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Beijing-Kunshan, China, 11-15 May 2014
11 May 2014, Beijing
Group discussion to facilitate responsible marketing and advertising
On the occasion of the launch of the ICC marketing and advertising code in Chinese at an
international advertising conference held in Beijing, ICC co-hosted a dialogue on responsible
marketing and advertising with the International Advertising Association (they provided the
venue and ICC developed the programme, invited participants and speakers and managed
the event and advocacy). Despite being a rainy Mother’s Day Sunday, the event successfully
brought together its target of 40 people including international experts on advertising selfregulation, relevant Chinese government and industry representatives including foreign
company executives in China, media, legal experts and advertising agencies. Presentations
were followed by a moderated discussion among the participants, which had to be concluded
for time (filling 3hrs rather than the 2-2.5 originally scheduled).
12 May 2014, Beijing
Signing of Silk Road cooperation agreement
At a ceremony held at the headquarters of the China Chamber of International Commerce
(CCOIC), Mr Jianzhong Lu, Deputy Chairman of the CCOIC and ICC Secretary General JeanGuy Carrier on behalf of the ICC World Chambers Federation signed a cooperation
agreement to strengthen collaboration on business and cultural opportunities among
chambers of commerce operating within the New Silk Road Economic Belt, proposed by the
President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping. The collaboration initiative comprises
three main elements: the Silk Road International Expo, the Silk Road Expo Park and the ESilk Road, an online, cross-border electronic business platform.
Meeting with Chairman of CCTIP/CCOIC/ICC China
ICC Chairman Terry McGraw and ICC Secretary General Jean-Guy Carrier met with Mr Jiang
Zengwei, Chairman, China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), CCOIC
and ICC China, at CCIPT headquarters. Mr Jiang presented five main points on behalf of ICC
China:
1. The establishment of 12 ICC China policy commissions. Commissions on Banking and
Intellectual Property were already well-established and significant progress was being
made on the other ten, notably marketing and advertising, corporate responsibility and
anticorruption, and environment and energy.
2. The hope that ICC’s enhanced engagement with intergovernmental organizations and
forums including the WTO, the UN and the G20 would enable Chinese companies to have
a greater voice in international business policy advocacy.
3. A greater involvement of Chinese companies in ICC rule-writing.
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4. Providing opportunities to talents in the Chinese business community to participate in ICC
work.
5. Leveraging ICC’s capacity to provide professional training in order to increase the
competitiveness of Chinese companies.
Mr Jiang said that the priority of ICC China was to make use of the platform provided by ICC
to raise the competitiveness and participation of Chinese companies in international trade
through the adoption of ICC rules. Another objective was the expansion of ICC China’s
membership to include a greater number of the approximately 200 000 Chinese companies
involved in international trade, mainly SMEs. Key policy issues mentioned by Mr Jiang
included: trade and investment through the WTO and the G20, the development of capital
markets, anticorruption and transparency, and arbitration and dispute resolution.
Meeting with CIETAC
Jean-Guy Carrier and Stefano Bertasi met with Yu Jianlong, Secretary General of the China
International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC) and Chen Min,
Secretary-General (who did an internship at the ICC Court in 1996), China Maritime Law
Association (a CIETAC division) at CIETAC offices in the CCOIC building in Beijing. Mr Yu
conveyed his regards to ICC Court Chairman John Beechey and said that CIETAC and ICC
were hosting joint events in China. He said that the CIETAC office in Hong Kong, the ICC
Court team based in Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Arbitration Centre all had good relations.
Mr Yu expressed an interest in co-hosting other events in China with the ICC Court.
CIETAC’s caseload included 1265 cases in 2013 but that in general the amounts in dispute
were probably lower than in ICC cases. He noted that a growing number of Chinese
companies needed arbitration services outside China. He explained that Chinese courts were
among the best in the world in enforcing arbitral awards, and that the lower courts were
required to defer to higher courts and potentially to the Supreme Court. Mr Yu said CIETAC
was planning a trip to Europe in October or November and would visit Stockholm and Paris.
