Swiss Startups Participated in China Innovation Workshop

By Niccolò Schlueb, Junior Project Manager - Innovation & Entrepreneurship

This week, swissnex China warmly welcomed nine startups from Switzerland in the sectors of new energy, medical, drones, robotics, agriculture and electronics. They are NewGreenTec GmbH, Amena AG, Pilotec, SunRegen Healthcare AG, JB Tech Group, Energy Depot Swiss GmbH, BlueBCI, 赛纳拓有限责任公司 and Song’s International.

Rahel Gruber, Head of Operations and Co-Deputy CEO offered a deep insight into swissnex’s various services for startups that attempt to set foot in the Chinese market. Rahel Gruber especially underlined the Innosuisse Market Entry Camp, organized by swissnex China, through which selected startups receive tailored coaching and the opportunity of meeting possible future partners.

Many thanks to Simin Yang, Project Coordinator in Innovation & Entrepreneurship, for running a workshop about China’s innovative drive and the opportunity behind entering the Chinese market for Switzerland’s emerging companies, as well as the challenges and advantages for Swiss startups when they enter China’s markets.

Many thanks to the Swiss startup representatives for visiting us and we are looking forward to cross ways again in the future! 

ICL Cup 2019: Guest Blog by ICL

Published by Integrate Chinese Life (ICL)

 After 2 months in China, it’s time to fly back for the ICL Cup participants! The closing ceremony was held at swissnex China, and the young professionals had the opportunity to learn more about swissnex and Swiss Centers, to understand the network and support that Swiss companies can get in China.

Many thanks to Rahel Gruber, Head of Operations and Co-Deputy CEO at swissnex China, and Kuno Gschwend, Deputy General Manager at Swiss Centers China, for their great presentations and sharing their experience!

Supported by some Swiss organizations and cantonal governments, 18 students and apprentices have been selected to take part in an all-expenses-paid experience in Shanghai, including flights tickets and housing. They had the opportunity to do an internship, learn the basics of Mandarin, and attend weekly cultural activities.

Apart of the professional knowledge they could gain, it was the chance to get out of their comfort zone in a new environment and know more about China, a country playing a major role on the world stage and one of the main economic partners of Switzerland. Being more familiar with the Chinese culture will be a valuable asset for their future career.

Impressive and Well-deserved: Deep Cube's success at the DeepBlue Cup A.I. Competition

By Percy Chen, Junior Project Manager Art-Science

Supported by swissnex China, Deep Cube, a leading artificial intelligence healthcare technologies startup for Dermato-Oncology and skin beauty, participated in the DeepBlue Cup International A.I. Science and Innovation Competition on August 30 and 31 during the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) 2019. Matt Morawski, BDO and Co-Founder of Deep Cube, represented the Swiss AI startup at the competition.

DeepBlue Technology, the host of the competition, is a fast-growing company in the artificial intelligence industry focusing on the fundamental research and practical development of AIs. The DeepBlue Cup was a part of the World Artificial Intelligence Conference that is happening in Shanghai. It is thus meant to explore and connect startups that could utilize the potential of AI in unique ways. Indeed, with 40 AI startups, each covering a different and niche field such as precise farming, road disease Inspection, and power generation, the DeepBlue Cup is an intense, competitive, and simultaneously rewarding experience to all the people involved.

The DeepBlue Cup International AI Science and Innovation Competition was part of World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIF) 2019, taking place Aug 29 - 31 in Shanghai.

Matt Morawski, BDO and Co-Founder of Deep Cube introducing his team.

The first day of the competition had ups and downs. Matt Morawski, the speaker of DeepCube, was met with technical issues during the presentation: the slides displayed garbled characters. Despite the difficulty, Matt calmly explained the situation and continued his pitch. His eloquence, combined with his winning smile, charisma, and determination on stage, helped deliver a clear vision to the judges. As a result, DeepCube advanced to the final round and eventually won the second place out of 40 startups at the main event and out of 600 startups that applied to the competition. Matt and his team received 10,000 RMB as well as direct meetings with potential investors — an amazing feat indeed.

Matt Morawski holding the 10,000 RMB check and the winning certificate.

We would like to congratulate DeepCube for its impressive journey this weekend! We would also like to thank both DeepBlue and DeepCube for this unique experience with various interesting AI startups. Living in this period of rapid change, most of us are certain that the AI paradigm shift will transform almost all aspects of ordinary lives and even the fundamental fabric of society. How much can we push the technology? And how much more will we see in the next decade is a sight to behold.

Opportunities Everywhere in China for the Swiss National Startup Team!

By Frans-Emmanuel Bengtsson, Junior Project Manager and HEC Lausanne Ambassador

2019 is a very interesting and passionate year for the overall innovation ecosystem in China. Amongst the impactful activities was the return of Venture Leaders to China, with its pitching roadshow and taking part in several high-level events across 6 megacities in China!

Venture Leaders China is a unique 10-day business development program to explore the Chinese market potential for high growth Swiss startups. It is an exclusive opportunity to be part of a top entrepreneurial team, accelerate ones’ business growth and showcase Switzerland as a leading country for innovation. Every year, 10 carefully selected high-tech entrepreneurs get a unique chance to give their technology and business a commercial boost, thanks to Venture Leaders.

For the sixth consecutive year, swissnex China was proud to be accompanying a high-quality delegation of top Swiss startups in China for a roadshow that span 10 days and 6 cities. Venture Leaders China 2019 took place from June 25th to July 5th and included business workshops, investors meetings and public events in Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Changzhou, Dalian and Beijing. The roadshow offered the startups unparalleled exposure and insight into the Chinese market, along with learning about business opportunities, how corporate affairs work, pitching to investors and getting insights from experts.

The delegation was led by Jordi Montserrat, co-founder and managing partner at Venturelab and Felix Moesner, CEO at swissnex China and was composed of the following startup champions: Daniel Sztutwojner, Beekeeper | Peter Ruff, Exploris AG | Samir Bouabdallah, Flybotix | Dominik Trost, holo|one | Simon Bachmann, IDUN Technologies AG | Yannik Kopp, LORIOT | Marco Pisano, Lymphatica Medtech | Dorina Thiess, Piavita | Alexis Steinmann, Tomplay | Maurizio Migliore, Touchless Automation. In addition, the team could count on Simin Yang and Frans-E. Bengtsson, both from swissnex China, for the organization and the coordination of the trip and events.

Hong Kong 06-25-2019

The Venture Leaders’ 10 day’s journey started off as intensive and dynamic as expected. Freshly arrived from Zurich, the 10 startups kicked off their intense pitching roadshow as soon as they set foot in Hong Kong. The 2019 Swiss Innovation Night taking place at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center offered great networking opportunities and paved the way for the many upcoming events.

Alexis Steinman, co-founder of Tomplay pitching in front of a very interested crowd in Hong Kong

Once the networking event was over, it was time for the entire team to jump into the bus towards the next adventure: destination Shenzhen!

Shenzhen     06-26-2019

For many of the Venture Leaders, it was their first time waking up in mainland China. This brought even more excitement among the team as they were really looking forward for the upcoming program. During the morning, our startup champions were warmly welcomed at Colibri Technologies (technology-oriented automation company providing simple solutions for R&D) and at DJI (drone manufacturers). They got the great privilege to meet Colibri CTO Dr Liu Shaoming which appeared to be an EPFL alumus! Switzerland is really everywhere!

