalan)

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="336"] Taiwanese delegation visits Girona to learn from its touristic promotion[/caption]

A group of 17 entrepreneurs and university professors from Taiwan have recently visited the city of Girona. Their main interest was to learn about the public-private cooperation on the promotion of touristic activities, specially on the business and conference sectors. This visit has been organized by the Barcelona office of the Taiwan Trade Center. They have been received by Ms. Marta Madrenas, Deputy Mayor of the city of Girona and in charge of the city's promotion. She has introduced the assets of Girona as an attractive destination for both family and conference tourism. Ms. Madrenas has stated that for the city of Girona it was very positive to hold this kind of meetings and has highlighted the "importance to meet groups of tourism professionals that later can spread the word about the city and recommend it once they are back in their home countries". She also mentioned the degree of interest shown by the Taiwanese delegation to learn from the Girona experience and remarked the efforts done by the city council "to promote the city as a touristic and cultural destination". The Taiwanese delegation ended up their stay in Girona visiting the Scientific and Technological Park.

Published the Global Competitiveness Report 2013-2014

From http://www.weforum.org/issues/global-competitiveness/index.html (in English)

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="622"] The Global Competitiveness Report 2013-2014 South East Asia[/caption]

World Economic Forum‘s Global Competitiveness Report 2013-2014 displays very similar rankings to those of the previous year. Just as it also did in the 2 previous years, Taiwan has climbed to the 12th position. According to the report, Taiwan‘s “performance has been very stable and consistently strong over the past five years. Notable strengths include the capacity of Taiwanese businesses to innovate (8th), its highly efficient goods markets (7th), and its world-class primary education (9th) and higher education (11th). In order to enhance its competitiveness, Taiwan will need to further strengthen its institutional framework (26th), whose quality is undermined by some inefficiency within the government (28th) and various forms of corruption (30th), and will also need to address some inefficiencies and rigidities in its labour market (33rd)” (from http://www3.weforum.org/docs/GCR2013-14/GCR_CountryHighlights_2013-2014.pdf).

In an East Asian context, Taiwan is behind Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong, and in front of Malaysia, South Korea and China. In the global ranking, Switzerland and Singapore remain at the top 2 positions, whereas Hong Kong moves up from position 9th to 7th and Japan improves one place, from 10th to 9, respectively. South Korea worsens its position from 19 to 25, whereas Malaysia moves upwards from position 25th to 24th and China remains in position 29th. Spain‘s position has improved from 36th to 35th during the last year.

According to the report, Singapore “ranks 2nd overall for the third consecutive year, owing to an outstanding performance across all the dimensions of the GCI. Again this year, it is the only economy to feature in the top 3 of seven out of the 12 pillars of the GCI; it also appears in the top 10 of two others. It dominates the goods market efficiency pillar and the labour market efficiency pillar, and places 2nd in the financial market development pillar. Furthermore, the city-state boasts one of the world’s best institutional frameworks (3rd), even though it loses the top spot to Finland in the related pillar. Singapore also possesses world-class infrastructure (2nd), with excellent roads, ports, and air transport facilities. Its economy can also rely on a sound macroeconomic environment and fiscal management (18th)—the budget surplus amounted to 5.7 percent of GDP in 2012. Singapore’s competitiveness is further enhanced by its strong focus on education, which has translated into a steady improvement of its ranking in the higher education and training pillar, where it comes in 2nd, behind Finland. Singapore’s private sector is also becoming increasingly sophisticated (17th) and more innovative (9th), although room for improvement exists in both areas, which are the keys to Singapore’s future prosperity” (from http://www3.weforum.org/docs/GCR2013-14/GCR_CountryHighlights_2013-2014.pdf).

Hong Kong "further consolidates its position among the 10 most competitive economies, advancing a further two places to 7th, thanks to a consistently strong performance. In particular, Hong Kong tops the infrastructure pillar for the fourth consecutive edition, reflecting the outstanding quality of its facilities across all modes of transportation. It also dominates the financial market development pillar, owing to the high level of efficiency, trustworthiness, and stability of the system. As in the case of Singapore, the dynamism and efficiency of Hong Kong’s goods market (2nd) and labour market (3rd) further contribute to its excellent overall positioning. In order to enhance its competitiveness, Hong Kong must improve on higher education (22nd) and innovation (23rd, up three). In the latter category, the quality of research institutions (31st) and the limited availability of scientists and engineers (32nd) remain the two key issues to be addressed" (from http://www3.weforum.org/docs/GCR2013-14/GCR_CountryHighlights_2013-2014.pdf).

