A new source of Innovation has emerged in southwest China

On Thursday 13th, I attended at the SSBICom (Sino-Swiss Business Incubation Competition) in Chongqing. Chongqing is famous for its Three Gorges dam, spicy hot pot, and for being the City of Fog. Maybe soon, it will be well-known for its Swiss companies.

The SSBIcom gathered startups from the Zurich Area and gave the opportunity to the startups to present their company in 15 minutes, followed by 10 minutes Q&A. vispectiv AG won the first prize. The business target is focused on long Range Sensor Systems to survey and detect different kinds of environmental hazards. The major commercial product is based on the optical automated smoke detection system „Forest Ranger” which can be implemented into sophisticated computerized fire management systems and procedures.

The second prizes have been attributed to eBlock an Australian startup that produces prefabricated concrete panels, and holo|one. Holo-one is a Swiss IT start-up and developer of the 'sphere', an augmented reality platform for companies. Their goal is to revolutionize industries and redefine workflows. This platform brings company data and expert knowledge into Augmented Reality.

The other startups won the third prizes. Clipthis provides a simple augmented reality solution that allows you to view movie clips and animations with AR. The clips are linked to ClipThis objects, such as business cards, flyers, brochures, wallpapers etc. Through the application, users can discover interesting, fun and educational digital content while holding the video in their hands. IoTech.swiss is developing embedded AI and IoT products and solutions for the aviation/drone industry, such as Colibri, a plug and play device that aims at reducing light aircraft accidents. Kyon biotech develops a treatment for arginine-dependent cancers by systemic, deep, sustained and acute arginine depletion. Papafut offers quantum programming courses tailor-made for IT professionals.

On Friday 14th happened the Opening Ceremony of SinoSwiss Technopark. It started with an introduction speech by Mr. Liu Qi, CEO of SinoSwiss Technopark and has been followed by the award ceremony of 2018 SSBICom hosted by Markus Assfalg, Director, Office for Economy and labour, Canton Zurich; Felix Sutter, Chairman, Swiss-Chinese Chamber of Commerce; Rene Forster, Chairman, Swiss Chamber of Commerce China. It was quickly followed by speeches delivered by Mr. Paul Sives, President of EUCCC Southwest Chapter; Frank Eggmann, Consul-General of Swiss Consulate in Chengdu; Thomas Wagner, Honorary President of the Swiss-China Association and former mayor of Zurich. After the projects signing ceremony, I had the opportunity to present the activities of swissnex China in a keynote speech. Then, a tour of SinoSwiss Technopark was organized.

This Technopark is to attract Swiss SMEs from a variety of industry sectors which, with the help of a Chinese partner, would like to find their way to the Southwest of China. The park offers a total of 480’000 square meters of usable space. Besides Office, Trade, R&D and Manufacturing facilities, the park will also consist of a hotel and a great variety of restaurants, coffee shops, and bars. It is located in the New North Zone of Chongqing, which is known as the core area of economic growth and the best area to live and work in Chongqing.

I would like to thank Dominik Widmer for the organization of this event, everything ran smoothly and was perfectly coordinated.

swissnex China 2018 Year-End Events & Insights

by Quentin Gigon, Junior Project Manager - Innovation and Entrepreneurship

While the year is coming to the end, the technology community in Shanghai is still going strong, and as such swissnex China had the pleasure of being invited to a few conferences and events about various tech related topics. Read more below.

Plug and Play China 2018 Winter Summit

Based in Silicon Valley, Plug and Play is one of the largest startup accelerators in the world. It has helped grow companies such as PayPal, Google, DropBox, SoundHound etc. In China, Plug and Play has invested in more than 200 startups and accelerated over 500 startups.

Fintech Selection Day

The Fintech Selection Day, which saw 20 Fintech startups pitching from fields such as big data analysis, flash payments, and meteorological risk analysis, as well as the inauguration of Plug and Play's new Blockchain Innovation Lab.

Supply Chain | Brand & Retail Focus Day

Brand & Retail / Supply Chain Tech Focus Day, with 12 startups pitching and demonstrating innovative new retail concepts on the one hand, as well as disruptive unmanned vehicle services on the other. Leon Zhao, one of the panelists at our Homes of Drones event a few weeks ago, was among those pitching with his startup Antwork.

Fea Consulting / The Blockchainer

FEA-Consulting, a subsidiary company of The Blockchainer, has been holding in-depth and high-end summits in fintech, consumer finance, commercial banking, internet insurance, wealth management, AI, blockchain and digital assets areas for many years. It has so far served more than 5,000 outstanding global companies and 30,000 industry leaders.

Finners City 2018

The Finners City 2018 Digital Finance summit brought together international fintech associations, governments, old & new financial institutions, tech providers, as well as investors to discuss and explore the future of digital finance.

The Summit provided interesting insights into the future of fintech: indeed, there seemed to be a consensus among the fintech associations of Zhejiang, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, and Hong Kong, that the next "battleground" of fintech will be in blockchain and data protection.

Chain Plus

The Blockchainer's conference "Chain Plus +" focusing on the Iterative Development and Regulatory Trends in Blockchain. The event offered interesting insights, particularly in the applications of blockchain technology in various fields including crowdfunding and gaming. The crypto winter was a notably recurring theme in many presentations. Once again, there were some familiar faces at the conference, including Olga Feldmeier of Smart Valor, who will be a speaker at swissnex China’s Blockchain event in Zurich on December 11.

IPIEC 2018 Global, Swiss Chapter

by Bodong Shi, Sino-Swiss Center Guangzhou

IPIEC GLOBAL 2018, guided by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information technology, is an entrepreneurial and innovation contest originated in China, aiming to bridge splendid ideas and innovation from overseas to the promising China market. The competition offers selected startups a business development week in China, including meetings with Chinese companies, industry clusters and investors in multiple cities across China.

On October 26th 2018, WTOIP in collaboration with Venturelab hosted the Swiss final of the IPIEC GLOBAL 2018, where 10 startups were pitching for a chance to win up USD 100,000 and a seat for a business roadshow in China. Insightness, Amphasys AG, MORPHEAN and BIOWATCH came out on top, selected as the top 30 IPIEC GLOBAL 2018 global champions, and compete with the world's best players for the $100,000 championship prize; deeply participate in the Chinese roadshow tour, and face-to-face exchanges with investors and potential cooperation agencies across China.

Insightness was selected as TOP 10 advances into Final ceremony of the IPIEC GLOBAL 2018 in Guangzhou on December 13th. MORPHEAN signed cooperation agreement with Chinese partner in Final ceremony.

