Perth business delegation experiences Beijing

A Business News-sponsored delegation to China last week received plenty of attention from the local media, including this wrap-up of the visit by Beijing News.

Perth business delegation experiences Beijing’s businesses and opportunities

By Wang Lin, Beijing News 

From October 13th to 18th, the "2019 CXWA Beijing Discovery Tour" a business tour organized by CXWA was launched in Beijing.

Senior representatives from Business News Western Australia, the Perth Beijing School and senior leaders in a variety of WA organisations conducted an inspection tour of the most innovative and dynamic technology companies in Beijing.

This included visits to places such as Xiaomi, Baidu, Jingdong (JD.com) and also included a discussion with entrepreneurs at Zhongguancun Innoway.

At Nio cars, the delegates learned about the new frontier of domestic electric vehicles, and experienced Beijing’s “food basket” at Chaoshifa supermarket.

During the visit to Huaxi LIVE·Wukesong’s experience of the Beijing night economy... the members of the delegation frequently raised their thumbs. The degree of modernisation of the city of Beijing is surprising and all on tour were full of praise for the innovation of Chinese companies.

The exchange visit was organized by West Street Media (Beijing Business Today) and Business News Western Australia, with assistance from Chinese and foreign entrepreneurs magazine.

The event carried the spirit of Beijing's focus on new development, an open marketplace and “in Beijing”. The theme of building a globally influential science and technology innovation centre is unfolding.

The delegation consisted of CEOs and senior leaders from Western Australia's media, think tanks, law firms, accounting firms, wineries and other companies. After they arrived in Beijing, the team visited Xiaomi, Baidu, Zhongguancun Innovation Park as well as other technology companies and landmarks.

“In-depth experience” is one of the keys of this exchange. In Xiaomi's "smart home", members were impressed by various smart home products, ranging from a sensor light in a children's room to a multi-function smart TV, coffee table, and the high tech kitchen. In Baidu, everyone showed great interest in the intelligent robot, face recognition and driverless technology. After this series of interactions and experiences, everyone has a deep understanding of Baidu.

The discussion and communication sessions at each tour stop were a whirlwind of information. Not only did the entrepreneurs from Western Australia have a deeper understanding of Chinese companies, they also were able to receive answers to their own questions. For example, at the Xiaomi visit, the members of the delegation asked questions about Xiaomi's sales strategy, membership subscription model, and ecosystem products. They also enquired about Xiaomi's overseas market development, specifically, whether it intends to enter the Australian market and what kind of cooperation it hopes to seek.

Through these visits, the delegation has deepened their understanding of the city and Chinese enterprises.

Dahua Certified Public Accountants was the last stop of the delegation. During the discussion, the members of the delegation expressed that after a few days of visits, the positive feelings towards the level of Beijing's high-tech innovation have only become stronger. The focus now is how to turn this in to commercial relationships with Beijing.

In an interview with Beijing News, the members of the delegation gave a high evaluation of the event and gave a thumbs up to all aspects of the city.

Mike Calneggia, director of the Calneggia Family Vineyards in Western Australia, told reporters that compared with the first time he came to Beijing 15 years ago, the city has changed dramatically. He used "unbelievable" to describe the modernization of Beijing today.

As the head of this famous wine company in the Margaret River region, he has experienced first-hand the rapid development of China-Australia economic and trade cooperation.

The output value of Australia's wine exports to China 15 years ago was less than $100 million, and the current output value is approaching $1.4 billion.

Moore Stephens Perth partner Wen-Shien Chai said that the delegation was an in-depth due diligence investigation.

"On the one hand, the delegates visited Chinese companies to understand the reasons for their success, and on the other hand, the visits also provided strategic insights for the Australian side. The content of this exchange has a lot of benefits, whether it is for Australian companies to enter the Chinese market or Chinese companies to explore the Australian market."

Other delegates on the tour were: Committee for Perth CEO Marion Fulker, Herbert Smith Freehills senior associate Matthew O’Leary, National Australia Bank head of country - China John Boyle, Ovviare Consulting owner Rosalba Vicario-Adams, CXWA director Wayde Keyser, corporate adviser Brad Hill and Business News director of strategy & innovation Mark Pownall.

Translation by Alex Shi

Minor edits by Business News