Dear members of SCCC

When carefully observing the WEF, it became clear that China has arrived and will be a fixture going forward. While the number of American participants still is overwhelmingly high, a steadily increasing contingent of senior Chinese government officials and business people now is present. The discussions on the «Belt and Road» initiative attracted numerous government officials from countries along the «Belt and Road» corridor. This initiative definitely has moved beyond the discussion and planning stage. A significant number of projects has been completed, is in progress or has obtained the necessary permits and financing. Just to give one example: the number of TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) shipped by train in 2016 were in the range of 160'000, by 2020 that number is expected to be one million TEUs.

The board of the SCCC met all day on February 2 and reviewed the strategy and the board composition. Expect some updates at the AGM on June 14. On the same day the «RMB Internationalization Seminar» will take place, where we expect Tencent to share their plan for Switzerland with us – secure your early bird discount now!

The event calendar for 2018 has been designed to create even more value to our members. Make sure you pick the events that are of interest to you. Most of the events will be taking place at the Hotel WIDDER.

I would like to offer a big THANK YOU to BUCHERER for offering drinks during the break at the Chinese New Year Concert at the KKL, Lucerne, on January 26. The concert swept us all off the seats, it was a marvelous demonstration of Chinese culture at its finest.

With that I wish you all the best for the upcoming Year of the EARTH DOG – the year ahead will be full of action, so be prepared for opportunities and stay flexible, and take good care of your health!

Gong Xi Fa Cai 

Best regards,

Felix Sutter