Representative of Amphasys and Insightness in IPICE 2018 Global Final

Jordi Montserrat, Co-founder and managing partner of Venturelab, together with Joanna Sapulak, representative of WTOIP hosted the Swiss Chapter

Swiss Hi-Tech companies’ interaction with audiences

Intro of the 4 companies

- Amphasys focuses on the market development of pollen quality analysis and stands for an innovative and patented new "lab-on-chip"-technology to analyze single cells:  Microfluidic impedance flow cytometry. It allows analysis of almost any kind of single cells from human, animal and plant sources as well as bacteria, yeast and algae. Taking into account that some high quality seeds are more expensive than gold (in weight), the reliable determination of pollen quality obviously becomes a key success factor in the seed production process. The most distinctive measure is viability (cell activity), in addition to count, concentration, size, and cell differentiation.

Amphasys' presentation and Q&A in the IPICE 2018 Global Semifinal

- BIOWATCH delicates to Wearable safety certification devices which can be used in payment, auto, access control and other areas. Wearable devices coupled with adequate biometric authentication have the power to avoid the cumbersome nature of authentication from daily lives. The products integrate finger vein, NFC and Bluetooth technologies to enable customers to have a better security authentication experience, ensuring user security and privacy. 

BiowarchID' presentation and Q&A in the IPICE 2018 Global Semifinal

- Insightness develops a highly efficient vision sensor technology which is inspired by people's eyes and builds spatial AI solutions (Vision Chip & Software) that allow devices to understand the structure of their environment, how things move and where they are located. The system uses self-designed chips and its tracking speed is 100m/ms which is 100 time faster than others. While this was already successfully deployed in drones, the current focus of Insightness is AR, VR and MR.

Insightness' presentation and Q&A in the IPICE 2018 Global Final

- Morphean, specializes in securing the connection of sensors and devices simply, and automatic response from collected data. It has the leading position in the fields of video, audio, big data analysis, artificial intelligence, etc., and uses AI to continuously improve the algorithm for monitoring and forecasting, and improve the platform function to bring business value to customers. There are two main application fields which have been greatly recognized by many customers in Europe:

1. Security & Guarding: To address issues such as access control, remote monitoring, intrusion detection, and perimeter detection;

2. Retail: To solve the problems of biometric identification, passenger flow statistics, consumer behavior analysis, face payment, KPI assessment.

MORPHEAN signed cooperation agreement with Chinese partner in Final ceremony of the IPIEC GLOBAL 2018.

Morphean's presentation and Q&A in the IPICE 2018 Global Semifinal

Morphean reached cooperation intention with Chinese Company

Celebration of swissnex China’s 2018!

by Sacha Pantillon, Assistant Project Manager

On December 4, swissnex China celebrated the end of 2018. The party was held to thank all our partners and friends. It took place in our office in Shanghai and the guests arrived starting from 6pm.

Registration table.

First, we had a welcoming speech by Dr. Felix Moesner (Science Consul & CEO of swissnex China) during which he also presented the whole swissnex China team.

Welcome words by Dr. Felix Moesner and the swissnex China team.

After that, Rahel Gruber (Operations Manager & Co-Deputy CEO of swissnex China) presented all the main events we organized or were part of in 2018, like the 10th anniversary of swissnex China, the Future of Money Series, CES Asia, the Swiss Innovation Week at the Embassy of Switzerland, the Venture Leaders China etc.

Speech by Rahel Gruber.

We also had a performance of Ban Lei (stage name ‘BANBANBANBAN’), a Chinese computer sound designer. Afterwards, all the guests enjoyed the buffet dinner with typical Swiss meals provided by Geneva Catering.

Performance by Ban Lei (stage name ‘BANBANBANBAN’).

Finally, we randomly select winners for a lucky draw. The winners received two air quality measuring devices, kindly provided by IQ Air, two Caran d’Ache pens, two Victorinox kits, Geneva Catering vouchers and also several other, smaller prices.

Lucky draw tickets.

The winners of the lucky draw.

A big thank you to everyone for this magnificent year and we hope that 2019 will be even more successful!

Gathering of Woman Entrepreneurs Working in Innovation

By Priska Furrer, Junior Project Manager

From November 21 to 22, the 2018 International Summit of Women Entrepreneurs took place in Guangzhou with a representative of swissnex China being invited as part of the Swiss delegation. Titled with ‘Innovation and Growth: Women Empowerment to Win the Future’, the summit had strong speakers present, such as for example Maya Morsy, President of National Council for Women of the Arab Republic of Egypt; GUAN Yuxiang, Founder of ORG Packaging Co., Ltd. (aged 80!); Sophia Slingerland, Founder of Atelier Phi-I; Joy Tan, President of Global Media Communications at Huawei Technologies; Jet Jing, President of Tmall, Alibaba Group; and MENG Xiaosi, Chairwoman of China Woman’s Development Foundation.

General impressions of the summit.

Sophia Slingerland (Founder of Atelier Phi-i), Isabelle Yang (Founder and Former President of Sino-Swiss Women’s Forum), Martin Bienz (Consul General of Switzerland in Guangzhou), Priska Furrer (swissnex China) (left to right).

For the afternoon of the second day, the participants of the summit were taken to Unicorn Field, an incubator for startups, which is part of the Heungkong Financial Center in Guangzhou.

Visit of the co-working space area and introduction of Unicorn Field.

Presentation of several products and visit of the offices.

Armasuisse Emerging Technology Tour to China

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Armasuisse Emerging Technology Tour to China

By Quentin Gigon, Junior Project Manager - Innovation & Entrepreneurship

As technology advances at an breathtaking pace and we are invariably impacted by innovations in our society, everyone is trying to stay up to date on the latest and greatest developments; The military is no exception, and to this end swissnex China had the pleasure of organizing a 3-day program from November 5 to 7, focusing on emerging technology trends in China for the visit of Mr. Quentin Ladetto of Armasuisse, a Federal Agency of the Swiss Confederation responsible for the procurement of armaments for Switzerland.

The program organized by swissnex consisted of three days. On the first day, swissnex China brought Mr. Ladetto to Hangzhou, a city neighboring Shanghai and famous for its West Lake as well as for hosting Alibaba’s HQ. With the help of Lucas Rondez, CEO and Founder of NiHub, an organization helping foreign startups in China, Mr. Ladetto had the opportunity to visit HIKVision, world leader in video surveillance products, NiHub’s latest office space, as well as Getui.com, a leading third-party push notification service provider, as well as We Meet, a platform for European SMEs to launch in China.

On the second day, Mr. Ladetto was able to visit the China International Import Exhibition (CIIE), the world's largest trade expo taking place in Shanghai. With enterprises from over 100 countries and every possible field, the Exhibition provided the ideal environment to explore the latest technological developments and innovations.

On the third and final day of the program, Mr. Ladetto visited the Beidou Research Institute, a non-profit platform promoting the Beidou Navigation Industry, China’s equivalent of America’s Global Positioning System (GPS). The Institute is also home to a “Robotics Testing & Training Area”, which is one of the largest indoor “sandbox environments” in China allowing for the testing and validation of mobile robots.