The Venture Leaders visiting DJI in Shenzhen

The entire team gained great insights from the people they met at Colibri and DJI. After their morning visit to Colibri and DJI, our National Startup team jumped straight into their first pitch in mainland China at the magnificent Shenzhen Stock Exchange building, gaining access to the network of local industry experts and investors.

The pitching event at the Shenzhen Stock Exchange was very appreciated from the startups as it was the first time that some had the chance to confront themselves to Chinese investors. Moreover, the networking session was very fruitful and great connections were made! Next stop: Shanghai!

Shanghai      06-27-2019

On the 3rd day of the roadshow, our 10 top Swiss startups were joined by 170+ registered investors and industry leaders in Shanghai: the "Capital of capital" for the Swiss Startup Pitching Night. The dynamic Q&A interaction and networking clearly demonstrated the rich startup funding opportunities in China's wealthiest city!

As Simon Bachmann, CEO of IDUN Technologies puts it: “We arrived at the venue tired since we had just landed from Shenzhen. However, as soon as we saw the venue, the mood lightened up. The scenery on the stage was amazing and the audience was packed of interested listeners. I particularly liked the couch and how we were all sitting on the stage. This gave the whole event a very relaxed mood.  These two events where my highlights but we had many more promising stops on our incredibly packed journey through China.”

Maurizio Migliore, Toucheless Automation posing with Jordi Montserrat and Felix Moesner after receiving the Venture Leaders Shanghai Pitching trophy

Changzhou   06-28-2019

The day started off with the visit of Rieder, a Swiss company producing manufacturing machine for all kinds of businesses. It was very interesting to understand how this Swiss firm established themselves in China and how they perceived the future in this particular market.

Later that day, we had the immense chance to take part into the Swiss Innovation Day, organized by the Changzhou National High-Tech Development Zone CZND. It gave the opportunity to the Venture Leaders to pitch in front of investors & industry experts. Furthermore, next to the Venture Leaders pitching highlight, Consul General Olivier Zehnder & Vice-Mayor Chen Zhengchun gave their addresses, which was followed by a panel on innovation-driven smart manufacturing. Thank you to Jay Jiang and Ryan Zhang from CZND! Next stop: back to Shanghai!

“The visit to the Changzhou innovation park has been one of the most valuable moment of the whole trip. It allowed us to get a real grasp on the potential industrial opportunities for foreign companies in China. The development shown by companies already established in the area is astonishing and the support from local organizations is truly valuable.”

— Maurizio Migliore, Toucheless Automation

Shanghai     06-29-2019

We are now back in Shanghai for a morning workshop session where our Venture Leaders team joined industry leaders at Rouse Consulting for a deep dive into some essential topics such as IP & trademark and how to attract venture capital in China. Many thanks to Melvin (Yuan) MEI, Nigel Wong, Haifeng Wang, Ruixing Zhu and Ren Zhanbing for sharing their valuable insights!

The team enjoyed an activity-free afternoon where many individual meetings with investors were scheduled, resulting from very fruitful pitching sessions previously held. Next stop on the list: World Economic Forum in Dalian!

Dalian          06-30-2019 / 07-01-2019 / 07-02-2019 / 07-03-2019

After days of intense pitching, networking, coaching as well as signing deals while roadshowing in Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Changzhou, our National Startup Team arrived in Dalian for the World Economic Forum's global meeting on innovation, science and technology!

Our Venture Leaders spent 3 intense but fruitful days at the World Economic Forum of the New Champions and enjoyed meeting other leaders from everywhere in the world. Great business leads and great networking!

“These have been three amazing days at the World Economic Forum and a unique opportunity to present Tomplay to leaders from all around the world.”

— Alexis Steinmann Co-founder of Tomplay

On the final evening in Dalian, the Venture Leaders pitched at the Swiss Incubator event during the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting of the New Champions. We had the great pleasure to welcome the Swiss Ambassador Bernardino Regazzoni, who gave the opening address, which was followed by Olivier Schwab, WEF’s Managing Director & Jordi Montserrat, Managing Partner of Venturelab.

This 5th pitching session was the second competition of the Venture Leaders China tour, following the one that saw Toucheless Automation win in Shanghai. The winner elected by the crowd was Dorina Thiess with Piavita. Congratulations!

Next and final destination: Beijing!

Dorina Thiess, pitching Piavita

“It was very inspiring to see the Swiss Startup Champions giving their pitches at the Swiss Incubator Night in Dalian. Congrats to Dorina Thiess and Piavita! And a big thank you to Jordi Montserrat for moderating the event.”

— Lukas Zuest, Counsel & Head China desk @ VISCHER AG

“Proud to be representing Venture Leaders and Switzerland at the World Economic Forum in Dalian, China, thanks to the work we do at Beekeeper empowering and digitalizing the non-desk workforce. Excited to meet other global leaders and share ideas / experiences on how to make an impact in this world.”

— Daniel Sztutwojner, CCO & Co-founder of Beekeeper

Beijing          07-04-2019 / 07-05-2019

On the final day, our 10 amazing startups pulled an incredible feat of 3 pitches in 1 day!

Pitch #1 at Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business to CKGSB's Chuang investors network.

Back on the road towards the next pitching location: PnP!

Pitch #2 at Plug and Play China to investors from Beijing’s dynamic innovation ecosystem.

“Because one of our ambitions and goals is to bring the ‘plug and play’ in the IoT. This meaning to make it as easy as possible for our customers and users to connect devices and focus on generating business value from sensor data. We work hard to make it possible and it was nice to say it while pitching our solution, in Plug and Play!”

— Yannik Kopp from Loriot

Pitch #3 at Swiss Ambassador Bernardino Regazzoni’s invitation. This 8th pitch & grande finale of the 10-day-roadshow was held at the Embassy of Switzerland in the People's Republic of China where Alexis Steinmann, Tomplay won the coveted Swiss Embassy Award – Congrats!

“The atmosphere and setup at the embassy in Beijing were the perfect finale to an incredible China tour. Thanks to the whole Swissnex team for the perfect organization and wonderful hosting.”

— Dorina Thiess, CEO & Co-founder of Piavita

“The venue was of course very extravagant. We had the chance to pitch outdoors in the Embassy Garden in front of a large audience (I think the pictures speak for themselves). They audience was hand selected and personally invited. Never have I ever seen such a high-level audience of relevant contacts at an event. I was contacted by several interested investors and potential partners. It was a blast.”

— Simon Bachmann, CEO of IDUN Technologies

The roadshow ended in the best manner it could possibly have. After a very powerful networking session at the embassy, the Venture Leaders discovered Beijing by night, enjoying a well deserve taste of baijiu before heading towards new horizons. As a matter of fact, some Venture Leaders even extended their stay here in China to meet investors they had previously connected with during the pitching events.

“The baggage that we bring back from China is certainly heavier than at the beginning, on a human level, of knowledge and experience.”

— Yannik Kopp from Loriot

“This roadshow was an excellently organized trip that gave us tremendous exposure and extremely valuable contacts. In these 10 days, not only did we learn from the different people we met during the networking events, but a great added value came from meeting and discussing with the other startups within the team.

Business wise, we now do have a lot of different prospects that we now have to follow up. We have had 5-6 meetings already with people we met at the pitching events. This 10-day trip here in China really helped us to see the different possibilities offered to us to enter the market early.”

