GC Ticker 16 - AHK Greater China - German Chamber … · 3 | April - May 2007 Development & Cooperation Foreword April - May 2007 Dear Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Members, With this

Aiming High This Spring

In this issue:

5-Star Hotels Bloom This SpringYangtze River Network

News & Events

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GC Ticker April - May 2007

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Development & Cooperation

ForewordA

pril - May 2007

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Members,With this second joint edition of the “GC Ticker” the Chamber teams in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou strive to further embody the all-China approach, not only for all-China issues but also for local content from the regions. With more cooperation between the Chamber chapters, more and broader information can be provided to our Chamber members, which might further strengthen the success of German business in China.

Following the start of the ‘Year of the Pig’, the territory of the German Chamber in Guangzhou was enlarged as it took over the responsibility for Sichuan province and Chongqing municipality. This new arrangement is also in line with the Chinese “Pan-Pearl River Delta” concept, also known as “9+2”, which comprises the provinces of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangxi, Hainan, Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan, in addition to Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions. These prov-inces and regions make up one-fifth of the area, one-third of the population, and one-third of the economic aggregate of China.

In 2006, the economic growth in the Pearl River Delta continued without any setbacks. At the centre, Guangdong province produced EURO260 bn of GDP, equal to one-eighth of the total Chinese GDP, and an increase of 14.1 percent vs. 2005. The main driving forces remain asset investments and exports: 31.2 percent of the total Chinese exports originate in Guangdong. Some of the future opportunities in the PRD include the various infrastructure projects such as the construction of the Guangzhou – Zhuhai railway line which will strengthen Guangzhou’s importance as an economic centre of the PRD and the development of Guangxi’s Beibu Gulf into a new economic growth engine and a gateway to Southwest China.

Guangdong remains a magnet for foreign direct investments. In 2006, US$14.5 bn was invested in Guangdong, 17.4 percent more than in the previous year. Investments in the service sector increased with more than 37 percent above average. Germany’s direct investments are positive, however, they remain far under-represented (rank 14) and as a whole they seem still modest compared to other regions in China.

We hope that with this new joint publication, the presence and opportunities of both the south and west of China are further highlighted and may result in a stronger future cooperation.

Last but not least, we like to draw your attention to the efforts of each chapter team to provide members of the German Chamber in China with an increasing choice of benefit programs.

Please enjoy reading our magazine and we are looking forward to receiving your feedback as well as your contributions for the member section.

Mrs. Renate TietjenDipl.-Wirtschaftssinologin Chief Representative of C. Melchers GmbH & Co. KG, Guangzhou/Chongqing RepresentationVice-Chairwoman of the All China Board of the German Chamber of Commerce in China

German Chamber of Commercein China • Shanghai29/F, POS Plaza, 1600 Century AvenuePudong, Shanghai 200122Tel: +86-21-5081 2266Fax: +86-21-5081 2009E-mail: [email protected]: www.china.ahk.de

German Chamber of Commercein China • Guangzhou2915 Metro Plaza, Tian He North RoadGuangzhou 510075 Tel: +86-20-8755 2353Fax: +86-20-8755 1889Email: [email protected]: www.china.ahk.de

German Chamber of Commercein China • Beijing0811 Landmark Tower 2, 8 North DongsanhuanRoad, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100004 Tel: +86-10-6590 0926Fax: +86-10-6590 6313E-mail: [email protected]: www.china.ahk.de

April - May 2007 | 4 www.china.ahk.de 5 | April - May 2007

Foreword

GCC Committee

Members MixFocus

News and events

Meet the members

Specials

Neighbouring ProvincesSpecial overview

News and events

Chamber News & EventsChamber teams

Recent events

New members

Useful contacts

Coming up

Out & AboutMonthly highlights

Exclusive This MonthHealth

Education

Travel

Sport

Benefit Program 2007 - 2008

Associate Partners

3

4

6

36

42

60

62

70

74

The GC Ticker is the internal bi-monthly news-letter of the German Chamber of Commerce in China.