Mr. Ladetto’s trip then continued to South Korea, followed by Japan.

Sino-Swiss FTA Roundtable Discusses Key Findings from 2018 Academic Evaluation Report

On November 13, swissnex China was delighted to host the Roundtable on the Sino-Swiss Free Trade Agreement, organized by SwissCham China Shanghai in collaboration with the Swiss Centers China. This Roundtable discussed key findings from the Sino-Swiss Free Trade Agreement – 2018 Academic Evaluation Report published by a team of academics of the Sino-Swiss Competence Center (SSCC) from the University of St.Gallen (HSG), the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE), and Nanjing University.

Left to right: Prof. Dr. Tomas Casas, Director of Sino-Swiss Competence Center at the University of St. Gallen, Emmanuelle Roduit, Deputy General Manager at Swiss Centers China and Dr. Felix Moesner, Science Consul and CEO of swissnex China.

After a brief welcome by Consul General Olivier Zehnder, with moderation by Emmanuelle Roduit, Deputy General Manager of SCC and Lucky Ding, Trade Specialist at SCC, Prof. Dr. Tomas Casas, Director of SSCC at HSG, presented the findings from the academic report and shared his deep insights with the attendees.

Following Prof. Dr. Casas’ presentation, delegates from Swiss businesses and Shanghai Customs addressed various practical problems regarding the Sino-Swiss Free Trade Agreement in a lively Q&A session.

A big thank you to Peter Bachmann from SwissCham and Emmanuel Roduit from Swiss Centers China, as well as their teams, for the great organization! Thanks also to Prof. Dr. Tomas Casas for the deeply insightful presentation.

Click here to access the academic report.

Swiss Startups Shine at Sino-EU Innovation Week of Health-Technology in Nanjing

By Victor Dietrich, Junior Project Manager

On November 2, 2018, the Sino-EU Innovation Week of Health Technology wrapped up to great fanfare in the beautiful Nanjing, with innovators from Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and China. The attendees gave praise to the host's investment and life science community, facilitating Sino-EU collaboration in health technology innovation.

swissnex had the privilege of attending this high-level event during its closing days in Nanjing, in particular the inauguration of award and opening of ICCAMT-Nanjing, and had the opportunity to network with interesting companies in the field of biotechnology, health technology and medical technology.

You will find below detailed information on companies that were representing Switzerland at this event, as well as a summary of their products / services and the remarkable results they acquired.

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Biognosys AG, a company that had collaborated previously with “our cousins” from swissnex Boston, was represented by Oliver Rinner and Lidia Novak. They won one of the 2nd Health Technology Innovation Award.

Biognosys was founded in 2008 and is a privately held company in Zurich, Switzerland. Originally an ETH Zurich spin-off from the lab of Prof. Ruedi Aebersold, Biognosys is a pioneer in the field of proteomics and caters to the Pharma, Biotech, Diagnostics and Agricultural industries.

Biognosys believes that the decoding of the proteome will impact life science more than the genome revolution a decade ago. They provide innovative services and products for protein quantification using cutting edge technology and strive to be the company that provides the best possible solutions to support researchers in their protein analysis needs.

Their next generation technology quantifies proteins with unbeatable precision and depth. The solution is based on mass spectrometry based targeted proteomics technology, which provides simultaneous quantification for thousands of proteins in a single experiment.

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Dualsystems Biotech AG, represented by its CEO, Dr. Paul Helbling, won one of the 3rd Health Technology Innovation Award. Dualsystems Biotech does target identification on living cells using the LRC-TriCEPS platforms as their core technologies. They are a specialized proteomics service provider working already with 15 of the 20 largest pharma companies and with a large number of Biotech companies worldwide. They also support discovery reach by collaborating with Universities around the globe.

Dualsystems Biotech have the only technology published so far to identify the unknown receptors of ligands (small molecules, peptides, proteins, antibodies, ADC, biologics, Fc-fusion proteins, and viruses) on the living cells to elucidate the Mode-of-Action of a molecule by target deconvolution. With their TriCEPS platforms they have a tool to optimize, identify and validate the targets. 

Further, they can identify new cell-cell interactions similar to PD-1/PDL-1 to identify new drug targets i.e. on primary human T-cells using the extracellular domain of any receptor fused to an Fc-tag to identify new drug targets. At the same time a large portion of the surfaceome (proteins expressed in/at the cell membrane) are identified. 

The technology has been shown to be able to detect where the peptide/protein/virus and small molecule docks on the living cell. 

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MagCath ApS, represented by its CEO Niels Erikstrup, proposes an alternative option for women that are thinking about undergoing mesh surgery due to stress urinary incontinence. Surgery has risks and may not work at all. That is why MagCath ApS have developed and clinically tested a unique medical device called Obtinu.

Obtinu is a single-use, very soft, silicone tube, that the user herself inserts in the urethra each morning. The tube stays in place all day, and has an inner valve, which restores control over bladder voiding. The tube is pulled out and discarded in the evening, before going to bed. Obtinu has a high user approval as it is both comfortable and easy to use.

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swissnex also had the chance to connect with Serge Perriard, Managing Director of BioTalk GmbH. Over a period of 12 years, BioTalk has also published the special interest journals BioWorld and BioWorld Europe. Since over 3 years together with their partners in Switzerland, Finland, Italy, USA, and Israel, they are focusing on building bridges between Swiss & European SMEs on the one side and Chinese partners & investors in their sector on the other side, and have organized and initiated many events, roadshows, and cross-border partnerships.

Among others, BioTalk has enabled excellent cooperation between the Swiss Technopark Alliance and their closest Partner company in China, Beijing YiGu Venture Capital Management & Consulting Co. Ltd. This leading healthcare technology developer in China is setting up and managing healthcare initiatives, incubators, and industry parks. Moreover, BioTalk maintains partnerships with many other industry & innovation park, event & media, and VC&PE investment fund managers, as well as with international relations managers from large pharma & medtech companies and with government officers, responsible for economic industry zone development in Hong Kong, Foshan, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Shanghai, Nanjing, Jinan, and Beijing.  

swissnex would like to congratulate all the companies for their interesting presentations, great results, and engagement. A huge bravo to Karin Schütze, Managing Director of CellTool for winning the 1st Health Technology Innovation Award. A special thanks to Dr. Hui Wu and Matthias Hölling for the invitation and to iCCAMT, Beijing, TechnoPark, Germany Medical Valley, Steinbeis Stiftung and Business Sweden for the organization of this event.

Swiss National Pavilion @ CIIE: the Jewel in the Crown at the World's Largest Trade Expo

By Victor Dietrich, Junior Project Manager

China International Import Expo (CIIE), the World's Largest Trade Expo with 3000 companies from 130 countries/regions, took place from November 5 to 10 at the National Exhibition and Convention Center Shanghai. The CIIE is a major initiative of the Chinese government to support trade liberalization, economic globalization and open the market to the world.

