Business Tianjin - March 2009 Dear Reader, On 8 March each year, China proudly joins nations around the world in honoring International Women’s Day. First proposed by a conference of forward-thinking women a century ago (see Last Word for the history), IWD represents one step in an arduous journey towards equality. In this issue, Business Tianjin salutes the industrious businesswomen of our city, the female entrepreneurs, the women who hold up half of the economy. The Ministry of Commerce has targeted these entrepreneurs as key to reviving the economy, and is currently offering incentives for many domestic upstarts, especially in less-urban regions. This month’s feature story presents the Tianjin Women’s Business Incubator, a place for www.businesstianjin.com fostering just such small and not-so-small home-grown businesses. This issue of Business Tianjin also introduces three local heads of HR, women who have embraced diversity in their organizations, and have seen MANAGING DIRECTOR: J. Hernan continued success as a direct result. They share their successes, challenges MANAGING EDITOR: Jamie Michael Kern and insight into workforce and time management. SENIOR EDITOR: Wang Na Legislation in China over the past few decades has opened doors long shut EDITOR: Zhao Jing to aspiring women. This month’s Policy Explanation provides an overview CONTRIBUTORS: Simon Bai, Joei Villarama, of laws developed out of equal rights movements and considerations for Tingting Li, Ilana Wang, Joe Escobedo, David Kwon, Jonathan Wang, Fonnie Zhang the wellbeing both of women and of society as a whole. GRAPHIC DESIGN: Li Kechao Dealing with gender and gender roles has been an increasingly sensitive SALES & ADVERTISING: Zhang Danni, topic in the business world. Even now in the 21st century we tread lightly Ma Zhanhui, Ding Xia on the issue. This has, lamentably, resulted in perpetuating the stifling PHOTOGRAPHER: W. Jian, Mathias Kattanek stereotypes and stigmas of a bygone era. At Business Tianjin, it is our wish DISTRIBUTION: Zhang Guoxin and ongoing aim that through open discussion, understanding and a ADVERTISING: InterMediaChina desire to progress, we can all move beyond preconceived notions to work PUBLISHING DATE: March 2009 on a level plane, eyes and minds fixed upon the mutual goals ahead. Business Tianjin is FREE ONLY for Members TEL: +86 22 2576 0956 For extra copies please contact: [email protected] For editorial enquiries please contact: [email protected] Sincerely, For advertising enquiries please contact: [email protected] For projects and suggestions please contact: [email protected] Jamie Michael Kern Managing Editor – Business Tianjin 04 Mar. 2009 I Business Tianjin Biz Briefs TIANJIN NEWS Rognoy to head Radisson Plaza with capacity of 200,000 bpd, an Hotel Tianjin ethylene unit of 1 million tonnes per China-assembled A320 to take Carlson Hotels Worldwide has ap- year, and others until mid-November, off in May pointed Norwegian national Kjell two months later than planned, due Rognoy as General Manager of to delays in equipment deliveries. Radisson Plaza Hotel Tianjin, which Alibaba News, 9 February is located in the new financial hub of Hedong District and is scheduled Great Wall Motor builds new to open by mid 2009. An industry auto parts plant veteran with almost three decades of Chinese automaker Great Wall Mo- hospitality experience, Rognoy has tor broke ground on a new auto parts worked in Europe, the United States, plant in Tianjin. The plant, located in The first Airbus A320 aircraft assem- Asia and the Middle East for several the west part of TEDA, covers a land bled in China is scheduled to make a international hotel groups. He was area of 1.3 square kilometers. Total in- test flight in May, about a month before previously general manager of The vestment in the plant is 3 billion CNY its delivery. The test flight will be held Regent Shanghai. Carlson Hotels (439 million USD). Major projects at at Tianjin Airport, where a new runway Worldwide has another two Radisson the plant include assembly of 150,000 is being built to facilitate trial flights of hotels under development in China, sets of knock-downs (unassembled all A320 family aircraft, said Feng Zhi- which will open in 2010 and 2011. car kits), production of 150,000 sets jiang, head of the administrative com- 18 February 2009 of auto parts and a logistics center. mittee of the Tianjin Free Trade Zone. The Auto Channel, 10 February Currently five A320 planes are being Tianjin Xinyu coated steel to assembled at the Tianjin Final Assem- break ground Tianjin to invest over 5b USD in bly Line, the first Airbus production Tianjin Xinyu Color Plate is making transportation facility outside Europe. first phase preparations on its 0.8 mil- Xinhua, 1 February lion tonnes per year high-end quality- coated project at Xiqing District, and BioPartnering China launched