News from the Secretary General.

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Dear members,

Since our last newsletter, our network has expanded to more than 130 members. I would like to extend a warm welcome to our new members:

-  A. Espersen A/S
-  Damixa A/S
-  E. Pihl & Søn
-  Lassen Ricard
-  MT Højgaard
-  Tom Behrens-Sørensen

Annual General Meeting
I wish to thank the many members who participated in our Annual General Meeting on April 28 at the A.P. Møller-Mærsk headquarters in Copenhagen. The growing importance of our network was emphasized by the presence of the new Prime Minister, Mr. Lars Løkke Rasmussen. Due to our members’ presence on the Chinese market the Danish government has increased its focus on China. With close contact to both Chinese and Danish authorities, Danish-Chinese Business Forum enables this development.

Chinese Economy
Although the world is still deeply affected by the ongoing financial crisis, the Chinese market offers more potential than elsewhere in the world. The stimulus package from November 2008 continues to empower the Chinese economy whose state of emergency is likely to end by the third quarter of this year.

These figures are backed up by the first quarter figures of Danish trade with China. Although the import from China has stabilized and only shows a small increase of 0.63 percent, Danish export to China continues its positive patterns. Compared to the export in the first quarter of 2008, Danish export to China went up 11.3 percent in the first quarter of 2009, and this pattern is likely to persist.

As a matter of fact, in the last year, Denmark's exports to China grew more than in other EU countries. At the same time, the Danish bank Danske Bank, basing its opinion on recent figures, has expressed a conviction that Denmark may be the first European country to end the crisis. We therefore encourage our members to increase their efforts on the Chinese market.

The present macroeconomic movements in China meant to stimulate the domestic demand have so far proven successful, and as Chinese middle class slowly sees its purchase power rise, Danish retail export will profit from the positive growth in the consumer goods demand.

Sourcing/Import Working Group
It is a pleasure for me to announce that the current work of our newly established working group is well under way. Due to the group’s success it has been decided to split up the working group into an East section and a West section. Meetings were held in May and focused on currency risk management as well as VAT and tax reforms in China. The next meetings are scheduled to take place in September. Their themes will include corporate social responsibility and identification of suppliers.

Member Meetings
After the summer holidays we are looking forward to welcoming you at our member meeting held at Sydbank in Aabenraa on August 26. As Denmark will be hosting the COP15 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, we will focus this member meeting on the UN conference and the political and economic update on China. The Danish Ambassador to China, Jeppe Tranholm-Mikkelsen, will give a speech at this meeting. The future member meetings will take place on the following dates:

Aug 26 Politic and Economic Update & UN Climate Change Conference
Host: Sydbank, Aabenraa
 
Sep 17 Import and Logistics
Host: Arvid Nilsson A/S, Hvidovre
 
Oct 21 Ålborg Portland Case: Investing in Production Facilities
Host:  Ålborg Portland A/S, Ålborg

Nov 18 Corporate Social Responsibility
Host:  CRECEA A/S, Århus

I look forward to seeing you at these future events and wish all of our members success in China.

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