The Swiss National Pavilion at CIIE is managed by the Swiss Business Hub China of the Embassy of Switzerland in the People's Republic of China, in cooperation with Switzerland Global Enterprise (S-GE), on behalf of the Swiss Confederation. The Swiss National Pavilion has an outstanding presence at the expo, and swissnex China was proud to provide strong support to the Swiss National Pavilion at the first CIIE.

Photos © Bi Yuchao / Swiss Business Hub China

Photos © Bi Yuchao / Swiss Business Hub China

On the opening day November 5, the official opening ceremony included important speakers such as Xi Jinping president of the People’s Republic of China, Alibaba.com's CEO Jack Ma or Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. On November 6, the Swiss National Pavilion was inaugurated by the Swiss Secretary of State for Economic Affairs, Mrs. Marie-Gabrielle Ineichen-Fleisch, and Swiss Ambassador to China, Dr. Jean-Jacques de Dardel who led a high-level Swiss delegation to the trade fair.

Photos © Bi Yuchao / Swiss Business Hub China

Photos © Bi Yuchao / Swiss Business Hub China

Photos © Bi Yuchao / Swiss Business Hub China

On November 7, swissnex China was delighted to host a special event on Swiss innovation at the Swiss National Pavilion. The event was opened by Dr. Felix Moesner, Science Consul and CEO of swissnex China, who highlighted Switzerland's substantial global lead in education, research and innovation, as well as the swissnex mission. Swissnex China Project Leaders Ms. Libing Gu (Academic Relations), Ms. Cissy Yiwen SUN (Interdisciplinary & Special Projects) and Ms. Lijun Zhang (Innovation & Entrepreneurship) then each presented their own fields and diverse range of activities. As a remarkable example of Swiss innovation applied in a Chinese context, Ms. Xiaolin (Lin) Briod-Wang from Flyability, a Swiss startup spin-off from EPFL, presented the Elios collision-tolerant drone and its impressive application at the 15th China-ASEAN Expo.

Since 2010, China has been Switzerland’s most important trading partner in Asia. It was therefore important for Switzerland to participate in the CIIE and show its excellence in innovation, in addition to the robust commercial relationship they have. The Swiss National Pavilion offered the audience an opportunity to visit Switzerland in virtual reality, physical space, engaging all senses while showcasing Switzerland’s global leadership in innovation, culture, and tourism. The main feature of the Swiss National Pavilion was the LiveMap, a large walkable aerial map of Switzerland in front of a Swiss traditional Chalet and a large LED screen. Visitors could then enjoy culinary specialties and receive prizes won while using the LiveMap in the Swiss Post office on the balcony of the Swiss chalet. In the relaxation zone in the back of the chalet, visitors can take a rest in a natural environment that resembles a swiss alpine meadow and relish the unique sensory experience in Swiss nature.

Photos © Bi Yuchao / Swiss Business Hub China

Photos © Bi Yuchao / Swiss Business Hub China

The CIIE has been intense. Thank you very much to the volunteers and all the people that worked on the pavilion and thank to the numerous visitors, that we hope to have appreciated this experience. We will see you next year probably!

A resounding success for the 5th edition of Venture Leaders China: Swiss Deep Tech leaves a lasting impression on China

By Quentin Gigon, Junior Project Manager - Innovation & Entrepreneurship

For the past few years, China has seen its economy grow at a fast-paced rhythm with a keen interest towards innovation, making it an ideal location for high-tech startups to stress-test ground-breaking technologies while seeking international expansion. Moreover, it goes without saying that China also opens doors to other Asian markets. Nevertheless, foreign companies doing business here are faced with a set of challenges both cultural and operational, tangible and intangible. These challenges are amplified if these foreign companies are small and have only limited financial resources and manpower.

In light of the above, the Venture Leaders China program was launched to offer a platform for a selection of 10 disruptive startups from Switzerland to connect with China over a 10-day roadshow across 5 cities: Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Beijing, and Tianjin. The trip included business workshops, investor meetings and public events. A few weeks ago, the 5th consecutive edition of Venture Leaders China 2018 ended after 10 days full of learning, memorable experiences, and, most importantly, valuable contacts from various industry professionals of the local startup ecosystem and multi-million and -billion-dollar investors.

All in all, as we look back at this 5th edition of Venture Leaders China, we can be more confident than ever that this program is an ongoing success story. All the startups showed high levels of satisfaction regarding the trip, with some of them already having secured investments, signed agreements and booked flights to come back in the next few weeks for follow-up meetings with potential investors and clients that were met during the trip. Moreover, the feedback from the audience of the various pitching events was nearly unanimous: the quality of the startups was one of the highest they have ever seen, and the pitching events were among the best they have attended. The valuable agreements signed here as well as these laudatory words provide evermore justification for the program and remind us of the high potential of Swiss startups, but also of the importance to support them. Today’s big firms were yesterday’s disruptive startups and the Venture Leaders platform provides the perfect gateway for startups to accelerate their growth, which eventually will lead to positive spillovers back in Switzerland, in terms of both employment and an increase of the quality of the already excellent Swiss innovation ecosystem.

More information below including testimonials and details of the individual events. 

This year, the delegation was composed of Jordi Montserrat and Beat Schillig of Venturelab, Mathias Paquier of Canton de Vaud, Michael Friedrich of DistalMotion, Reto Naef of Topadur Pharma, Aurélien Rizk of InterAx Biotech, Marco Salerno of Foldaway Haptics, Raj Lehal of Cellestia Biotech, Noris Gallandat of GRZ Technologies, Zhenzhong Su and Lukas Meier of Fixposition, Carlos Ciller of RetinAI, Matthew G. Hall of SimplicityBio, and Nilson Kufus of Nomoko.

Hong Kong

The program started in Hong Kong with a morning at Invest HK, the local investment promotion bureau, with insights from Charles Ng and Jayne Chan into the attractivity of Hong Kong as a place to do business, as well as Karena Belin of WHub discussing the local startup ecosystem, while Peggy Cheung of Jones Day offered a presentation about IP and Licensing.

Kick off of the Venture Leaders program at Invest HK, in Hong Kong

The afternoon session consisted of more business insights at the Hong Kong Science and Technology Park with a first presentation by Julia Fung introducing the HKSTP and how they promote innovation, technology, and entrepreneurship in Hong Kong. The afternoon continued with insights from Luciano Tattoni of Compagnie d'Investissements et de Gestion Privée into the services his company provides for startups in Hong Kong. Finally, a panel discussion took place discussing "Business Development in China and the rest of Asia from Hong Kong" and "Fundraising in Hong Kong and China", organized by Helen Lo of the IMD Business School Alumni Club Hong Kong.