And China, “remains stable at 29th position this year. The country posts small gains in certain areas of the Index but loses ground in others, resulting in an overall performance virtually unchanged since last year. China leads the BRICS economies by a wide margin, well ahead of South Africa (53rd), Brazil (56th), India (60th), and Russia (64th). The Chinese institutional framework is improving slightly (47th), but weaknesses—including corruption (68th), security issues (75th), and low levels of accountability (82nd) and ethical standards (54th) among businesses—remain. In addition, problems endure in those areas that are becoming increasingly important for China as it becomes wealthier and can no longer rely on cheap labour: its financial market (54th) is undermined by the relative fragility of the banking sector; technological adoption by firms (86th) and by the population at large (79th) remains very low; and the efficiency of its goods market (61st) is seriously undermined by various barriers to entry and investment rules, which greatly limit competition.  On a more positive note, China’s macroeconomic situation remains favorable (10th). Inflation was back down to below 3 percent in 2012 (from 5.4 percent the previous year), the budget deficit is moderate, China’s public debt-to-GDP ratio at 22.9 percent is among the lowest in the world, and the gross savings rate represents a staggering 50 percent of GDP. However, this rate is probably too high in light of the need for China to rebalance its economy away from investment and toward more consumption. Although China receives good marks in health and basic education (40th), the assessment is more negative when it comes to higher education (70th) because of China’s low tertiary education enrollment, the average quality of teaching, and an apparent disconnect between educational content and business needs (54th). Finally, China’s innovation capacity has been improving recently, but much remains done for it to become an innovation powerhouse" (from http://www3.weforum.org/docs/GCR2013-14/GCR_CountryHighlights_2013-2014.pdf).

The full report can be downloaded as pdf from the World Economic Forum website.

Catalan electric material producer Simon reaches over 2,200 shops in China

From http://www.diaridegirona.cat/economia/2013/09/11/fabricant-material-electric-simon-supera/634503.html (in Catalan)

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="273"] Image from Simon's website[/caption]

After reaching over 2,200 shops in China under the name of Simhome, the Asian giant is going to become Simon's main market in terms of total sales. According to Simon's CEO Xavier Torra, 780 of these shops have a surface of around 100 m2, whereas the other 1,500 shops have an average surface of around 20 m2, where Simon products are sold exclusively. Simon is selling in China since 1999, when an agreement with a local partner was made, that was followed by a joint venture in 2002 and has been able to supply equipment for the facilities of the Olympic Games in Beijing. According to Xavier Torra, "in 2 or 3 years China is expected to become our first market. Today it already represents around 20% of our total sales". Simon's total sales in 2012 reached 250 million €.

 

Espelt winery aims at conquering Chinese market

From http://www.diaridegirona.cat/comarques/2013/08/31/celler-espelt-vol-conquerir-mercat/632967.html

[caption id="attachment_2549" align="alignleft" width="330"] Logo of Celler Espelt[/caption]

Celler Espelt, a Vilajuïga-based winery in Alt Empordà (Girona province) has started the harvest two weeks later than usual due to the rainy and rather fresh summer of 2013. They have started hand-harvesting their vineyards in Rabós d'Empordà, where they have the "lledoner roig" vineyards (Grenache pink, a local variety of Alt Empordà region), a grape that is mostly used in the local sweet wines.

However, this time things are going to be different. Celler Espelt is going to use this grape to make a new kind of wine. "This year we have decided to produce a white wine with this grape. Because of this year's late harvest, we have started picking up the lledoner roig instead of other grapes", explained the winery's enologist Anna Espelt, that later added that "lledoner roig is scattered among the carignan vines and its harvest requires a slow and pacient work". She also added that Celler Espelt wants to recover this local grape, that was almost forgotten, not only for the production of white wines but also for other kinds of wine. With this goal in mind, the Celler Espelt is starting a research project on how to recover the use of lledoner roig and how to use it in other kinds of wine apart from the garnatxa dolça de l'Empordà, the local sweet wine.

Apart from these new projects, Celler Espelt is also aiming at selling their wines in new markets. They are already exporting 60% of their bottles (around 480,000 out of 800,000 units) to countries like United States, Japan, Canada, United Kingdom and Norway. According to Anna Espelt, for next year they are aiming at some new markets like Germany, China and Latin America.