— Dominik Trost, Holo One

We would like to express our deep gratitude for the strong support of all our partners, especially to Jordi Montserrat and his team from Venturelab who produced extraordinary work with the startups, co-organizing the roadshow with swissnex China. A huge thanks to the Swiss Ambassador in China, Ambassador Regazzoni and his amazing team, our Embassy colleagues Nektarios Palaskas, Jonas Thürig, Chenchen Liu, Yijun William Wu and Tobias Werder for the stellar work they did in organizing pitching events and business meetings, to Andreas Rufer and Winnie from the Consulate General of Switzerland in Hong Kong, to Zhen Xiao and Kuno Gschwend from the Swiss Centers China and to all the other supporting partners that made this journey happen, such as digitalswitzerland, Canton de Vaud, VISCHER, Canton of Zurich, EPF Lausanne, ETH Zurich, Gebert Rüf Stiftung and the Changzhou national high-tech district. A huge thanks also goes to the company that kindly received us, Colibri and DJI, and to the speakers Melvin Mei, Nigel Wong, Haifeng Wang, Ruixing Zhu and Ren Zhanbing for sharing their valuable insights during our workshop at Rouse in Shanghai and to all the other key people who shared their experience and expertise of the Chinese market with our startups.

A big thank you to all of you who made this possible!

Vielen Danke & see you next year!

Home of Drones – Cutting-edge Drone Race Over the Swiss Embassy in Beijing

Guest contributions by Tayan Wagner and Steven Wang, edited by Gabriel Bishop

With a well-established leading position in terms of innovation, Switzerland has fostered fruitful bilateral relations with China in this field. Notably, the Free Trade Agreement was signed in 2014 and the Innovative Strategic Partnership and the High-Level Platform of the Sino-Swiss Innovative Strategic Partnership were established respectively in 2016 and 2019.

These partnerships fall in line with the Swiss tradition that consists in continuously investing in brains, producing smart solutions and adding value by providing cutting-edge products; and so has Switzerland steadily established itself as an innovation pioneer. An example of it can be traced back 50 years ago as Switzerland was part of the moon landing program with the OMEGA Speedmaster, the first watch ever worn on the moon, and it has since never ceased to push the limits and explore new frontiers.

People interacting with the AEROTAIN’s drone.

Drones represent one of the success areas of the Swiss new technologies. Switzerland is indeed a forerunner in the development of specialized drones, particularly for the commercial use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). This can in part be explained by the close collaboration between the federal institutes of technology, the industry and the public authorities. More than 2,500 people in over 80 companies in Switzerland now work in digital aviation and in 2017 Swiss Post launched the world's first medical delivery service for business customers in Lugano.

Representatives of Swiss drones companies invited to the Innovation Week.

The Drone Grand Prix race (DGP) that took place at the Swiss Embassy in Beijing on June 14 showed just how much Switzerland is at the forefront of drone technologies. This collaboration between DGP, swissnex China and the Swiss Embassy caped off the Innovation Week 2019, Home of Drones, an initiative of Presence Switzerland.

Felix Moesner giving a speech before the race started.

A track race designed especially for the occasion was set up over the perimeter of Embassy, going through the Embassy buildings and the Ambassadors’ residence. It consisted of LED and light loops which illuminated the venue and through which the drones flew.

The final gate illuminated with the swissnex China logo.

The drone race confronted two Swiss and two Chinese pilots for a friendly competition. They were flying the drones with a system called first person view (FPV), which is the most popular commanding method as it allows to pilot a drone as if one was inside of it. The DGP drones can reach up to 200km/h, which can prove to be dangerous for the average drone user who may easily lose control of the device. It takes a great amount of training and expertise to be able to fly the drones with such precision at this speed! On this note, swissnex China would like to congratulate the highly skilled pilots for their outstanding performance.

Four drone pilots from left to right: Wang Jinzheng, Kong Haisen, Michael Husarik, Maxime Guarnero.

The race was groundbreaking in many ways. It was the first drone race ever held in an Embassy compound, and the first one to ever take place in the Beijing city center. The event proved to be a big success, with over 1000 guests attending. The race was also live-streamed and attracted over 51,000 viewers across various broadcasting platforms, as well as 1.2 million views on the CCTV-CGTN livestream! This showcase of drone racing, which has become the most popular drone sport among pilots, not only left the audience in awe, giving them a thrill similar to the one that comes with F1 racing, but it further provided new insights on the potential use of drones in different contexts. Drones are indeed a multi-faceted and versatile technology and high-speed flights could be a very promising sector for them. 

Pilots receiving their prices.

External link:

CCTV2 documentary of the drone race:

http://tv.cctv.com/2019/06/16/VIDEh6GUMSY0EP1CvBqSgiCc190616.shtml

Young Swiss Talents Explore the Chinese Innovation Landscape

By Gabriel Bishop, Junior Project Manager - Academic Relations

In the scope of its academic activities, swissnex China often welcomes delegations from Swiss universities. At the end of May, we received two universities in our space and as always always it was a big pleasure to exchange with the dynamic students who came to China with great curiosity.

We first welcomed 20 students from the MBA of the Berner Fachhochschule (BFH) on May 30. They benefited from a presentation about swissnex China and its various activities by Danli Zhou, Co-Deputy CEO & Communications Manager at swissnex China. After a lunch hosted in our office, Peter Bachmann, Executive Director of SwissCham, further presented the Swiss Chamber of Commerce and its scope of action. The day was then completed by the guest lecture of Daniel Eckmann, a Berner Fachhochschule alumnus, who shared his experience doing business in China.

On the May 31, swissnex China received six highly motivated HESAV healthcare students specializing in fields such as physiotherapy and occupational therapy. This visit marked the end of a study trip at a hospital in Wuxi where they benefited from a two-week interdisciplinary training that allowed them to compare best practices with Switzerland.

Dr. Felix Moesner, Science Consul and CEO at swissnex China, gave them a presentation of the activities of swissnex China and of the Chinese innovation landscape. This was an opportunity to touch on the topic of medical technologies, which the students are also familiar with and which they get use in their field of practice back in Switzerland, such as orthopedic 3D printers and rehabilitation devices like Hocoma’s Lokomat.

We very much appreciated receiving these two groups of young talents and swissnex China wishes them lots of success in their upcoming professional life!

Fireside Chat with Urs Mattes – Perspectives on MedTech potential in China

By Gabriel Bishop, Junior Project Manager - Academic Relations

On June 4, Urs Mattes came to swissnex China for a presentation entitled Opportunities and Challenges in the Chinese Medtech landscape. His talk was part of the event series called Fireside Chat, a collaboration between SwissCham and swissnex China hosted every few months in the swissnex China space. This format is always the occasion for seasoned Swiss professionals in China to share their knowledge and experience with our community.

Having lived in the region for two decades, Dr. Urs Mattes, Director Asia-Pacific at Cendres+Métaux SA, is a well-established University of Zurich alumnus in China. He has accumulated extensive cross-functional expertise and has been a board member of several medical and non-medical Swiss companies.

After an introduction by Dr. Felix Moesner, Science Consul and CEO at swissnex China, Urs Mattes started off his presentation by painting a portrait of the Chinese healthcare landscape, often referring to other countries, namely Switzerland, in order to highlight its specificities and to put it into perspective. He specifically touched on the question of finding a balance between access, quality and cost in such a system. In his view, some specific challenges that the Chinese healthcare currently faces include the rise of chronic diseases, the absence of gatekeeper to enter the care system, the shortage of specialists and family doctors, the lack of acceptance by the population of community centers and the outbound medical tourism.