13 May, Beijing
Media interviews and anticorruption report launch at Renmin University
ICC Chairman Terry McGraw and ICC Secretary General Jean-Guy Carrier gave media
interviews to China Daily, CCTV News, Global Times and Bloomberg. Questions focussed
mainly on China’s role in the global economy and on international trade and investment.
Mr McGraw and Mr Carrier met with Mr Chen Yulu, President of Renmin University,
established in 1937. This prestigious institution has the reputation of forming China’s top
leadership in government and other sectors. Renmin University has 23 schools and is the
main university in China in the humanities and social sciences. It has 23 000 full-time
students, half undergraduates and half graduate students, including 2000 international
students from 97 countries. Renmin occupies the top position among Chinese universities in
the following disciplines: economics, law, sociology, communications, political science, public
administration, and business.
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ICC Executive Board Member Zhang Yanling, in her capacity as Senior Fellow of the
Chongyang institute for Financial Studies (RDCY), Renmin University of China, organized a
conference together with CCOIC and the Bank of China entitled “Go global: international
business anticorruption rules”, that took place on Renmin University’s campus and was
attended by over 100 students, faculty and media. The Conference was hosted by Mr Wang
Wen, Executive Dean of RDCY, and included presentations by Mr Wang, Mr Yulu, Terry Mc
Graw, Mme Zhang, Jean-Guy Carrier, ICC China Secretary General Lin Shunjie, Cheng Jun - General Manager of Global Trade Services Department of the Bank of China; and Wei
Benhua and Lui Zhiquin, both RDCY Senior Fellows. The purpose of this conference was to
launch the first report in the international practice research report series including a
translation of the ICC anticorruption rules and clause in Chinese, as well as an interpretation
of the rules and suggestions to help Chinese companies understand the international anticorruption environment. This is an aspect of ICC’s work that is increasingly appreciated in
China as contributing to the development of corporate social responsibility in the Chinese
private sector. The speech on ICC anti-corruption work by Chairman McGraw received
extensive coverage in Chinese media, including on the most popular CCTV national news
broadcast.
14 May, Kunshan
Meeting with CPC Secretary, Jiangsu Province
ICC Chairman Terry McGraw met with Mr Luo Zhijun, Secretary of the Communist Party of
China Provincial Committee of Jiangsu Province (where the city of Kunshan is located). Mr
Luo explained that the province was situated on the Yangtse River Delta near Shanghai and
had a dynamic economy growing at 8.8%. The province accounted for 10% of China’s GDP,
6% of its population and one quarter of total FDI into China, with over 400 foreign companies
with investments in Jiangsu province, which benefitted from its proximity to Pudong and the
newly-created Shanghai Free Trade Zone. A high proportion of heavy industry and resource
depletion were among the challenges faced by the province. More economic restructuring
and industrial upgrading were required, together with more reform and innovation. Mr Luo
said that ICC offered an opening to the outside world and welcomed its presence at the China
Import Expo, the only import expo in China, co-organized by CCPIT, Mofcom and Jiangsu
Province. The purpose of the Import Expo -- covering 80 000 square metres and bringing
together importers from 10 countries -- was to attract imports into China to benefit the
common people through accessibility to consumer goods
World Business Leaders Conference and ICC Asia-Pacific CEO Forum
This event brought together around 200 participants, through the combination of the World
Business Leaders Conferences held in Kunshan and Beijing over the past two years, together
with the ICC Asia-Pacific CEO Forum -- the first edition of which was held in Delhi last year at
the initiative of its Chairman Raghu Mody and ICC India. The opening keynotes and three
plenary panel sessions that followed provided substantive perspectives and practical insights
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from Chinese and foreign speakers on the role of the Asia-Pacific region in global governance
and in particular its role in global trade and investment, the emerging Asian financial
architecture, and business opportunities in China.