Afternoon presentations at the Hong Kong Science and Technology Park

The program was off to a great start. After all the valuable inputs of the morning and afternoon sessions, the Venture Leaders took the stage for the first time during this trip as they pitched at the Hong Kong Trade Development Council in the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Center. After a welcome speech by Andreas Rufer of the Consulate General of Switzerland in Hong Kong, Regina Lai of Hong Kong Trade Development Council, and Jordi Montserrat of Venturelab, the startups launched the show, with a high-quality audience of over 100 people.

Pitching in Hong Kong in front of an audience of over 100 people

“Hong Kong was really great, we had some very interactive sessions with potential investors and managed to make many good contacts, which I’m looking forward to building upon to bring Cellestia to China.” -Raj Lehal, Cellestia Biotech

“Hong Kong was great as it provided us with an opportunity to interact with 100-150 people, in an incredible city. This was a great discovery and an eye-opener in terms of what we can do in Asia in general.” -Matthew Hall, SimplicityBio

Shenzhen

After a busy first day in Hong Kong, the Venture Leaders headed to a neighboring city famous for its culture of innovation and often referred to as the Silicon Valley of Hardware: Shenzhen. The day began with a company visit at VisionerTech, an AR/VR company specializing in hardware and software. The visit provided a first time look for many of the participants into the daily operations of a Chinese company.

VisionerTech Company Visit in Shenzhen

In the afternoon, the Venture Leaders headed to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange for their first pitch in mainland China. After some introductory words by Shenzhen Stock Exchange representatives, Felix Moesner of swissnex China, the Consul General of Switzerland in Guangzhou, KPMG China, as well as Lutz Berners of Berners Consulting, the Venture Leaders took the stage and began their presentations. The audience consisted of many eager investors who never missed an opportunity to ask questions at the end of each pitch, a true testament to the quality of Shenzhen as a business and innovation hub in China.

The high-level audience at the Shenzhen Stock Exchange Pitch

“The pitch at the Shenzhen Stock Exchange allowed us to engage with many investors from the Shenzhen region, which is booming at the moment. I believe there will be many potential collaboration opportunities very soon.” -Carlos Ciller, RetinAI Medical

“I was very impressed by Shenzhen. After the pitching, I met so many people, experts, and investors from the field, but mainly also people from pharma, who are potential partners for us to develop our drug in China.” -Reto Naef, Topadur Pharma

Shanghai day 1

After an exciting day in Shenzhen, the Venture Leaders headed to Shanghai for an evening pitch on the Bund, at the SOHO co-working space. After some introductory words by Felix Moesner of swissnex China, as well as Cun Jie Li, CEO of Money Weekly Culture Development, the startups started their usual business, but this time with a twist: live software generated translations, courtesy of iFlytek, a world leader in AI language solutions. Moreover, the evening had a competitive component, as a very Swiss voting round took place at the end, where the attendees had the chance to vote for their favorite startup of the night. With 35 votes, Michael Friedrich of DistalMotion walked away with the win. All this was followed by networking and more interactions between the startups and the attendees. The audience was very interactive and proved once again that Shanghai is very business-minded. 

Pitching in Shanghai

“The pitch in Shanghai allowed us to have a close proximity and contact with the participants which led to many questions and interesting discussions afterwards.” -Aurélien Rizk, Interax Biotech

“When we pitched the technology in Shanghai, we had people from both the startup side and the industry side give us precious contacts and advice about applying this technology in products in the Chinese market.” -Marco Salerno, Foldaway Haptics

Shanghai day 2

The 2nd day in Shanghai was a day full of learning, with an insightful coaching session in the high-rise conference room of Rouse. The morning consisted of lectures about “IP & Trademark in China” (Melvin Mei and Yvette Feng of Lusheng Law Firm), “Business Deals & Transactions in China” (Chris Bailey of Rouse), “Fundraising in China” (Zhebo Ding of Richland Capital), and “JV Implementation in China” (Ginger Yang of Financeren and Frances Yao of Brainforce China)

Coaching Session in Shanghai

With 6/10 of the Venture Leaders being healthcare startups, a special session dedicated to this field was held in the afternoon. Ronghui Gao of G-Med Consulting gave an “Overview of the Life Science Industry in China”, Haohao Zhang of Cenova discussed “Cross-Border Investment in Healthcare”, and finally Xia Meng of Cellular Biomedicine Group presented a “Successful Sino-French Equity Joint Venture Story” in Biopharma.

The coaching session provided the Venture Leaders with a unique chance to sit down with all of these industry experts and to have 1-on-1 discussions about issues specific to their business.

Beijing

Following the two busy days in Shanghai, the Venture Leaders were in the Chinese Capital of Beijing to spend the day at the Zhongguancun Dong Sheng Science Park (DSSP). The morning saw the Venture Leaders pitching as part of the European Division Semi-Final of the 6th "Dongsheng Cup", an international entrepreneurship competition. After some opening words by Hbous Hassan of the DSSP, the inauguration of a cooperation agreement between Venturelab and the DSSP, and the 10 pitches, Reto Naef of Topadur won the "competition", giving him the opportunity to come back for the final in December. The pitching session was followed by a visit of the park for one part of the group, and afternoon 1-on-1 sessions with investors for the other part. This session at the DSSP was an excellent illustration of a fruitful win-win cooperation between Venturelab and the DSSP, providing both parties with tangible added value for their stakeholders.

Dongsheng Cup in Beijing

Later, the Venture Leaders concluded a busy day with a final pitch in the evening at the Embassy of Switzerland, after some introductory words by Nektarios Palaskas and Swiss Ambassador Jean-Jacques de Dardel.

His Excellency Swiss Ambassador Jean-Jacques de Dardel’s opening words during the pitch at the Swiss Embassy in Beijing

Pitching at the Swiss Embassy in Beijing

“The evening at the Embassy in Beijing allowed us to develop a very high-level network. In fact, I was personally able to meet people from Switzerland here in Beijing who I have been trying to target for a meeting in Switzerland unsuccessfully for over a year, which was great!”-Noris Gallandat, GRZ Technologies

“The event at the Embassy was very helpful for us all. The ambassador understands the Chinese market as well as Swiss innovation, giving him the perfect credibility as a speaker to convince both Swiss entrepreneurs to come to China and Chinese investors to invest. I met both potential buyers as well as investors who focus specifically on our business.” -Zhenzhong Su, Fixposition

Tianjin

For the last three days of the program, the Venture Leaders headed to Tianjin, where the Summer WEF was taking place, with distinguished attendees such as Li Keqiang and Jack Ma. This provided the entrepreneurs with the rare chance to rub shoulders with world leaders and business decision makers and expand their network, as well as take part in various workshops and presentations. The final night of the WEF was marked by the Swiss Incubator event, a platform dedicated to Swiss high-tech startups which was initiated by the Embassy of Switzerland in China. The startups pitched for the last time of the program, and Noris Gallandat walked away with the prize of best pitch.