PublisherGerman Chamber of Commerce in China

Managing EditorMr. Sam Woollard (Shanghai)

Editorial TeamMs. Katrin Loch (Beijing)Mr. Paul Gervais (Guangzhou)

Regular ContributersSigrid Seel, Paul von Wittgenstein, World Link Medical & Dental Centers

DesignImage Check Shanghai

GC Ticker is free of charge. For subscrip-tion or extra copies please email your nearest Chamber office

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For editorial or sponsorship enquiries please contact:

German Chamber of Commerce in China

Beijing OfficeGerman Chamber of Commerce in China • BeijingTel: +86-10-6590 0926 ext. 324Fax: +86-10-6590 6313Email: [email protected]

Guangzhou OfficeGerman Chamber of Commerce in China • GuangzhouTel: +86-20-8755 2353DL: +86-20-8755 8203Fax: +86-20-8755 1889 Email: [email protected]

Shanghai OfficeGerman Chamber of Commerce in China • ShanghaiTel: +86-21-5081 2266, ext. 1637Fax: +86-21-5081 2009Email: [email protected]

© 2007-2008. German Chamber of Commerce in China. No part of this publication may be reproduced with-out the publisher’s prior permission. While every ef-fort had been made to ensure accuracy, the publisher is not responsible for any errors. Views expressed are not necessarily those of GIC/GCC.

Contents A

pril - May 2007

GCC CommitteeA

pril

- M

ay 20

07

Beijing

Shanghai

Guangzhou

Siemens Ltd., ChinaPresident & CEODr. Richard Hausmann**Board Member

Beijing Fortune Draeger Safety Equipment Co., Ltd.General ManagerDr. Roman Jaklitsch*Board Member

Rittal Electrical Equipment (Sha.) Co., Ltd.Managing DirectorMrs. Bettina Schön-Behanzin*Vice Chairman

German Chamber ShanghaiExecutive DirectorMr. Manfred Rothgänger*

Siemens Mobile Communications Ltd.President & CEODr. Fan Zhijian*Treasurer

Dresdner Bank AG Shanghai BranchGeneral ManagerDr. Hans Schniewind*Chairman

German Chamber GuangzhouExecutive DirectorMs. Alexandra Voss*Board Member

C. Melchers GmbH & Co. GuangzhouChief RepresentativeMrs. Renate Tietjen*Chairwoman

Allianz Insurance Company Guangzhou BranchCEOMr. Jörg-Uwe Lerch*Board Member

Lufthansa German Airlines, Southern ChinaGeneral ManagerMrs. Helena Poon*Board Member

ThyssenKrupp China Ltd. President & CEOMr. Alfred Wewers*Chairman

German Chamber BeijingExecutive DirectorMrs. Jutta Ludwig*Board Member

Dresdner Bank AG, Beijing BranchGeneral ManagerMr. Peter SchmidtTreasurer

Allianz AGGeneral RepresentativeDr. Jörg-Michael LutherBoard Member

G+J-CLIP (Beijing) Publishing Consulting Co., Ltd.President & General ManagerMr. Wolfgang KohlBoard Member

Lufthansa German AirlinesChief Representative for ChinaMr. Gregor WendeBoard Member

Bayer (China) Ltd.General Manager/Corporate CommunicationsMr. William ValentinoBoard Member

Lufthansa German AirlinesManaging Director Greater ChinaMr. Arved von zur MühlenBoard Member

Demag Cranes & Components ShanghaiManaging DirectorMr. Thomas DornBoard Member

TRUMPF SiberHegner Ltd.Managing DirectorDr. Eva Schwinghammer Board Member

Taylor Wessing Shanghai Representation OfficePartnerMr. Ralph Vigo Koppitz Board Member

Allianz China Life Insurance Company LimitedCEOMr. Christian MoltBoard Member

Contents

Lead article | P6

Neighbouring provinces | P36

Chamber news & events | P43

Travel | 66**Chairman of the All-China Board *Member of All-China Board

Company news & events | P16

April - May 2007 | 6

The German Chamber of Commerce in ChinaMembers Mix


The German Chamber of Commerce in China Members Mix

Although profitable, only a few international brands including the likes of Crowne Plaza, Shangri-La and Four-Points, had chosen to be present in this very strategic border town. Nonetheless, at the end of last year the Kempinski and the Intercontinental Group settled in the city, and the Sheraton and the Grand Hyatt posted “opening soon” signs. They all aim to benefit from SZ’s alluring exhibition centre, the exciting golf tournaments in the world renowned Mission Hills Golf Club and the growing business opportunities that SZ offers as an important gate-way into China. The symbolic opening of the Shenzhen Bay Cross-over Bridge this July will but increase the influx of visitors.

Forecast of Challenges for the Industry

As new players arrive, the industry faces two major challenges: compe-tition for guests and talent.