[caption id="attachment_2550" align="aligncenter" width="415"] Different products from the Celler Espelt, in their winery shop[/caption]

 

A visit to the Joan Miró exhibition in Taipei

[caption id="attachment_2506" align="alignleft" width="158"] Catalog of the Joan MIró exhibition in Taiwan[/caption]

On June 26th, 2013 we had the pleasure to visit the first exhibition ever organized in Taiwan of the works of Catalan painter Joan Miró (胡安·米羅), on display until September 25th, 2013 at the National Museum of History in Taipei (台北). The exhibition, entitled "Women, Birds, Stars" and curated by Jordi Joan Clavero, compiles 86 artworks from the Fundació Joan Miró in Barcelona and from the Miró family collection, that mostly reveal Miró’s mature style of the 60s and 70s, when women, birds and stars became the major motifs of his artistic expression. "Women, Birds, Stars" is scheduled to travel later to Kaohsiung (高雄) and Taichung (台中).

We arrived at the National Museum of History around 3 pm, 30 minutes before the start of the guided tour. We were already impressed from the start by the colourful banners in the surrounding streets announcing the exhibition and, as we got closer to the museum, we were also delighted by the beautiful decoration around it, something that would immediately grab the people's attention and invite them to get in. During this 30-minute wait, were able to roam free around the different rooms and have a preview of the whole exhibition. We were wondering which would be the degree of interest of the local residents to see the paintings of such a distant artist and when it was time for the guided tour we got the final answer: packed. Between 3:30 pm and 4:45 pm at least 4 simultaneous guided groups of 20 people each were circulating around the different rooms and receiving very accurate and illustrative explanations -in Chinese- by the museum guides about Joan Miró, his art and the meaning of his paintings.

We really enjoyed the exhibition and its atmosphere. We were deeply moved by the care, respect and passion that the organizers and the guides put into it and into spreading the word about the art of Joan Miró and its meaning and legacy in such a faraway country as Taiwan.

[caption id="attachment_2505" align="aligncenter" width="470"] The Sinalunya team while visiting the Joan Miró exhibition in Taipei[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2507" align="aligncenter" width="458"] The tickets for the Joan Miró exhibition in Taipei[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2508" align="aligncenter" width="517"] The National Museum of History in Taipei that holds the exhibition on the art of Joan Miró[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2556" align="aligncenter" width="517"] The Sinalunya team and our friend 徐小潭 at the Joan Miró exhibition in Taipei[/caption]

Catalan e-commerce company Trilogi succeeds in China

From http://www.viaempresa.cat/ca/notices/2013/08/trilogi-botigues-virtuals-amb-segell-catala-1984.php (in Catalan)

Trilogi is a company created in Igualada (Barcelona province) in 1999 that settled in China two years ago and that it is offering e-commerce solutions for Chinese companies. Màrius Rossell, founder of Trilogi, had a vision about the power of internet and he and his company specialized in creating virtual shops. Fourteen years later, Trilogi is expected to reach a total sales of 1.2 million euro in 2013 and among its clients there are some big companies like Media Markt, Muebles La Fábrica, Roche and the sports shoe company Munich.

After a failure in trying to internationalize TLG (Trilogi's international brand) in European Union markets, where they were not able to sell a single on-line shop, Màrius Rossell decided to give China a try. He realized that Spanish companies did not have a negative perception in China as they had in some European markets, so they decided to follow the same strategy in China with Baidu that they had previously followed in Spain with Google, aiming at a having a good SEO. With a team of 5 people, 4 of them from China, TLG's Beijing office has already been able to sell 20 on-line shops, having an average of 3-4 new clients every month.

Apart from the shop itself, TLG also offers additional services to their Chinese customers, such as the online promotion of their brands or managing their presence in the social networks Weibo and Renren, the equivalents of Twitter and Facebook in the Asian giant. TLG's strategy to keep on growing on the Chinese markets is to find local partners in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Guangzhou.

According to Màrius Rossell, there are several reasons to think that in the next few years online shops will grow in China: i) it's a country with a high percentage of young people who are used to buy online products; ii) in some cities it is difficult to find some products, so the internet is an easy and effective solution; iii) many Chinese small and medium companies are in the growing phase and they need an online shop. However, there are other reasons that may cause this growth to be slower than expected, like: i) some Chinese people do not invest in e-commerce because they think it is not profitable enough; ii) opposite to the customers, a high percentage of Chinese businessmen are not into the world of internet and social networks; iii) the cost for an European company to land in China is quite high due to the language and cultural barriers, which cause extra expenses.