Swiss Incubator at the WEF in Tianjin

The last pitches of the program, in Tianjin

The last pitches of the program, in Tianjin

“The Swiss Incubator event in Tianjin was very fruitful for me as I was able to talk to potential investors that are Chinese, but also to Swiss people who have already made inroads into the Chinese market and are in turn willing and open to helping us penetrate China.” -Michael Friedrich, Distalmotion

“The WEF brings a very diverse and well-educated group of people together in a very open setting which makes networking extremely easy. I made a lot of great connexions here.” -Nilson Kufus, Nomoko

Many thanks to all the program partners and local partners for supporting us in the organization of this program:
 

Program Partners

        ·        digitalswitzerland

        ·        EPFL

        ·        ETH Zurich

        ·        Gebert Ruef Stiftung

        ·        Vaud

        ·        Canton of Zurich

        ·        Immomig

        ·        Dongsheng Science Park

Local Partners

        ·        Embassy of Switzerland in the People's Republic of China

        ·        Consulate General of Switzerland in Hong Kong

        ·        Consulate General of Switzerland in Guangzhou

        ·        Swiss Centers China

        ·        Shenzhen Stock Exchange

        ·        Shenzhen Securities Information Co

        ·        Rouse Consulting

        ·        Money Weekly Culture Development

        ·        Invest HK

        ·        WHub

        ·        Jones Day Law Firm

        ·        Hong Kong Science and Technology Park

        ·        Compagnie d'Investissements et de Gestion Privée

        ·        IMD Alumni Club Hong Kong

        ·        Hong Kong Trade Development Council

        ·        VisionerTech

        ·        Berners Consulting

        ·        WTOIP

        ·        Invest Shenzhen

        ·        KPMG China

        ·        Lusheng Law Firm

        ·        Richland Capital

        ·        Financeren

        ·        Brainforce China

        ·        G-Med Consulting

        ·        Cenova

        ·        Cellular Biomedicine Group

The 4th Edition of Future of Money, a successful luncheon event

By Priska Furrer, Junior Project Manager

On October 25, swissnex China in collaboration with SwissCham Shanghai and the UZH Alumni Chapter Shanghai, held the fourth edition of the Future of Money Series: ‘Blockchain Bites – Be part of the “Future of Money” Series’ as a luncheon event at the Four Seasons Hotel in Shanghai. With an audience of 80 people, the key highlight of the event was an expert interview of Dr. Wei (Chris) Cheng, Co-Founder of ChainFunder (Blockchain VC), by Quentin Reyes, Blockchain Junior Project Manager at swissnex China, which focused on latest Blockchain trends in Switzerland and China.

The event was kicked off by Dr. Felix Moesner, Science Consul and CEO of swissnex China, and Gianna Abegg, Board Member of SwissCham Shanghai and Co-Chair of the UZH Alumni Chapter Shanghai.

While the guest were enjoying their desserts and post-meal coffee, Quentin Reyes, Junior Project Manager Blockchain at swissnex China, gave a broad overview on the Swiss Fintech/Blockchain ecosystem.

The presentation was followed by an expert interview with Dr. Wei (Chris) Cheng of ChainFunder about blockchain trends in China moderated by Quentin Reyes. During the interview it was also possible for the audience to ask questions – an opportunity the guests appreciated; many questions were asked.

From left to right: Makiko Aikawa, Gianna Abegg, Quentin Reyes, Dr. Wei (Chris) Cheng and Dr. Felix Moesner.

Triple Parade Contemporary Jewelry Exhibition Opens in Shanghai

Contributed by Cissy SUN, Project Leader for Interdisciplinary & Special Projects

Under the theme “Three Times: Past, Present and Future”, the 4th Triple Parade Contemporary Jewelry Exhibition opened on 19 October at HOW Art Museum in Shanghai.  Featuring in Asia for the first time, the exhibition presented a selection of 500 pieces of artworks by nearly 300 artists from 34 countries and regions, which included designs selected by open call, international galleries and curators. In addition, a special section featuring crossover designs from contemporary visual artists was presented, which created inspiring dialogues between fashion, art, design and innovation.  

Opening speech by Prof. LOU Yongqi, Dean of Design and Innovation Collage, Tongji University (Photo by Haley LU)

The project was presented jointly by Design and Innovation Collage of Tongji University and HOW Art Museum, which consists of exhibition, symposium, lectures and workshops. The exhibition will last till 6 January 2019 and the public programs will be held during the exhibition period at both Tongji University and HOW Art Museum.

More:

http://tripleparade.org/tp2018/

http://www.howartmuseum.org/article/index/id/425

Official Pictures of the Exhibits

swissnex China visits the World's Largest Unmanned Container Terminal with S&TDC

On October 18, swissnex China joined its peers from the Science & Technology Diplomatic Circle on an insightful visit to the Yangshan Phase IV Automated Terminal, the largest automated container terminal worldwide. Compared to traditional container terminals, the automated terminal requires 70% less staff to operate, and is 30% more efficient at full capacity.

Yangshan Phase IV Automated Terminal is the largest container terminal worldwide.

The terminal was constructed in December 2014, and opened for trial operations in December, covering a total land area of 2.23 million m2, with a quay length of 2350 meters and 7 deep water berths. It is located on the west side of the Yangshan Deep Water Port - one of the busiest ports in the world. The port is built on the islands of Greater and Lesser Yangshan and is connected to the mainland through the world’s largest sea bridge – Donghai Bridge.

Compared to traditional container terminals, the automated terminal requires 70% less staff to operate, and is 30% more efficient at full capacity.

The quay cranes use a double-trolley structure, with the main trolley in remote control and the portal trolley in full automation.

Yangshan Phase IV Automated Terminal relies on three key advanced automated equipment for its operations: the Quay Crane (QC), the 16 Automatic Stacking Crane (ASC) and the 80 Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV). The quay cranes use a double-trolley structure, with the main trolley in remote control and the portal trolley in full automation. The ASCs are fully-automated, with the standard, single-sided and both-side cantilever ASCs working in collaboration to improve efficiency. The AGVs, equipped with hydraulic lifting platforms and 8-hour lithium batteries, are guided by transponders and work with a fully-automated battery exchange system to ensure 24-hour operations.

The terminal  runs mostly on renewable energy, drawing much of its power from an immense wind park nearby. The handling and transportation systems run fully on electric power.

We were delighted to have joined our peers from the S&T Diplomatic Circle on the insightful visit.

We were delighted to have participated in the visit with our peers from the S&T Diplomatic Circle, and would like to express our special thanks to Mario Quina (Consulate General of Portugal) for his great work in coordinating this visit.