Competition will be imminent once the major brands become fully op-erational, yet one must note that they will enter an expanding market. Director of Sales for the China Hotel, Edmund Ko, points out that there has been a constant trend in the past few years where occupancy rates have gone from two peak seasons – which correspond to the Canton Fair - to a more even yearly distribution. He believes this is due to growing business and the maturing of other specialty fairs such as the Guangzhou International Building & Decoration Fair and the China Dental Show. According to Georgette Ng, Director of Sales & Marketing for the Kempinski Hotel, GZ and SZ vary with regards to what attracts visitors. The former city has gained a strong reputation for trade fairs while the latter depends more on local corporate/individual accounts as well as the competitive rates when compared to HK. However, she does underline the positive spill over effect that the biannual Canton fair has on their occupancy.

Be it renovated or brand new, hotels seek to secure market segments via subtle branding differentiation. Sales teams devise strategies to at-tract clients, whether by working with travellers’ affinity for American, Asian and European styles or banking on the reputation acquired by the chains elsewhere in China. Offering venues for the Meeting Incen-tive Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) is a prized high-profit mak-ing segment of the industry. Competing aggressively with Sanya and Macao, GZ and SZ still need substantial leisure and entertainment at-tractions. Nonetheless, Angelina Law, Director of Event Management at the Shangri La Hotel in Pazhou, is quite convinced that their numerous meeting spaces and services catering to business travellers, mixed with the regional weight of GZ, will attract conventions.

Drawing customers is not the only hurdle. Attracting/retaining talent is also a major challenge in the region. With a current turnover rate of 30 percent, the hospitality industry in Guangzhou faces a serious shortage of trained staff. Citing low salaries and bad working environment as reasons for departing, hotels are constantly searching for manpower, notably in the management positions. According to Agatha Khan, HR Director for the China Hotel, the situation is not as bad as in Shanghai but salary increases will still accelerate and the trend to hire outside the province will continue. In response, most players implement “people oriented” policies that offer competitive salaries & benefits, and sell the job as a long-term career within the hotel.

Considering the pivotal role hotels play in local business, it will be interesting to see how these trends develop as Guangzhou prepares for the Summer of 2010.

Spec

ial Fo

cus Special Focu

s

This spring, familiar sights of cranes gyrating over cocooning scaffold-ings give way to shiny crystal towers and city oases. The opening of major international hotel brands in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) marks the arrival of a new era. Being one of the first regions to open up in the 80’s, the PRD quickly became a leading economic pole. Although business grew, few big hotel chains set up shop in comparison to other regions. Realising the atrophy between the beefy economy and under-developed hospitality industry (and the lucrative opportunities that exist in evening it out), the region is currently reaping the fruit of the increased confidence and interest it has generated.

Improved connections, booming businesses and attractive exhibi-tions and fairs are some of the factors that have increased the demand for accommodation and services that cater to business travellers from all over the world. Although many challenges exist, all major international players are flocking to the area. This spring five major ‘5-star’ hotels will open in Guangzhou (GZ) and Shenzhen (SZ) and the rational behind these goes much deeper than: “If we build it, they will come.” Their arrival denotes the right mix of policies and business flair that the PRD is currently generating.

Planes, Trains & Automobiles

One of the major factors behind the fertile starry hotel landscape comes from both the provincial and municipal governments’ push to make the region one of the most important ones in China. The Southern Metropolis Daily estimated that the province’s investment in infrastructure for 2006 was RMB46.2 bn. In a way, the opening of hotels pre-empts the expected traffic from improved airports, rails and highways.

Spearheading the administrations resolve is the construction of the Bai Yun airport in GZ. The new airport has been designed to handle double its current yearly capacity of 12 million passengers (45 to 50 aircraft at peak hour). A major player in turning GZ into a major global business and logistic destination is China Southern Airlines. Last February, the airline announced a major international expansion with 10 new inter-national routes. This takes the figure of international flights bound to Guangzhou from 18 to 26. In SZ, the expansion of the city’s airport follows the trend. Well underway, Phase II of the project will make it the fourth largest in China once completed. Tallying Hong Kong (HK) airport, this will concentrate three major international airports into a 300km radius.

Land connections through GZ-SZ-HK are also improving. Infrastructure work on the rails between GZ and SZ has also gone through renovation to speed up links and the projected 89 km / 8 lane expressway between GZ and SZ will cut travelling time between the cities by one-third. On a larger scale, GZ’s new RMB13 bn railway station will quadruple the size of the current station with 15 platforms and 28 tracks. When it opens in 2008, it is expected to handle 78 million passengers annually.