had planned to start construction in Technology Vision Group LLC an- February. The company started to de- nounced on 8 February its collabora- sign the 1.2 billion CNY plate project tion with strategic partners to enable in 2008. By year-end, the company foreign life science companies to will add 0.15 million tonnes of electro- expand into China. This new initia- galvanized products, 0.15 million tive is called BioPartnering China. tonnes of electrolytic tin products, 0.2 Tianjin plans to invest more than 5.3 TVG will collaborate with the China million tonnes of Al-Zn coated prod- billion USD in 20 key transportation National Center for Biotechnology ucts and 0.3 million tonnes of color projects in 2009. The money will be Development in Beijing, which is a coated products. The plated producer pumped into the construction of local Department of the Ministry of Science is expected to realize 6 billion CNY of harbors, airports, railways, highways and Technology, the Tianjin Munici- production value in 2009, with pre-tax and postal telecommunications in- pal Science and Technology Com- profit over 0.2 billion CNY. frastructure. The city will spare no mission, the European Federation of Steel Guru, 5 February effort to build the B section of the Biotechnology, and BayHelix Group, Beigangchi Container Terminal, the an elite organization of Chinese lifes- Sinopec to reboot Tianjin plant 300,000-tonne Crude Oil Terminal, cience business leaders. BioPartnering Top Asian refiner Sinopec will re- the Shenhua Coal Port Phase II and China will be held on 26 June 2009 in start a 110,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) the Port of Dongjiang, and an in- TEDA. It will form part of the bienni- Tianjin refinery in March. The plant ternational air logistics centre and al BioEconomy conference on 26-28 in Tianjin did not reopen business in airline hub will be established. The June 2009, which is initiated and November after completing regular Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Rail- sponsored by the Ministry of Science repairs because Sinopec was con- way, Tianjin West Station, and the and Technology of China and Tianjin cerned about a domestic market sur- Tianjin-Qinhuangdao are scheduled Municipal Government. plus. Tianjin, however, will postpone to break ground in the first half of Business Wire, 8 February the startup of a new crude oil unit 2009 in succession, and then the city 06 Mar 2009 I Business Tianjin Biz Briefs will be able to greatly enlarge its from 771.8 billion issued in December, ket suggests economic recovery in cargo throughput. according to data released by the Cen- China may be in sight. After plung- - Cargonews Asia, 11 February tral Bank. Loans extended by banks ing around 330 basis points in the were up 21.3% at the end of January second half of last year, medium- and Jiyun River bank reconstruction from a year earlier. Loan growth in long-term non-deliverable IRS have December was 18.8% above the year- climbed near three-month highs in earlier month. Money supply climbed the past few weeks, as traders scale 18.8% at the end of January from a back expectations for the length year earlier, accelerating from the of China's slump and the degree to 17.8% rise at the end of December. which the central bank will have Market Watch, 12 February to ease monetary policy. "The IRS market is now reflecting expectations IRS rise points to economic that economic growth will rebound in recovery the second quarter," said Zhang Lei, Tianjin began reconstruction of A sharp rebound by the offshore analyst at Shenyin & Wanguo Securi- the shores along the Jiyun River in yuan interest rate swaps (IRS) mar- ties, adding that IRS rises in coming Hangu District on 2 February. The work, to be divided into three land- scapes covering 30 waterfront kilom- eters, will be finished this July. Enorth, 2 February FINANCE EU, China sign cooperation agreements Europe and China signed a series of agreements on 30 January worth nearly 80 million USD, during a visit to Brussels by Premier Wen Jiabao. The cooperation aims to combat international challenges, including global warming, and Europe was to push Beijing to join the fight against climate change ahead of critical inter- national talks in Copenhagen, in De- cember. The two sides also discussed the economic and financial crisis, and the European Commission announced Beijing has agreed to work in collabo- ration with Europe on this issue. VOA News, 30 January China loan growth, money supply surge in January New lending by Chinese banks surged in January and growth in the money supply accelerated as banks responded to calls by the government to help the economy. New loans denominated in the Chinese currency amounted to 1.62 trillion CNY (237 billion USD), up Mar. 2009 I Business Tianjin 07 Biz Briefs months would be fastest at the long n about three years.