15 May, Kunshan
ICC Asia-Pacific Regional Consultative Group meeting
The ICC Asia Pacific RCG met on the morning of 15 May under the Chairmanship of AisaPacific RCG Coordinator Harsh Pati Singhania. Vice-Chairman of CCPIT/CCOIC Zhang Wei
gave the opening address. Issues discussed included the following: the national committee
quota system, the measures discussed by the national committee task force to improve
national committees’ capacity to generate revenues, an presentation on the Chinese
economy by Professor Li Ping of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, an overview of
the expansion of the ATA Carnet System in Asia by ICC Asia Director Mrs Lee Ju Song, an
update on preparations for the World Chambers Congress in June 2015 in Torino (Italy), and
a report on ICC policy work focussed on trade and G20-related activities.
G20 consultation
A G20 consultation was organized under the auspices of the ICC G20 CEO Advisory Group,
taking advantage of the presence of business representatives from the Asia-Pacific region in
Kunshan and in particular representatives of Chinese business. CCPIT/CCOIC ViceChairman Zhang Wei welcomed the global governance changes that saw the inception of the
G20 at head of State and government level and explained that CCPIT/CCOIC/ICC China had
been active participant in the work of the Business 20 since its creation in 2009.
Mr Zhang made the following substantive suggestions:
1. Uphold multilateralism to protect free trade, and eschew trade protection that is an
obstacle to economic recovery. Provide a healthy international environment for the
recovery by protecting the multilateral trading system.
2. Promote governance reforms in international financial institutions, particularly the IMF to
ensure a better representation of emerging economies.
3. Maintain capital security, keep inflation low, protect foreign reserves, and prevent
economic crises by strengthening financial regulation.
4. Encourage greater economic cooperation to promote sustainable growth, and especially
energy efficiency.
A presentation was given on the role of ICC and its G20 CEO Advisory Group in ensuring a
continuous global business representation in G20 and Business 20 activities, year-over-year.
A status report on the substantive recommendations under consideration by the Australian
B20 taskforces was followed by a facilitated roundtable discussion in which several
suggestions were made, including by Chinese corporate participants. They expressed their
strong support for an open multilateral trade and investment system, the need for Chinese
companies to be treated in the same way as domestic companies in developed economy
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markets, and the need to translate the “macro-economic” policy directions of the G20 into
actionable “micro-economic” measures that can be taken by national and local governments
as well as firms.
15 May, Beijing
ICC leadership meeting with Chinese Premier Li Kequiang and other senior
government officials
The meeting between the Premier of the People’s Republic of China Li Keqiang and the ICC
delegation – headed by ICC Chairman Terry McGraw – was held within the precincts of the
central government in Beijing, a protected zone known as Zhongnanhai, where leaders over
the past 400 years, including since the era of Chairman Mao Tse Tung, have ruled and
received foreign delegations. The traditional building where the meeting took place is adjacent
to the former imperial Forbidden City.
Premier Li received the ICC delegation along with Ministers from the foreign affairs and trade
ministries. Also part of the ICC delegation was the leadership of ICC China and ICC’s
member organizations, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and the
China Chamber of International Commerce.
Premier Li had been well briefed on ICC and the messages he delivered about his
government’s appreciation of ICC’s role as the world business organization were well
informed and praising of ICC’s contribution to international public discourse, including in
business proposals to G20 countries and within the workings of multilateral organizations
such as the WTO. The Premier was especially appreciative of ICC’s long-standing and
effective opposition to protectionism and its constructive approach to progress in multilateral
trade negotiations.
Premier Li had a message conveyed to the ICC delegation expressing gratitude for positions
ICC has taken in the recent past on issues that involved potential trade conflicts between
China and some of its trading partners. The ICC public position on such conflicts, including
the row over the import of Chinese-produced solar panels into various markets, has been to
favour a negotiated settlement over outright bans or the erection of new trade barriers.
Premier Li stressed the importance of the international “voice of business” in helping to
resolve such issues through negotiation.
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