Ready for Big Business: 5 Star Hotels Bloom this Spring in the PRDBy German Chamber of Commerce in China • Guangzhou

Guangzhou’s 2007 Spring Collection

In a recent communiqué, the Guangzhou Municipal Tourism Adminis-tration stated that in order to meet the demand, GZ needs to add forty 4-star and 5-star hotels by next year. In early 2006, GZ officially had five 5-star hotels while Beijing and Shanghai had eighteen and sev-enteen respectively. Huge investments have been made in the top-tier hotel market en guise of the steady increase in demand, the expanded Canton Fair - which for the 101 edition will also greet importers - and of course the 2010 Asian Games.

At one end, the existing luxury hotels have stepped up their efforts to keep a share of the market and remain competitive. The Ramada, the Bai Yun Hotel and the Garden Hotel underwent significant reno-vation work in 2006, while the China Hotel – a Marriott Hotel, has scheduled it for this year. In addition, the Asia International Hotel and Phoenix City Hotel were upgraded to 5-star. On the other hand, many international brands have surged into the market. The first 5-star hotel in Guangzhou for 15 years is the Bai Yun Airport Novotel. Mr. Udo Doring, the hotel’s General Manager, indicated that this col-laboration between the Airport Authority and the Accord Group aimed to accommodate the projected volume of passengers. The second big name hotel to open is the Shangri-La near the Panzhou exhibition site. Fully-owned by the group, it caters to business travellers and MICE’s. Starwood also joins the scene this summer, plus the Westin Guangzhou and projects such as the Sheraton Guangzhou Hotel (2009), W Guangzhou Residences (2010) and Sheraton Huadu Resort (2009). Last but not least, the very opulent Ritz Carlton plans to open in the last quarter of 2007 in the new business and entertainment quarter.

Shenzhen Hotels Blossom After An Impressive Performance

Last October, Deloitte’s Hotel Benchmark TM Survey - the largest inde-pendent source of hotel performance data – ranked SZ third in China after HK and Beijing for revenue per available room (revPAR). The study also noted that hotel performance across China has seen strong growth during the first eight months of 2006 with an 8.7 percent increase and an average room rate growth of US$10 from 2005 figures.

Dongguan Ranks 3rd in Number of 5-Star Hotels Nationwide

A recent article by the China Economic Review indicated that Dongguan - a seemingly middle-of-nowhere city - ranks third on a nationwide scale, after Beijing and Shanghai, in the number of 5-star hotels. The city houses fifteen 5-star hotels, account-ing for 5 percent of China’s total and nearly twice that of GZ.

Located between GZ and SZ, the city greets more than 8 mil-lion business people who visit every year. Visitors to regional exhibitions, the estimated 15,000 foreign-invested enterprises and 300,000 private enterprises account for this number. The average occupancy rate of four- and five-star hotels is high above the provincial one and settles at 70 percent. Another interesting figure is that over 90 percent of Dongguan’s hotels are privately owned by local millionaires.

Nowadays, Dongguan’s hotels benefit from the transportation network and 25 percent lower hotel rates to attract guests from GZ and SZ. Proximity to the 24-hour border crossing at the Lok Ma Chau/Huanggang checkpoint between Hong Kong and Shenzhen also grants Dongguan a constant pool of Hong Kong business travellers. Visitors to the region who attend meetings in Hong Kong tend to see Dongguan as a base to stay after getting off the plane in Guangzhou’s new airport. After meet-ing local clients or suppliers and a good night’s rest, they can conveniently reach Hong Kong.

April - May 2007 | 8




most important German trade fairs abroad, which runs today under the motto “Messen made in Germany”. The term “Trade Fair Centre Germany” is also not an invention of recent years. It has already ex-isted since the end of the 1970’s, as a seal of quality for a system of sector-specific trade fairs which in spite of all the competition shows relatively few overlaps.

The coordination of the foreign trade fair programme of the Federal Government in close cooperation with the Federal Ministry of Eco-nomics also has a long tradition. AUMA has been responsible for this task since 1949. This programme, with which small and medium-sized companies in particular are provided with support for their foreign fair participations, is a central element in German export promotion.