Based on the context he depicted, Urs Mattes reckons that this environment provides a sizeable market with many opportunities for innovation in the field of medical technologies. But he also pointed out some specific challenges that come with it. For instance, it is sometimes very difficult for companies to register a new medtech product to be marketed in China. But if the Chinese market can prove to be risky for foreign medtech companies, there is nonetheless a large potential for growth in this field.

At the end of the presentation, the public, notably composed of UZH alumni, could further interact with Dr. Mattes during a Q&A session and connect during the networking reception which concluded the night. For this edition, we would like to extend a special thank to UZH Alumni Shanghai and SwissCham Shanghai for their collaboration and support.

The swissnex China team looks forward to seeing you at our upcoming events!

Switzerland sets the tone at CES ASIA 2019——#SwissTech Showcases Value Creation through Innovation

By Luca Mondada, Junior Project Manager - Innovation & Entrepreneurship

The #SwissTech Pavilion comprising 22 leading Swiss startups had a dynamic and intense three days of pitching, networking and showcasing their cutting-edge innovations today at CES Asia - the biggest tech expo in Asia! With the largest ever country pavilion to date and featuring the CES ASIA awardees in 6 out of 20 categories, the 2019 edition of the Swiss pavilion at CES ASIA left no doubt as to Switzerland’s Number One position in Innovation. The feedback from all stakeholders was extremely positive, adding value for both startups and partners.

“The Swiss pavilion is the largest country pavilion, and it’s recording setting with 6 awards right away! These awards are very rare, and for one country to get six of them is a very big deal.” Gary Shapiro, CEO of CES.

The #SWISSTECH campaign landed for the first time in Asia in a resounding success to a deeply impressed audience with 22 startups from the very best of Swiss deep tech in fields ranging from AI, IoT, AR, Blockchain, Lifestyle, Robotics & Drones and HealthTech.

“With 3 potential clients we are already in discussion about specific projects. So that is a huge success for us. If those key clients will engage with us we will set up an office in China soon.” Jens Henker, CEO of CertX.

The Swiss pavilion was opened jointly by the Swiss Ambassador H.E. Regazzoni and the CEO of CES Gary Shapiro.

Switzerland was the spotlight at several occasions during the show. The ambition of #SWISSTECH was made clear from the start by the welcome addresses from Ambassador H.E. Regazzoni and from CEO of CES Gary Shapiro during the official opening ceremony. Our CES Asia #SWISSTECH team comprising 22 top-level Swiss also had the opportunity to pitch and network with 192 registered industry leaders and potential partners in a personal setting. During their 60 second pitches, the startups had the opportunity to showcase their products.

“CES was a great opportunity for us to confront our app to the Chinese market […]. I have now several meetings scheduled for the next days to come. I may even push back my flight to Switzerland!” Alexis Steinmann, CEO of Tomplay.

In addition to the access to over 1’400 members of the media and 40’000 industry attendees during the exhibition, the startups could meet over 150 of some of China’s most influential investors during the CES ASIA Swiss pavilion pitching night. The startups competed hard for the prize of the night that was awarded together by a panel of judges and the audience.

After three intense days of exhibition, over 100 onstage pitches and countless one-on-one meetings with potential partners, the startups are now either on their way back home, or busy keeping the streak in China with potential partners and investors – in any case, swissnex China wants to thank them for their brilliant showcase of Swiss innovation, and hopes to welcome them soon again in Shanghai.

Switzerland shone with a record number of CES ASIA Innovation Awards in 6 of the 20 categories.

Maxwell Biosystems brings MaxTwo World Launch Tour 2019 to China

By Simin Yang, Project Coordinator - Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Maxwell Biosystems is a startup that took part in the Innosuisse Market Entry Camp for China. This time, Maxwell Biosystems arrives in China with its new product MaxTwo. On May 20, swissnex China supported MaxWell Biosystem with the launch of a scientific workshop where we invited local and international speakers from different fields, such as stem cells, organoids, in-vitro technologies, neuroscience/neuro-engineering, toxicity, safety pharmacology, and drug discovery.

During the workshop, Dr. Urs Frey, CEO of MaxWell Biosystems shared their Company Overview and MEA Technology Trend.

Dr. Wei Gong, Application Scientist, shared the” iPSCs for CNS Drug Discovery - Phenotype Characterization and Novel Biomarkers”

The MaxTwo mainframe is an incubator allowing cells to have a proper environment during recording. It is designed for integration with automation systems. Overall, MaxTwo is a powerful electrical imaging system for drug discovery, safety pharmacology, and iPSC phenotyping applications.

 The event allowed the fascinated audience to learn more about the applications of high-resolution microelectrode arrays and to have a hands-on experience with the MaxTwo product.

 Company Overview 

MaxWell Biosystems AG is an electronics and biotechnology company based in Basel, Switzerland that provides instrumentation and solutions to advance neuroscience research and accelerate drug discovery. The company was incorporated in September 2016.

 Product Overview 

MaxWell Biosystems’ MaxTwo is a CMOS-based multiwell HD-MEA platform. It has all the capabilities of MaxOne–it captures high-quality signals at sub cellular resolution from long-term culture experiments. Electrical stimulation protocols can also be performed.

MaxTwo multiwell HD-MEA system allows for easy and vibration-free insertion of the multi-well MEA.

Future of Money: Brilliance in Fintech

By Mirjam Haab, Junior Project Manager - Science Outreach & Diplomacy

On April 23, swissnex China had the immense honour to organize for the President of the Swiss Confederation and Head of the Federal Department of Finance Mr. Ueli Maurer the Future of Money: Brilliance in Fintech event. On the occasion of his State Visit to China, Ueli Maurer attended the Shanghai event accompanied by two delegations of official and financial dignitaries. Among the delegations were the State Secretary, three Ambassadors, the President of the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA, the Chairmen of SIX and SwissBanking and high-ranking representatives from all sectors of the Swiss financial world.

The continuation of swissnex China’s “Future of Money” series was on the topic: “New Technologies in Financial Markets: How China and Switzerland can benefit from each other”.

President of the Swiss Confederation meets with Swiss and Chinese delegations. (From left: Felix Moesner, CEO & Science Consul of swissnex China, Dr David Chang, Vice President of Shanghai Blockchain Association, Mr Peilung Li, Founder and Chairman of LUN Partners, Dean Charles Chang of Fanhai International School of Finance, Fudan University, Mr Ueli Maurer, President of the Swiss Confederation and Head of the Federal Department of Finance (FDF), Dr Romeo Lacher, Chairman of the Board of Directors of SIX, Dr Daniela Stoffel, State Secretary for International Finance, Mr Herbert J. Scheidt, Chairman of the Swiss Bankers Association (SBA), Prof Thomas Puschmann, Director of Swiss FinTech Innovation Lab, University of Zurich)

After a welcome speech by Wenzhon Jin (CEO of Orient Securities), President Ueli Maurer held the first keynote speech. He addressed two thought-provoking trade-offs emerging concomitant with new financial technologies. The second keynote speech by Herbert J. Scheidt, Chairman of the Swiss Bankers Association, concentrated on Switzerland as a Fintech enabler and catered some key data on recent developments.

