中欧社会论坛 - China Europa Forum

• Subject: Meeting of Madi Sharma and Prof Xin Wang in preparation of Europa-China Forum workshop, July 2010 – SME Managers Workshop S32a

Following the cancellation of the Europa-China Forum conference in Ningbo and Hong Kong earlier this year due to Swine Flu there was a meeting of Prime Movers and Chairs in Paris in July 2009. Unfortunately as Prime mover for the European side I was unable to attend the meeting in Paris. This meeting in Beijing had the objective to review the discussion made in July in Paris and to plan the work, delegates and terms of reference for each side in 2010.

• Meeting time: 21st-22th October 2009, Beijing 22nd-24th October 2009, Ningbo

• Main participants: Madhu SHARMA, Member of Economic and Social European Committee Wang XIN, Director of Economic Observer Research Center Xingyu LI, Director of East Yongde software Ltd. Yun CAO, General secretary of Ningbo Businessmen sodality Ying GENG, Vice-secretary of Ningbo Businessmen sodality Jia WANG, mediator of European side Rui JIN, mediator of Chinese side

• Main discussion:

21st October: (XIN Wang, Madhu SHARMA, Xingyu LI, Jia WANG, Rui JIN) 1. introduction of each side 2. visit of Economic Observer Research Centre – An important and highly valued financial media outlet for business, politicians and academia. 3. review of discussion made in July in Paris

o exchange of actual situation of five major difficulties of SMEs in each side (financial supporting, labour problem and social security, interaction with local region, role of women, social responsibilities, innovation and business support, new markets and opportunities)

• Madhu SHARMA and Wang XIN in front of Economic Observer

Madi explained the interaction between the EESC and the CESE of China, and the role of the Economic and Social Committee especially in being the bridge with civil society. The issue of SMEs has arisen in the last China-EU round Table meeting in Beijing and therefore Madi directly introduced Professor Wang to Mr Li and Mr Wu from the China ESC by telephone.

Lunch was a superb meal in a private dining suite, supported by excellent music from Mongolian musicians.

The following day the group transferred to Ningbo which is a relatively new city, expanding due to the influence of entrepreneurship. The Chinese delegates are very keen to demonstrate to European partners the potential opportunities in Ningbo and the willingness of Chinese business to build relationships with European businesses.

• Meeting in tranditional Chinese tea room (left 2: Xingyu LI)

22nd October: (XIN Wang, Madhu SHARMA, Yun CAO, Ying GENG, Jia WANG, Rui JIN)

1. continuation of review of discussion made in July in Paris

o discussion about the other problems (trade barriers, innovation and development of products) o modify the results in July according to the importance of problems 1. Financial support / why SMEs can’t get easily the financial support? 2. Trade barriers / How to reduce and avoid trade barriers? 3. Innovation and development of products / How to encourage the innovation and development of products in SMEs? 4. Interaction of SMEs and local region / How to improve the interaction of SMEs and local region? (In fact, social responsibilities, labour problem and social problems can be included in this point) 5. The role of women entrepreneurs / What does the role of female play in SMEs?

2. Discussion of main participants of each side in 2010

European side: since the availability of each people is not 100% for sure, we listed 6 potential candidates instead of 5

3. Discussion in detail of our work in 2010

o Meeting in Ningbo (Three days before the biennials in Hong Kong, seven people in Europe including Jia and Madhu and 7 people in China): + Further exchange of five main difficulties and five main actions in each side + Visit of Ningbo’s SMEs o Biennials in Hong Kong, (seven people in Europe including Jia and Madhu and 7 people in China)

4. Proposition of enlarged meeting with more people involved (Three days before the biennials in Hong Kong). In fact, much more candidates are interested in this direct exchange of SMEs between China and Europe, so we decided to try to get more people involved in Ningbo’s visit.