Further key responsibilities of AUMA are: the marketing for trade fairs; the information of exhibitors and visitors from all over the world; research, as well as support for training in the industry; and last but not least, the representation of the common interests of the entire trade fair industry in relation to politics.

Since 1991, AUMA has also maintained an office in Brussels, in order to be able to observe developments in the EU Commission which are relevant to trade fairs. In this connection, AUMA has been cooperat-ing for several years now with the office of the DIHK – Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce - at the European Union. This also documents the long-standing close cooperation be-tween AUMA and the DIHK, the Chambers of Industry and Commerce in Germany, and the German Chambers of Commerce Abroad all over the world, who in particular are intensively supporting the marketing efforts of AUMA for German trade fairs.

With the advancing diversifica-tion of the economy and the integration of Germany into the world economy, the number and international significance of German trade fairs also increased. For example, the number of annual international trade fairs has tripled since 1970 to its present total of around 150. Over 50 percent of the exhibitors and around 30 percent of the trade visitors come from abroad. Therefore, Germany is generally regarded as the leading trade fair coun-try worldwide.

100 Years Association of the German Trade Fair Industry

AUMA – The Association of the German Trade Fair Industry – is cel-ebrating its 100th anniversary as the umbrella association of the trade fair business this year. On 1 January 1907, the Permanent Exhibition Committee for German Industry was established in Berlin. As the predecessor of today’s AUMA, it initially represented the interests of the exhibiting industry; later of all exhibitors and visitors. In 1927, the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce be-came a member of AUMA.

The reason for the foundation was an excess of exhibitions and an extremely varied quality of events in Germany. A central task of the association, therefore, was to create transparency, to exert its influ-ence on organisers and to limit the promotion of trade fairs and exhibitions by a number of different public bodies. And, it was at the insistence of AUMA that in 1927 a Commissioner’s Department for exhibitions and trade fairs was founded, which was attached to the Ministry of Economics. This office provided a minimum of coordina-tion for the trade fair activities of state institutions.

Following the restructuring of the trade fair industry in the Federal Republic of Germany after the Second World War, the competition intensified very rapidly. AUMA was re-founded in 1949 with its former structure as the representative of the interests of the participating industry and it made intensive efforts to persuade the competitors to exercise moderation. Simultaneously, under the direction of AUMA, exhibitor advisory boards were founded for the larger trade fairs at the beginning of the 1950’s. The increasing cooperation between trade fair organisers and exhibitors was the reason that as of 1956 the trade fair companies and their associations were also admitted into AUMA. As a result, AUMA has been the joint representative of the interests of exhibitors, organisers and visitors for 50 years now. In the meantime, the associations of the trade fair service providers have also become members of AUMA. Therefore, today, all the essen-tial groups which play a part in the organisation and conducting of a trade fair are grouped together within AUMA.

One of the core responsibilities of AUMA today is the support of the international marketing of the trade fair companies. As early as the 1950’s, AUMA organised a cooperative advertising campaign for the

Germany that was divided into two separate states after 1949, it was compelled to completely reorganise itself.

The Leipziger Messe attempted, as the central trade fair venue of the German Democratic Republic, to regain its former leading inter-national position. Leipzig was the only trade fair centre in the GDR and played an important role right up to the 1980’s in the east-west trade.

In the Federal Republic of Germany, the international trade fairs in Frankfurt and Cologne resumed their activities in 1947 and 1948 respectively. They were joined by the Hanover Messe, which was founded in 1948. Several trade fairs and exhibitions were relocated from Berlin and Leipzig to Frankfurt, such as the IAA (automobiles) and the Book Fair.

The 50’s and 60’s were marked by a geographical and thematic de-centralisation. It was triggered, above all, by the fact that numerous trade fair themes, which had previously been part of the Leipziger Messe, were now established in West Germany. In addition, immedi-ately after the Second World War, the occupying powers at that time, and of course industry itself, had a great interest in German industry regaining its previous export strength as quickly as possible. For this purpose, trade fairs with international participation held in Germany were an outstanding instrument. At a very early stage, the German organisers embarked upon worldwide acquisition of exhibitors and visitors, much earlier than their competitors, for example, in France and Italy.

Major Contributions by the German Chambers of Commerce Abroad

During this period, the German Chambers of Commerce Abroad made a major contribution to the internationalisation of the trade fair venue of Germany as the first foreign representatives of the German trade fairs in numerous countries.

It became an important feature of the German trade fair industry that trade fair companies organised trade fairs and exhibitions with a special focus and international participation on their own premises, which were supported by the respective trade associations as concep-tual patrons or co-organisers.