Mr Ueli Maurer, President of the Swiss Confederation delivers an opening keynote speech, calling for the Sino-Swiss collaboration and mutual benefit in fintech.

Mr Herbert J. Scheidt, Chairman of the Swiss Bankers Association (SBA) delivers a keynote speech.

 A highly relevant panel discussion moderated by Dr. David Chang (Vice President of Shanghai Blockchain Association) ensued the keynote speeches. The five top-class panellists were Dr. Daniela Stoffel (State Secretary for International Finance), Prof. Charles Chang (Dean of Fanhai Institute for International Finance at Fudan University), Dr. Romeo Lacher (Chairman of the Board of Directors of SIX), Peilung Li (Founder and Chairman of LUN Partners Group) and Prof. Thomas Puschmann (Director of the SwissFinTech Innovation Lab at University of Zurich). Some of the main discussion points revolved around regulatory frameworks, the handling of strictly regulated incumbents when unregulated disruptors enter the market, and how Sino-Swiss synergies could benefit both countries, for example regarding the Belt and Road initiative.

Moderated by Dr David Chang, Vice President of Shanghai Blockchain Association, the panel discussion features topics on current regulatory framework, traditional wealth management industry and Fintech startups.

 Orient Securities provided the event location in the South Bund area, allowing for a subsequent networking opportunity with a spectacular view of the Shanghai skyline.

The Swiss and Chinese delegations gathered for the networking cocktail reception at the Bund .

Thank you for the close collaboration with the Swiss Confederation, SwissBanking, SIX, University of Zurich, FISF Fudan University, Orient Securities, Blocknology Capital, The Asian Banker and Presence Switzerland.

All in all, the event was a financial extravaganza with first-class keynote speakers and panellists as well as top-level guests. The event was a great opportunity to shed light on the Venture Leaders Fintech program, which will take place in November 2019 in Hong Kong and Shenzhen.

Exploring Digital Media and Innovation in China - Tamedia Innovation Study Tour

By Yingzhen Chen, Junior Project Manager - PR & Communications

As Chinese technological innovation has been growing at an impressive rate in recent years, it has prompted a new wave of new media innovation that is redefining the Chinese media landscape. From April 1-5, swissnex China had the pleasure of organizing a 5-day Chinese digital media study trip for an executive delegation from Tamedia 20 Minuten, for the purpose of better understanding the new media ecosystem in China, discuss and exchange best practices with their Chinese counterparts, and have a deep dive into China’s latest innovations.

Taking part in the program were Marco Boselli, Editor-in-Chief of 20 Minuten, Gaudenz Looser, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of 20 Minuten, Mike Jenke, Head of Product of 20 Minuten and Mike J. Herter, Head of Innovation of Tamedia.

On April 1, the first day of the program, Dr. Felix Moesner, Science Consul and CEO of swissnex China, welcomed the delegation to China and gave a brief introduction to the Tamedia delegation on the research and innovation landscape in China, and what the swissnex China team does to connect the dots between Switzerland and China.

swissnex China team warmly welcomed the Tamedia delegations in Shanghai office.

Afterwards, two members of the delegation visited Ximalaya (Himalaya), the leading audio and podcast sharing platform in China. The representatives of Ximalaya introduced their innovative audio ecosystem, including its content production and distribution process, podcaster university and business model, and they had an in-depth discussion on content distribution innovation.

Concurrently, the other two delegation members visited Shanghai Daily, the largest English-language newspaper in Shanghai and second largest in China, started its digital platform SHINE in October 1999. The executive representatives shared their respective experiences on digital transformation in the news industry.

Tamedia delegation with the Shanghai Daily editors.

In the afternoon, the group visited Yitiao, one of the most influential short-video new media in China focusing on lifestyle, fashion and art-focused content, providing daily quality videos and articles and targeting the Chinese middle class. The editors of Yitiao showed their studios, post-production rooms and a ‘kitchen studio’ exclusively for their food channel Mei Shi Tai.

Yitiao’s kitchen studio for its popular food social media Mei Shi Tai.

Pear Video, the leading information short video platform in China, own its office in Shanghai and Beijing.

For the last stop of the day, the group visited Pear Video, a leading news video platform founded in 2016, with 30k approved freelancers across China and globally, generating 1k videos every week. All the videos are fact-checked and quality-controlled internally. Pear Video recently launched Commonly as its English platform on Weibo.

On the second day, the group was invited to visit the College of Arts and Media of Tongji University in Jiading. The Vice Dean and professors welcomed the delegations and guided them on a comprehensive campus tour. The group visited various research facilities of the college, including fundamental labs and specialized practice labs in animation, interactive media, visual effects and electronic media etc. It was an insightful opportunity for the delegation to establish an overview of Chinese new media ecosystem from the academic side, at one of the first-tier new media colleges in China.

The Tamedia delegation visits the animation dome at the College of Arts and Media of Tongji University.

In the afternoon, the group continued their tour by transferring from academia to the latest practices in the industry, to grasp some ideas on how the traditional media dealt with their innovation. Yicai (China Business Network), China’s largest and most comprehensive financial media group owned by Shanghai Media Group (SMG) welcomed the delegations, guided them to their news rooms, studios, product department, among other facilities. Within the affiliate network of Yicai, there are Yicai TV, China Business News, YiMagazine, Yicai New Media Tech，Yicai Global, Yicai Radio, Yicai Forum, Yicai Research Institute, Big Data, Lujiazui Financial Herald and etc.

The Yicai executive boards was presenting Yicai company, the delegations exchanges valuable experiences on traditional media transformation.

After Yicai, the group visited International Channel Shanghai (ICS), the foreign language cable channel of SMG, which started producing 10 o’clock English news in 1986. The representatives from both companies shared their insights in the new media innovation.

The main television studio of ICS.

After exploring the latest digital innovation in the media industry in Shanghai, the group started a new chapter of the tour in Beijing, the capital city of China which is home to many headquarters of technology, media companies and startups. Taking the Renaissance EMU high speed train at speeds up to 350km/h, the delegation arrived in Beijing on April 3 by travelling 1318 kilometres in 4.5 hours.

The first stop in Beijing was the Kuaishou HQ (Kwai on the international market) and Acfun. Kuaishou is the largest social video sharing platform in the world with more than 700 million registered users and more than 100 million daily active users who upload over 10 million videos everyday. Kuaishou encourages users to share their stories in ordinary life. By applying AI and big data, Kuaishou enables machines to have a deeper insight into users, to understand their behaviour data in boosting the video production, understanding and distribution, at the same time presenting a diverse and down-to-earth community. Acfun is a popular Chinese video sharing website among the animation, comic, game and novel audiences, it was acquired by Kuaishou in 2018.

The Tamedia delegations with Kuaishou International PR team at Kuaishou HQ in Beijing.

The senior manager of Innoway was presenting China’s first Baidu Brain Innovation Experience Center at Innoway in Beijing.

In order to obtain an image of the China start-up culture and innovation in a nutshell, the group visited Innoway, China’s No.1 Hi-tech landmark of start-ups, created by Beijing and Haidian District. The mixture of investor offices, show-room, start-up cafes and “incubators” located in Beijing’s tech-heavy Zhongguancun. Since June 2014, Innoway has incubated over 1,900 Startups, with more than 222 international ventures. 743 Startups successfully received investments, accounting for 9.104 Billion RMB.  The representatives of Innoway introduced the group about Innoway projects and organized a networking dinner with some startup founders.