MORE THAN BAGS: Tools for a Connected Company - Freitag Brothers Campus Talk

By Haley Jiamin LU, Junior Project Manager PR & Events, and Rahel Gruber, Operations Manager

The Swiss brand FREITAG has found its way to China and become a must-have for many designers and artists as well as for students majoring in art and design. On September 24, the FREITAG Brothers held a successful Campus Talk co-organized by swissnex China at the College of Design and Innovation at Tongji University NoCC. Even though the event took place during an important public holiday in China, the Mid-Autumn Festival, more than 200 students and young professionals attentively followed the talk on the spot, and the live-stream counted more than 800 views.

In his keynote speech, Daniel Freitag explained why the brand FREITAG is ‘More than Bags’: He talked not only about the production of their bags and their design but gave valuable insight into the innovative business model of how to build a connected company and how to create a strong coherent message behind a product. By sharing his and his brother’s experience and journey from designer to entrepreneur, he provided useful advice for the striving students and innovators. During the panel discussion and Q&A session, the Brothers went deeper into the topic and openly answered numerous questions from a very inquisitive audience.

At the end of the event, the FREITAG Brothers took the time to give autographs to all their fans and enjoyed seasonal mooncakes provided by swissnex China.

Missed the chance? Don’t worry, we have video recorded by Zaojiu! https://www.zaojiu.com/lives/5ba4e2dd5cde6a0001f4f3a3

 The first official FREITAG store in China opened its doors to the public on September 26 on 758 Julu Road in Shanghai’s Jing’an district.

Field Re-mediations: Carbon

Contributed by Karolina Sobecka and Jamie Allen, Swiss-based artists-researchers behind the Field Remediations: Carbon project

Image: Carbon Collextion at CAC

Field Remediations: Carbon​ explores human and technological interactions with the carbon cycle, sampling the spectrum of material practices, opportunities and challenges associated with development of remission and Negative Emissions Technologies (NETs). The goal is to align the science-fiction of carbon capture with the science-fact of its current research and implementations. The fieldwork conducted in Switzerland, Canada and in Shanghai also populated the CARBON Collection of the Field Remediations Library, which was installed for ​the ​Machines are not alone​ exhibition at Chronus Art Center​.

The project was enabled by generous strategic support from swissnex. Our enormous thanks go to Felix and Rahel for providing us in the last minute with a means of transport for our group and a fantastic driver who expertly delivered us to every fieldwork location (a task not to be taken for granted in Shanghai). The project couldn’t have happened without it, plus we got to meet the wonderful swissnex team. And we also acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Art.

One of the highlights of our field visits in Shanghai was a visit to Professor Zhu Xinguang’s lab, and the Plant Systems Biology Group at the Chinese Science Academy​, where we learned about their efforts to engineer more ‘efficient’ rice. These and related bioengineering initiatives are designed to significantly increase agricultural crop yields, making them into ‘better’ carbon sinks. Dr. Xinguang is involved in a number of international collaborative research projects, in the works for years, that are showing promising, ifn tendentious, results. If we were to similarly engineer all industrial and large scale crops, they could create a global drawdown of carbon that would sequester much more atmospheric CO2 than currently, transforming the climate and its changes.

While in Shanghai our team also visited Shanghai Baosteel, one of the largest steel enterprises in the world, which is working to lower its CO2 emissions. Because of the chemical processes at the heart of steelmaking, the plant cannot completely cut its emissions, so it faces a dilemma that we all face on a planetary scale. In order for the plant to be ‘carbon neutral’, and in order for global CO2 emissions to reach net zero negative emission technologies are a necessity.

One less controversial negative emission technology is a technique developed by a Swiss startup Climeworks​, which we visited before our trip to China. The technique they use is known as Direct Air Capture (DAC), which is the extraction of CO2 from ambient air. Carbon dioxide in the air is very dilute (there are only around 400 molecules of CO2 in a million molecules of air), so extracting it was thought too costly to make these kinds of DAC techniques realistic. Today, several demonstration plants are in operation, and Climeworks is expecting to commercialize the technology, aiming to capture 1% of global carbon emissions by 2025.

We visited a coal-fired power plant with one of the first Carbon Capture demonstration plants. We learned about the carbon markets from the designers of Chinese carbon market standards, and from ‘carbon accountants’ who are working to develop emissions inventories. ​At the ​Carbon Capture and Storage Research Center at the Shanghai Jiao Tong University​ we ​learned about the recently opened Low Carbon College, which centers its education on low-carbon industry on three directions, low carbon engineering, carbon policy and carbon finance. This interdisciplinary approach follows from understanding of the technology as a complex sociotechnical system, which is exciting to see and learn from this experiment in structuring truly interdisciplinary, problem-led, technical education.

Our next phases include organizing, activating and expanding all the fascinating material collected, relationships developed and paths forged for new ways of thinking about the carbon cycle, with Chinese partners, and in China.

Image: Professor Zhu gave us a tour of his lab and discussed the benefits of engineering C4 into rice. One way he sees his work is as a kind of deep-time realignment of the of plants with the environment. Most earthly plants evolved when atmospheric conditions were very different, and we can now design a more optimal photosynthesis machine for today’s environment. The demand for crop productivity is projected against continuous population growth and changes in diet. “We need 50% more productivity,” he says. This is a promise that has purchase with Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and other funding agencies. The project is a multinational collaboration developed spanning the last 10 years and funded by both private and state funds.

Image: The lab is trying to genetically engineer a C4 metabolic pathway into C3 plants, beginning with rice as a pilot plant species.

Image: On the lab’s farm outside Shanghai, the different tests can be scaled up to field experiments.

Image: Climeworks collectors in Switzerland, atop Hinwil waste recovery plant in Zurich.

Image: Lab setup at SJTU, Jiao Tong University, demonstrating three different mechanics of isolating CO2 form emission stream. The valve is our collection was part of this complicated setup that the PhD students were putting together.

Image: Dr Zhang Yongjie of Boasteel’s research division, describing a heat recovery prototype, one of the 7 approaches in which the plant can reduce its energy use. With its Paris Agreement commitment to lowering emissions, China started putting in place policies that put pressure on the industry to make improvements in efficiency. Baosteel’s average total CO2 emissions are 35.83 million ton/year. Its current mandate is to reduce emissions to 90% of this number by 2020.

Image: The entrance to the Baosteel power plant, north of Shanghai.

Image: The CO2 captured at the Baosteel site is ‘food grade’ quality, which means over 99% pure CO2. It is reused in the beverage industry - pumped into soda drinks that are bottled in Shanghai and sold all over Asia.

swissnex China celebrates 10th anniversary

Swiss Federal Councillor Johann Schneider-Ammann gave the opening speech

swissnex China Celebrates 10 Years

On Friday, September 7th we had the immense honor of marking our historic milestone with Swiss Federal Councillor Johann Schneider-Ammann, Minister of Economic Affairs, Education and Research, Swiss Ambassador Jean-Jacques de Dardel and a large high-level academic and business delegation! Since its inauguration on August 7, 2008, swissnex China has initiated or facilitated 211 agreements and collaborations between Swiss and Chinese higher education institutions, provided support to 117 Swiss startups and 300 projects as part of the Sino-Swiss S&T Cooperation program, and much much more.