Today all the larger trade fair companies are still owned by the cities and the federal states, however, they operate as private-law compa-nies in intense competition with each other. Around 75 percent of the international trade fairs in Germany are conducted by organisers which are in public ownership. No state influence is exerted on the German trade fair industry. The conduct of trade fairs and exhibitions is left to the discretion of the trade fair organisers.

Trade Fair History

Today, trade fairs – as temporary market places – are an essential component of the economy all over the world and are important instruments for the promo-tion of exports and imports. In various forms they have already existed for about 1,000 years. German industry has had a significant influence on the development of trade fairs, particularly within the last 100 years. Today, Germany is regarded as the country with the largest number of internationally important trade fairs.

In Germany, at the junctions of the major trade routes, trade fairs were already es-tablished as early as the 12th century, in

cities like Leipzig, Frankfurt am Main and Cologne. However, it was only in the mid-19th century that the type of sample trade fair we are familiar with today was developed – initially in Leipzig, but later also in other places. No longer were the goods brought to the fair sold di-rectly on the stand, but rather samples were shown, based on which orders were placed.

After the foundation of the German Reich in 1871, Leipzig was ini-tially the only trade fair city of international significance which was recognised beyond Germany’s borders. Apart from that, from the mid-dle of the 19th century right up to the advent of the First World War, World Expositions were regarded as the outstanding events. In con-trast to today, they had a strong business function and were often the platform for the first presentation of important technical inven-tions.

In addition, starting at the end of the 19th century, numerous ex-hibitions with national significance were organised, which usually focused on a specific theme, such as electricity, health or mechani-cal engineering. They addressed themselves primarily to the general public, yet were often only held at irregular intervals. Some of them, however, established themselves as regular events, for example, the Automobile Exhibition founded in 1897 or the Aeronautics Exhibition (1909); both of them in Berlin.

Following the First World War, the Leipziger Messe continued to play its outstanding role for the German trade fair industry. Alongside it, the Frankfurt trade fairs and, in the course of the 1920’s, the Cologne trade fairs, also gained importance.

The end of the Second World War also represented a break in the development of the German trade fair and exhibition industry. In a

Focu

s Focus

AUMA – 100 Years in the Service of the Trade Fair IndustryDelivered by AUMA; edited by the German Chamber of Commerce in China • Beijing

Privy Councillor of Commerce Ludwig Max Goldberger – the first President of AUMA

Automobile exhibition in Frankfurt, 1955

April - May 2007 | 10




wide plans to cut greenhouse gases by as much as 30 percent. Despite attempts to water down proposals - particularly by Finland and Poland - the EU Environment Council backed a unilateral target to cut carbon emissions by 2020 to 20 percent, and supported a 30 percent reduction target if other nations make efforts to con-trol global warming. In order to stay below an internationally ac-cepted 2°C global warming threshold - and an objective stated by European governments - an overall greenhouse gas reduction of approximately 30 percent by 2020, and 80 percent by mid-century compared to 1990 levels, is needed in all developed nations.

“Today’s decision confirms the EU preparedness to fulfill its interna-tional commitments,” said Stephan Singer, Head of WWF’s European Climate and Energy Unit.

“However, to build a house with solid foundations the EU should immediately put in place concrete measures to achieve such targets and have a strategy to both mobilise resources and engage other countries for the period after 2012.”

Global Warming is Exactly That - Global.

Climate change affects our homes, our lives, our world. It is the re-sult of billions of human decisions every day: from far-reaching acts of government policy to an individual householder wasting electric-ity by leaving a TV on standby mode. We must keep the rise in the Earth’s average temperature below 2°C. And, we must act now to make it happen.

What can be done?As a corporation“Climate Change, impacts and opportunities for businesses” - The first WWF corporate seminar focusing on Climate Change will be hosted in Shanghai in mid-April. To attend the event or to receive details on the programme contact Ms. Carine Seror (see below).

As an individualWWF has launched a nation-wide awareness campaign “20 ways for 20%” to encourage energy consumption reduction. Twenty energy saving tips are available for individuals to help make a difference. For the complete list of tips and more infor-mation visit: www.20to20.org or contact WWF below.

To know more about WWF Climate Change programmes visit www.panda.org or contact WWF.

