Biggest Strategic Shift since the late 70s

In this stars Webinar, stars Alumnus Markus HERRMANN, Managing Director, China Macro Group (CMG), Zurich, Switzerland, talked about China’s 14th Five-Year-Plan, the strategic objectives, the status of implementation and the main implications for foreign businesses. Please click here to see the slides.

Some additional take-aways are:

  • China’s position on Ukraine remains a vague “pro-Russia neutrality”, more efforts to mediate not unlikely.
  • Taiwan: no short-term plan to resolve this issue. Beijing is witnessing the unified West in the context of Ukraine, and wants to continue normal trade with the US and the EU.
  • Covid-19: 80% of the Chinese population are vaccinated. The goal is to vaccinate the rest and then launch cautious experiments regarding relaxations and opening up. International civil aviation shall begin to normalize in 2023 according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China.
  • Regulatory reforms (anti-monopoly, data protection, social policy emphasis, financial risks) achieved legislative progress, hence the focus will turn to enforcement moving forward.
  • Corporate social credit system for foreign companies: implementation continues, use of CSCS compliance data broadening, foreign firms taking this topic serious while not facing major issues.
  • In fall of 2022, Xi Jinping will be re-elected as CCP party secretary, no other indications nor successor so far. Even in 2027, Xi is not unlikely to stay on: he will only be 74 and he could want to shape more than half of the “journey” until the 2035 long-term goals.

To watch the recording of the webinar, please click here.

2020