On April 4, the group visited the Phoenix International Media Center, the new headquarter and broadcast center of China’s largest private broadcaster Phoenix TV. With the Phoenix Chinese Channel, the Phoenix InfoNews Channel, the Phoenix Chinese News and Entertainment Channel which broadcasts in Europe, the Phoenix North American Chinese Channel, the Phoenix Movie Channel and the Phoenix Hong Kong Channel, Phoenix TV reach audience excess of 360 million worldwide. Wang Shu, the architect of the Phoenix International Media Center, received the 2012 Pritzker Prize for his ballooning torus formed by a twisting lattice of steel surrounded by glass. It was extremely interesting to visit the building while being guided through Phoenix TV’s studios, news rooms and exhibition arena in this artistic pavilion.

The group enjoyed a exciting tour at the Phoenix International Media Center with the Phoenix TV delegations.

The delegation also visited iQIYI, an innovative market-leading online entertainment service in China launched in 2010. The average mobile monthly active users of its mobile app is 565 million, ranked No.1 in the Chinese online video streaming platform, also the No.3 among top Chinese apps. iQIYI’s comprehensive entertainment ecosystem provides users with services including e-commerce, comics, literature, gaming, movie ticket bookings and short videos. The representatives of iQIYI introduced their business, content production and distribution model, IP ecosystem as well as AI-driven technology. By applying technological innovation such AI, Dolby Atmos, 4K and adaptive bitstream, iQIYI built up system on video intelligent creation, production, tagging, distribution, play, monetization and customer service. 

The Tamedia delegation was visiting the iQIYI exhibition wall in iQIYI ‘s HQ in Haidian, Beijing.

Last but not least, the group paid a visit to Plug and Play China in Zhongguancun, to obtain deeper insights into the start-up and investment ecosystem in media-related field. Plug and Play China had built up the largest innovation platform bridging startups, investors and blue chip corporations globally. The delegations exchanged creative ideas on case studies in different industries such as VR and advertising.

The Tamedia delegations were discussing innovative case studies of startups in media and VR industries with the PLUG and PLAY delegations.

swissnex China was honoured and delighted to receive the Tamedia executive delegation, providing them with an overview of the landscape of the Chinese new media and innovation ecosystem and opening a dialogue for potential bilateral Sino-Swiss collaboration. We would also like to express our great appreciation to the companies mentioned above for the warm welcome and their precious time in presenting the companies.

25 years in China – The successful journey of the Swiss Architect Daniel Heusser

By Gabriel Bishop, Junior Project Manager for Academic Relations

Every few months, SwissCham and swissnex China invite a seasoned Swiss professional based in China in the scope of an event series called the FiresideChat. This interactive format is an opportunity to share experiences and practices, notably on the topics of setting up a business or settling in China as well as on many related cross-cultural considerations.

On April 8, 2019, we had the pleasure to welcome the Swiss Architect Daniel Heusser. After graduating in architecture from ETH Zurich, Daniel Heusser has worked as senior architect and project manager in China for 25 years, first in the role of the Vice General Manager of a Sino-Swiss Joint Venture company for Architecture and Urban Planning in Shijiazhuang and Beijing, and from the year 2003 onwards as founder and managing partner of Virtuarch in Shanghai.

Dr. Felix Moesner, Science Consul and CEO of swissnex China, welcoming the guests.

He took the opportunity of the chat to reflect on his journey and his learning experience since he arrived in the Chinese context of the 1990’s. He was able to highlight the challenges he faced, first in the establishment of the joint-venture and then in taking the big plunge of swimming on his own when he founded his own company in 2003.

He was further able to touch on a number of aspects, including the managing of Virtuarch, laying out strategies as well as planning and overlooking well designed projects, stressing the importance of trusting his gut feelings to prevent problems and having the flexibility to adapt – and to readapt – to ever changing circumstances.

Mr. Daniel Heusser, presenting his journey, sharing insights on how to build a successful business in China and answering questions.

Daniel Heusser’s key to success can hardly be summed up in a few words. Nonetheless, on that evening it appeared that without denying his “Swiss way”, he managed to grow by being receptive to and learning from a “Chinese way”, which is a point he expressed when answering questions during the Q&A session that followed his speech.

For the occasion, our community was joined by a delegation from the EMBA of the School of Management of Fribourg, and all the guests were able to further exchange and connect during the networking reception that followed.

On this note, we would also like to thank ETH Zurich and the ETH Zurich Alumni Chapter for supporting the event.

The swissnex China team looks forward to seeing you at our upcoming events.

Francophonie - A Call to Gather: Café des Sciences Special Edition

By Yao Lan, Junior Project Manager Interdisciplinary & Special Projects & Luca Mondada, Junior Project Manager Innovation & Entrepreneurship

To celebrate the Francophonie month of March, Café des Sciences Lecture series presented a special edition co-organized with other French speaking countries and regions on Thursday, 21st of March. 5 Scientists and startups from Belgium, Canada, France, Luxembourg and Switzerland were invited to present their research and pitch their projects. Creative design, sustainable energy, botanical science and various other topics are discovered and explored through the lecture. An audience of more than 70 French speakers in Shanghai gathered together in the swissnex China conference room to exchange with the speakers and enjoy the social networking Apéro.

The first speaker — Arthur Limpens from Belgium - introduced the development and keys to success of the startup DesignNest, a consumer product design platform. He started DesignNest during his studies and the company is today present across the globe, with a valuation around USD 30M and 120 employees across 5 locations as well as its own factory. He focused on widely used products, but proposed innovative designs focused on what purpose the product really serves. A good example is a multi-plug that looks unexciting at first; but its thought-through functional design made it an extremely popular product. The startup now launched a platform where designers from around the world can collaborate with the company to realize their products using their expertise and experience.

The second speaker is Prof. Gilles Vincent. He is a Canadian scientist now based at the Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden, where he can grow plants in a controlled environment on a real-life scale. This setup is unique in the world, as most botanic experiments are either on a very small scale or have external factors that cannot be controlled. His research focuses on two questions very relevant for urban Shanghai: waste water treatment and “phytoremediation”: the use of plants to clean polluted soil. His team has successfully recognized plants suited for both tasks and the results of his research is already being applied by the municipality of Shanghai.

Our third speaker is Pierre Angot from France. He is Co-Founder of ProtectorChain, a startup that helps companies improve the security of their supply chains using blockchain. He shared the blockchain technology with the audience. The blockchain allows every actor in a supply chain to record and store information that will be accessible to everyone. What makes this special and particularly useful is the fact that no actor can modify the data once it is stored. It thus acts as a proof of everything that has happened.

After developing a prototype for robot vision during his PhD at ETH, the fourth speaker — Prof. Laurent Kneip from Luxembourg worked on extending his research to self-driving cars. He is now Assistant Professor at Shanghai Tech university, where he is developing a tool to drive cars autonomously based on the sensors that are already present today in cars on the market. His team is hoping to achieve that by limiting autonomous driving to a controlled environment; in particular, they hope to enable cars to park autonomously in certain parking lots. This technology allows to track movement using only a limited number of sensors, which can have many attractive real-world applications.