Contact:Ms. Carine SerorTel: 021-6132 3871Email: [email protected]

How Do You Grow Crops in the Snow?The Urgency to Stop Climate Change World Wide Fund For Nature. All Rights Reserved.

Focu

s Focus

What’s Happening to Our World?

• March 2006 showed the smallest Arctic sea ice cover ever measured. In the space of one year an area about the size of Italy was lost.

• In 2003, Scotland’s hottest year on record, hundreds of adult salmon died in Scotland’s famous fisheries, as rivers became too warm for salmon to be able to extract enough oxygen from the water.

• Cities like Athens, Chicago, Milan, New Delhi and Paris have sweltered un-der heatwaves. The 2003 summer heatwave in Europe killed 14,800 people in France alone.

• Rising sea levels threaten entire nations on low-lying islands in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

• Human-induced global warming was a key factor in the severity of the 2002 drought in Australia, generally regarded as the worst ever.

Is this all perfectly normal? Or is the increased intensity of these ex-traordinary events something we should be worried about?

The impacts of a warming world are scary enough when considered one by one. The view becomes apocalyptic when one looks at them together.

The year 2005 was the warmest on record, jointly with 1998, which was also the first year in which more people fled disaster than war, according to the international Red Cross. Drought, floods, deforestation and poor agricultural prospects drove some 25 million environmental refugees off the land into already crowded shanty towns. That year, they represented 58 percent of the total refugee popula-tion worldwide.

The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), the UN body on climate science, had its first ‘Working Group’ meeting in Paris from 29 January to 1 February. The Third Assessment Report of the IPCC, to which over 2,000 scientists contributed, predicts global temperature rises by the end of the century of between 1.4°C and 5.8°C.

Today many governments and scientists agree that the world needs to keep below an average global temperature rise of 2°C (3.4°F) above pre-industrial times (circa 1800) in order to prevent the worst impact of global warming. This takes into account that the world has already warmed by 0.7°C since pre-industrial times. The margin for ma-noeuvre becomes tighter.

We simply cannot continue pumping CO2 into the atmosphere without curbs and controls.

The changes we are witnessing and those that are pre-dicted are largely due to human behaviour: we are burning fossil fuels and heating up the planet at the same time. We blow exponential amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere every year – 29 billion tonnes of it (2004) and rising – and this warms the globe.

Since the Industrial Revolution, humans have been burn-ing fossil fuels on a massive scale. We use this energy, almost without care for the consequences, to run vehicles,

heat homes, conduct business, and power factories. Deforestation also releases CO2 stored in trees and in the soil.

The increase of CO2 in the atmosphere thickens the ‘greenhouse blanket’ with the result that too much heat is trapped into the earth’s atmosphere. This causes global warming: global tempera-tures rise and cause climate change.

The difficult question is at what level CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere will have to peak – or be stabilized - to prevent 2°C being exceeded?

If CO2 concentrations were to stay below 400ppm (parts per mil-lion), staying below 2°C would be likely. However, given current en-ergy and power infrastructures, it is very unlikely that we can keep concentrations that low. Current concentrations of CO2 equivalents are at over 380ppm, upsetting a delicate balance.

A level of 550ppm is very unlikely to keep us below 2°C and could even mean overshooting 4°C. At 475ppm the prospect of staying below 2°C is still rather slim. Yet, if 475ppm was the peak and a rapid decrease followed, by the year 2100, we would at least have options to stabilise at a temperature of 2°C higher than pre-industrial times.Therefore, even with the best-case scenario for the increase in CO2 emissions, it is predicted that the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere by 2100 will reach double the level of before the Industrial Revolution.

The worst-case scenario brings this doubling forward to 2045 – less than 40 years from now!

Grounds for Improvement

On 29 February 2007, as part of a European energy policy to com-bat climate change, EU environment ministers agreed on continent-

Impacts of a 2oC temperature increase versus 3oC

April - May 2007 | 12




with the best of intentions – still spend too much time with low per-formers. Like the naughty child who misbehaves to get attention, low performers revel in their manager’s time without responding in kind with performance improvements.

Before investing large amounts of time with low performers, ask yourself. Is this person a right fit for the job? Are they able to react positively to performance improvements?

Focus more attention with middle performers as the greatest poten-tial for performance gains will most likely come from them.

Is it Measurable?

Training effectiveness is notoriously hard to measure. A wise man once said that there is a risk that after you train your team they might leave. But a worse risk is that you do not train them and they stay. How can you evaluate the performance of a coach?