Our heartfelt thanks go out to our former CEOs Hans Peter Hertig, Flavia Schlegel and Pascal Marmier, as well as the Embassy of Switzerland in the People's Republic of China, the five Consulates General in Greater China, Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia, Swiss Business Hub, SwissCham China, Swiss Centre China, partners, stakeholders, friends, and former and current swissnex teams.

Panel discussion

Panelists (from left to right): Kang Chen, Lukas Meier, Philippe Leyraz, Leon Zhao and Gary Mi

“Homes of Drones”: The Sino-Swiss Drone Night

On the occasion of of Federal Councillor Johann Schneider-Ammann's visit, we hosted the high level event 'Homes of Drones: The Sino-Swiss Drone Night' on Sep 7, for connecting the Swiss and Chinese drone ecosystems and bringing the best of both worlds together. The event brought together seven experts from Switzerland and China to share their knowledge and to have in depth discussions on the future trends in the drone industry. Two keynote speakers - Janick Mischler, Project Manager Development and Innovation of Swiss Post and Mengke Sun, from Business Development Center of JDX Lab Drone - gave their presentations and introduced the regulations and limitations of drones in Switzerland and China.

Moderated by Gary Mi (Chief of Staff, Drone Racing League), the panelists Lukas Meier (COO & Co-Founder of Fixposition), Kang Chen (Director of Commercial Solution, Yuneec International co.,ltd), Philippe Leyvraz (Product Manager of Flyability), Leon Zhao (COO & Co-Founder of Antwork) and shared their ideas about the newest trends of drones in Switerland and China.

The event was organized in partnership with SwissCham China and Presence Switzerland, Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA).

World Premiere of Birdly®'s Flying Through Dinosaurs

By Haley Jiamin LU, Junior Project Manager PR & Events and Quentin Gigon, Junior Project Manager Innovation & Entrepreneurship

“To invent an airplane is nothing. To build one is something. But to fly is everything.”

— Otto Lilienthal

Whether it be in ancient Greek mythology or recent super hero movies, flying always seems to have been an obsession for humans. While we may have achieved the dream of flying with airplanes, some would point out that we are disconnected from the real experience of flight, as we are operating a machine, instead of truly flying ourselves and flapping our own wings. With recent developments in VR, Max Rheiner, a professor at the ZHAW in Zurich, sought out to create an immersive flying machine to truly provide humans with the emotions and sensations of flying like a bird. And Birdly was born.

On August 30, swissnex China co-organized a lecture under the topic of ‘Interfacing with Extended Realities’ in Shanghai as well as the world premiere of the experience ‘Jurassic Flight’. LIU Zhejun, Professor of Tongji University, Max Rheiner, CEO of Somniacs, LU Min, COO of VR Times, and Salar Shahna, CEO of World VR Forum, provided valuable insights.  For instance, Max told the story of how Birdly came about and discussed other past and future projects with the audience.

The public can try the flying experience at the exhibition venue. For more information regarding tickets, please check onsite.

Opening time & address: 10am-10pm, 31st August – 2nd September 2018, S107, 1F, HKRI Taikoo Hui, 789 West Nanjing Road, Shanghai.

“Connect, Grow, Achieve”: Young Swiss Thriving in China

By Quentin Gigon, Junior Project Manager Innovation & Entrepreneurship

“Connect, Grow, Achieve”: These were the keywords of the evening of Thursday August 9, 2018, as the Young Swiss in China came together for a special evening with presentations examining various China-related topics from four speakers, including Iwan Wuelser, CEO of LeapRight Consulting, Didier Quarroz, founder of Shateso, Jessica Li, CEO Assistant of SIGG Outdoors, and Quentin Gigon, Junior Project Manager at swissnex China.

The evening was marked by an especially large audience, as ICL is organizing its annual program whereby young Swiss people get the opportunity to spend a summer in China in various professional functions. In addition to the presence of almost 30 of these beneficiaries of ICL’s support, there was also a special delegation of four high school students from the Canton of Neuchatel, which sponsors a China Discovery Program every year.

With fresh insights into topics such as cultural adaptation in Shanghai from a Swiss perspective, launching a startup in China, as well as a reinventing a classic Swiss brand, the night was enriching and provided a great platform for networking among this unusually large crowd of young Swiss people. It was with pleasure that swissnex China contributed to the night through both the presence of several of its representatives as well as through a presentation about the Innovation Landscape in China.

A warm thank you to Fabien Abbet, Pascaline Salvi, and Noémie Nussbaum for the organization of this great evening.

UBS Seminar @ Swiss Innovation Week

On July 4, swissnex China CEO Dr. Felix Moesner was invited to deliver the first keynote speech at the UBS Seminar at Swiss Innovation Week. He addressed the latest trends and developments in Swiss Innovation, highlighting Swiss Excellence in education, research and innovation, while setting the tone for the exchange of Sino-Swiss perspectives.

Ms. Zhang Qiong, Head of Wealth Management at UBS China Limited, and His Excellency Dr. Jean-Jacques de Dardel, Swiss Ambassador to China, delivered the Welcome and Opening Remarks for the exclusive event at the Embassy of Switzerland in China. Mr. Constantin Overlack, Founder of Aeris Cleantec AG, Mr. Marco Jaggi, CEO of Generis (Beijing) International Business Consulting Co., Ltd., and Dr. Yifan Hu, Managing Director of UBS AG, also shared their own respective special insights.

swissnex China Briefs IFZ Delegation on Chinese FinTech

On August 3, a delegation from Institut für Finanzdienstleistungen Zug (IFZ), organized by Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, together with the Swiss Private Equity & Corporate Finance Association (SECA), visited Shanghai on a study tour to explore and assess the prospect of further inclusion of Chinese banking and finance markets in the global markets. Dr. Felix Moesner, CEO of swissnex China and Science Consul, warmly welcomed the delegation and briefed the delegates on swissnex China’s FinTech activities and beyond.

Dr. Felix Moesner warmly welcomed the delegation and briefed them on the prospects of FinTech in China.

The 27 participants were headed by Prof. Maurice Richard H. Pedergnana, and are currently enrolled in a post-graduate program in Banking & Finance. The group of Swiss Bankers and Investors including Prof. Thomas Ankenbrand (who participated as panelist at swissnex China's 3rd edition of Future of Money: Blockchain in Finance in July 2018) were inspired by the tremendous importance of China in the world economy. The tour concluded with a relaxing networking session on the venue's rooftop bar.

The group was guided by Emmanuelle and Noémie from Swiss Centers China. Our heartfelt appreciation for the great collaboration!