The last speaker Laurent Coulot is from Switzerland. He graduated from EPFL, where he started working on solar panels with the goal of increasing their efficiency. Using technology usually reserved for space equipment and smartly focusing the light to reduce the costs, Laurent and his growing team came up with a design of solar panel that is viable for large scale production and commercialization. They are therefore moving to the next step, where China will play a decisive role for them: finding partners for the production of their solar panels.

From Left to Right: Arthur Limpens (Speaker), Co-Founder of DesignNest; Marie-Adélaïde Matheï, Consul for economic affairs, Consulate General of the Kingdom of Belgium / Wallonie-Bruxelles International; Gaétan Messin, Science & Technology Attaché, Consulate General of France; Pierre Angot (Speaker), Co-Founder of ProtectorChain; Anneleen Van Landeghem, Consulate General in Shanghai, The Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg; Prof. Laurent Kneip, Tenure-Track Assistant Professor at Shanghai Tech university, Shanghai Tech University; François Dansereau, Head of Political and Public Affairs, Vice-Consul, Consulate General of Canada / Québec Government Office in Shanghai; Prof. Gilles Vincent (Speaker), Special advisor to the Executive President, Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden; Laurent Coulot (Speaker), Co-Founder and CEO, Insolight; Dr. Felix Moesner, CEO & Science Consul, swissnex China; Rahel Gruber, Operations Manager & Co-Deputy CEO, swissnex China.

Café des Sciences - Francophonie special edition, was co-organized with the Consulate General of Belgium / Wallonie-Bruxelles International, the Consulate General of Canada / Québec Government Office in Shanghai, the Consulate General of France / French Tech Shanghai and the Consulate General of Luxembourg. We'd like to appreciate our thanks and appreciation to their great support in co-organizing this event!

Café des Sciences is a new format at swissnex China offering a monthly platform for Swiss Spotlight Scientists and Start-ups to present their projects and connect with the local community. The lectures will offer a casual setting in which speakers can present their work and engage with the attendees during a Q&A period. Audience are welcome to enjoy the networking reception with Swiss flavour after the talk. The lecture is scheduled to take place every third Thursday each month at swissnex China or our partner spaces.

Visit to the World’s Most Valuable AI Startup Unicorn Together with S&TDC

By Priska Furrer, Junior Project Manager

On February 25, swissnex China joined a visit of the Science & Technology Diplomatic Circle to the world’s most valuable artificial intelligence startup unicorn SenseTime. SenseTime focuses on computer vision and deep learning and is valued US$6 billion. SenseTime leads the market in almost all vertical industries, including smart city, smartphone, mobile internet, online entertainment, automobile, finance, retail, education, real estate, and so forth. The company boasts more than 700 customers and partners in China and overseas, including world-renowned institutions and companies such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Qualcomm, NVIDIA, Honda Motors, Alibaba Group, Suning, China Mobile, China UnionPay, wanda, Huawei, Xiaomi Technology, OPPO, vivo, orWeibo Corporation. It also established the National Open Innovation Platform for Next-Generation Artificial Intelligence on Intelligent Vision. The future plan is to extend its Shanghai base to host 3000 employees and accommodate the largest of 5 supercomputers with 30’000 GPUs. Already now, an impressive 250 PhDs in AI are working for SenseTime.

Discover Swiss Collision-resistant Drones for Inaccessible Places | Café des Sciences

On 21st February, swissnex China organized an networking-event focused on Swiss safe drones in Shanghai. Including scientists, investors and experts from local drone industry, 50 registered guests came and joined the event. We invited Xiaolin Briod-Wang, General Manager of Greater China at Swiss startup & EPFL spin-off Flyability to give us the speech about its drone ELIOS, which is the world’s first collision-tolerant Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. The speech was followed by networking session with Swiss-style refreshments.

During the event, Xiaolin presented Flyability and introduced it’s safe drone - ELIOS - for industrial inspection where it avoids sending people in dangerous and confined spaces for the inspection of energy, oil & gas or transport infrastructure. ELIOS is also active in search & rescue and security to assess emergency situations without putting humans at risk.

Dr. Felix Moesner, Science Consul & CEO of swissnex China, gave the welcome speech

50 Audience came to the event.

Integrated payload, on-board lightening, continuous operation, LIVE 2.4 GHZ video feedback, protective frame… as Master of Science in Microtechnology, Xiaolin explained the design and construction of ELIOS in details. She also showed two videos as examples that ELIOS was used for inspection in China in order to save the cost and time as well as improve the safety: one is for China-ASEAN Exposition event inspection, the other is for sewer inspection in Shanghai city.

After the presentation, there was a followed-up Q&A session. The audience was interested in ELIOS and gave many insightful feedback about its applications for different kinds of inaccessible places.

This event was also the 2nd Edition of our new “Café des Sciences” event series - a monthly platform for Swiss Spotlight Scientists and Start-ups to present their projects and connect with the local community, which are scheduled to take place every third Thursday each month at swissnex China or our partner spaces. We would like kindly invite you to join our upcoming events.

Networking with refreshment. (Catering: GEVENA Restaurant & Bar)

Networking with the speaker.

From Left to Right: Cissy Yiwen Sun (Project Leader for Interdisciplinary Projects of swissnex China), Dr. Felix Moesner (Science Consul & CEO of swissnex China), Xiaolin Briod-Wang (General Manager of Greater China at Flyability), Xiaolu Zhu (Interpreter)

swissnex China visits Landspace: a Private Sector Pioneer in the Chinese Commercial Aerospace Industry

On January 17, the swissnex China team joined its colleagues from the Section of Science, Education and Technology at the Embassy of Switzerland in Beijing for an insightful visit to the Beijing-based Land Space Technology Corporation Ltd. (LandSpace hereafter), a pioneer in the Chinese private commercial aerospace industry that was founded in 2015 by Tsinghua University.

The teams from Shanghai and Beijing were warmly received by Landspace.

LandSpace conducted the first Chinese private orbital launch on October 27, 2018 with its ZQ-1 rocket and is currently testing the ZQ-2, a medium-scale and low-cost commercial launch vehicle system that is independently developed by LandSpace with independent intellectual property rights. They aim to achieve reusable methalox orbital rocket launch by 2020. The private aerospace enterprise has two R&D centers based in Beijing and Xi’an, and an Intelligent Manufacturing Base in Huzhou, Zhejiang. LandSpace seeks to target the international market with its small and medium scale, low-cost launch vehicles.

Mr. Kevin Xu gave a comprehensive introduction to LandSpace's mission, activities and products.

Exchange between LandSpace and swissnex on the commercial aerospace industry.

swissnex China received an in-depth presentation on the mission, activities and the evolution of LandSpace products. Ms. Liu Chenchen, Project Officer from the Beijing team, also presented to LandSpace the Swiss expertise in various deep-tech and high-precision fields, opening the dialogue for potential Sino-Swiss collaboration.

Our thanks to LandSpace for their warm welcome and insightful presentation!

We would like to express our fond appreciation to Mr. Kevin Xu (Director, Sales & Business Development), Ms. Emily Zhang (Chief Financial Officer) and Ms. Lisa Shen (Senior Sales Manager) at LandSpace for the warm welcome and their time in presenting the activities. Our thanks to our colleagues in Beijing for arranging the visit.

Shanghai & Beijing teams at the Great Wall.

Morning breakout session with Shanghai and Beijing teams.