Jumping back to the sports industry who invented coaching, you can get some clues. Sports coaches measure and record every vital piece of information about an athlete. Using these statistics, a coach can work with the star to evaluate performance and set new benchmarks for success.

As a manager-coach, you need a few core measurement tools. Keep it simple. If you are coaching a sales person, you could use sales activity, proposals written, or effectiveness of sales calls. Have some agreed upon metrics with your ‘coachee’ to evaluate the outcomes. What doesn’t get measured gets left undone.

We all feel the pressure of living and working in such a dynamic country. Often we expect immediate success and results. So how can we start to become a manager-coach?

How to Coach “Listen” ?

Daniel Goldman, an expert on emotional intelligence says that the key to improving relationships is better listening. He says, “Poor lis-tening is the common cold of social intelligence.”

Technology is helping us to become terrible listeners. We are con-stantly multi-tasking with our Blackberry or mobile phone. We hold telephone conversations while in front of our computer. We send text messages while in meetings. All this adds up to us only paying half-attention to who we are “speaking” with.

Spend time with your team while giving them 100 percent of your attention. This small investment in your attention will pay big divi-dends in your understanding of your team and also how they perceive you. Most people leave a manager, not a company. A listening and considerate manager is an asset for people retention. Take a small step to becoming a manager-coach today.

Warwick John Fahy is a people development coach, specialising

in helping people make positive changes in their business per-

formance. He is currently the Chairman for Toastmasters Interna-

tional in China and a Certified Professional Facilitator. He can be

contacted at: [email protected]

Focu

s Focus

It’s the new in-thing to be. Companies are now asking their manag-ers to become coaches. But why has coaching become so hot? One short answer is business success. As companies expand rapidly in China, their headcount rises. At the same time, strong pressure for cost reductions come from senior leadership, who justified moving production to China on its lower cost base. One outcome is a tighter training and development budget.

Coaching is an effective learning format. Studies have shown that you’ll absorb maybe 15 percent of a seminar at best, but if you com-bine that with coaching, it moves up to 89 or 90 percent retention because you’re going to absorb what is specifically relevant to you. One-to-one coaching is specific, personal and gives immediate feed-back. All key components for quick learning. A recent survey found that 66 percent of managers found that coaching had a great impact on their career success. So how is coaching adapting to China corpo-rate life?

Are You Micro-Managing?Does this sound familiar? A manager complains of not having enough time to complete his ever increasing workload. Although he has the

Coach Your Way to SuccessHow Coaching Can Lift Your Bottom Line and Keep Your Team HappierBy Warwick John Fahy

resources to handle these projects, a further investigation reveals all. The manager is micro-managing. Common in China, a manager will keep his team on a short leash. All decision making is made by the manager, frequent reports are made to him by his team, and problems are left unsolved unless the manager gives the direction. Why?

Partially, it is culture related. Some Chinese managers are reluctant to give control to their team fearing being outshone by up and coming individuals. Confucian cultures tend to place more emphasis on re-spect to superiors than on respecting junior team members’ feelings.

Practically, the manager could be quicker at decision making and problem solving and can get the job done quicker by giving direct orders. Or your manager could be a control freak who doesn’t know how to delegate.

The result is a market place where a frequent complaint by western managers is that employees do not take responsibility or initiative to solve their own problems. Many employees are stuck in a “you tell me what to do” work mentality.

How Can Coaching Help?

A manager-coach who includes his team in the company vision and direction is helping them to understand that they have a role to play in the company’s success. This is a significant step. Most employees work for their managers rather than their companies. By shifting the focus to the company’s success, this helps the employee understand the importance of their own individual contribution. It is also a sig-nal that the manger-coach trusts and believes in them to get the job done.

The manager-coach develops his team, rather than doing their job for them. A coaching framework involves first defining some future desired state. Then, identifying obstacles that are blocking this path. Finally, developing an action plan to resolve or avoid the obstacles.

By helping her team start to take responsibility for creating their own future, the manager-coach is freeing up her time for more strate-gic and value-added activities. Also, she is helping her team become more motivated and results oriented.

A key to success here is to consistently find the time to coach your team. Day to day work pressures mean many managers find reasons not to develop their team. The manager-coach will always set aside a block of time dedicated to coaching and supporting her team every one or two weeks.

Coaching Trap; Low Performers

So after the manager decides to become a manager-coach she faces some obstacles of her own. Time vampires. A manager-coach can –

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