In the morning of the 17th, our Shanghai and Beijing teams also held a fruitful breakout session defining strategies, sharing best practices, exploiting synergies as well as tackle the challenges. Each of the sections also presented their 2018 activities and outlook for 2019.

swissnex China takes a Deep Dive into the Future of Logistics with S&TDC

On January 14, swissnex China joined its peers from the Science & Technology Diplomatic Circle for its first event in 2019, which was a visit to Alibaba Group's Cainiao Future Park in Wuxi. The logistics arm of the leading Chinese e-commerce platform is highly innovative and ambitious.

Group photo with the members of the S&TDC and the hosts of the visit from Alibaba Group.

It was an insightful visit of the largest automated warehouse in China with over 700 robots (= automated guided vehicles or AGVs). Most of the robots seen in action are Quicktron robots able to lift racks up to 500kg and automatically pick up a parcel and deliver it to another part of the warehouse where it is then picked up by a delivery firm. One purpose of the new flagship warehouse is field testing various logistics technologies as well as establishing new standards. The new process has brought significant time savings and improved accuracy reaching 98%. Alibaba invested billions to build a national Internet-based intelligent logistics backbone in China and works nowadays with over 3000 partners worldwide. Its publicly stated goal for the next 5-10 years is to deliver to anyone in China within 24 hours and internationally in 72 hours. In 2018, it took 2.6 days to deliver the 1042 million parcels ordered during 11.11, the Singles Day.

Cainiao is the largest automated warehouse in China with over 700 AGVs | Photo: Quicktron (PlaceTech)

On the statistics side, Cainiao covers internationally 224 countries and regions and domestically more than 2700 counties and villages, is connected with over 3 million express courier personnel, and processes 16 trillion pieces of logistics data per day. The smart logistic network has a daily average package volume of 69 million connected to the whole society. Cainiao is developing highly innovative solutions and technologies such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), unmanned vehicles, express towers, cabinets which can be unlocked using facial recognition, and many more. Some of those technologies are already in use as pilot projects in some university towns.

Delivery speed growth from 2009-2018 | Graphic: Cainiao Network (Alizina)

Future of Money series: Sino-Swiss Luncheon Talk on Blockchain Trends

Shanghai, October 25 – Continuing the Future of Money series, swissnex China co-organized ‘BlockchainBites’, our first Blockchain luncheon. The speakers were Dr. Wei Cheng, Co-Founder of ChainFunder (top tier Chinese CryptoFund) and Quentin Reyes, Junior Project Leader on Blockchain at swissnex China. They both focused about the latest blockchain trends and perspectives in Switzerland and China. After Quentin gave an in-depth overview of the Swiss Fintech and Blockchain landscape and the new “Blockchain Center” at the University of Zurich, Dr. Cheng talked about blockchain developments in China and the latest “Dos” and “Don‘ts” in an interview format. The dialogue finally moved into an active Q&A with the 80 people in the audience.

Welcoming words by swissnex CEO Felix Moesner and SwissCham Vice President Gianna Abegg

Quentin Reyes, swissnex China interviewed Dr. Wei Cheng, ChainFunder

An active audience of 80 people joined the Blcokchain luncheon

Registration for the luncheon

This event “BlockchainBites” was in partnership with SwissCham (Digitalization Committee), UZH Alumni Shanghai and Presence Switzerland and held at the Four Seasons Hotel, Shanghai.

Background: The "Future of Money" series on FinTech by swissnex China was held in Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong and focused on Blockchain and AI in WealthTech. The event BlockchainBites is the 7th event of this series in Greater China.

Makiko Aikawa & Gianna Abegg (Co-Presidents UZH Alumni Shanghai), Quentin Reyes, Dr. Wei Cheng and Felix Moesner

How Does China Drive Innovation and How Switzerland can Leverage from it?

Geneva, December 7 – After the opening words by Christophe Weber, President of the Swiss-Chinese Chamber of Commerce, our CEO Felix Moesner gave a talk on "How Does China Drive Innovation and How Switzerland Can Leverage from It?". His deep dive into the foundations of innovation in China included "Made in China 2025", his insights on what we can learn from ‘China speed’ and what his team at swissnex China – the Science Consulate of Switzerland in China – does to connect the dots between Switzerland and China in education, research and innovation. An outstanding audience with 50 registered guests contributed to a lively Q&A, which was moderated by Christophe Weber, and continued during the networking event, where many old and new friends of swissnex China joined for 90 minutes and beyond.

The talk was in excellent partnership with the Swiss-Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Geneva Chapter. Special thanks go to Christophe Weber, President, Alexandre Gaillard, Secretary General, Philippe Nasr, Chief Operating Officer, and Yunfei Gao, Chief Business Development Officer for their effective and efficient collaboration.

CEO Felix Moesner highlights some hightech innovation examples

An audience of 50 registered guests attended the talk

SCCC President Christopher Weber did the moderation

Talk on Innovation in China

Networking with old and new friends of swissnex China

Picture credit: Philippe Nasr and Anna Lupina Wegener

SCCC website: https://www.sccc.ch/events/how-does-china-drive-innovation-and-how-switzerland-can-leverage-from-it

Unchaining the Blockchain in Zurich

Title: Ambassador Mauro Moruzzi, Head of swissnex network, State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation SERI

by Quentin Charles Reyes, Junior Project Manager for Blockchain 

Last Tuesday at Careum Zurich, swissnex China’s team was proud to have organized the annual event of the swissnex Network in collaboration with State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation SERI, fostering ground-breaking discussions on the regulations, opportunities, threats and challenges surrounding the topic of Blockchain and offering a unique opportunity for the swissnex Swiss partners and Blockchain actors to meet the Swiss global network for education, research and innovation.

Photo: Dr. Felix Moesner, CEO swissnex China, gave the speech

Prof. Dr. Michael Hengartner, President, University of Zurich, gave the speech

During the day, top Blockchain guest speakers shared their views and insights over the current and future state of the Blockchain technology. With the swissnexDay’18, swissnex China organized it’s first event outside of China and we are very proud of the quality, the popularity and the positive reviews we received during and after the event from not only  the other swissnex outposts but also from Swiss Blockchain entrepreneurs, academia and government officials.   

Prof. Dr. Lino Guzzella, President, ETH Zurich

Daniel Haudenschild, CEO Swisscom Blockchain AG

Katherine Foster, Chief Strategy Officer, BLOC

Livio Ammeter, Legal and Policy Specialist Fintech Desk, Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA

We would like to thank our high-profile speakers: Ambassador Mauro Moruzzi (SERI); President Michael Hengartner (University of Zurich); President Lino Guzzella (ETH Zurich); Thomas Heiniger (Kanton Zürich); Katherine A. Foster (CSO, BLOC), Daniel Haudenschild (CEO, Swisscom Blockchain), Livio Luca Ammeter (FINMA), Olga Feldmeier (CEO, SMART VALOR), Sam Lee (Founder & CEO, Blockchain Global Limited), Thomas Puschmann (Swiss Fintech Innovations) and Alan Wunsche, MBA,CPA,CBP, (CTO, TokenFunder), and our panel moderator Olivia Chang (CNNMoney Switzerland).

We would also like to express our appreciation to our event partners University of Zurich, ETH Zurich, CNNMoney Switzerland, Crypto Valley Association and Careum Zurich for their strong support.

Panel Discussion