Catering to the business needs of Austrian companies in China during a global pandemic is no easy task. Hosting webinars or online conferencing also will not suffice to meet the demand for live events and direct communication. Especially the Chinese business world relies heavily on human-to-human interaction and relationships of mutual trust. Therefore, we needed to come up with different concepts to offer our Austrian businesses in China a platform to present themselves in this competitive market and to build relationships with potential customers or business partners face-to-face.
After a long coronavirus-induced break of larger events, ADVANTAGE AUSTRIA Chengdu organized its first Austria Showcase this year in the context of China Hi-Tech Fair in Shenzhen on 11-12 November. Due to the travel restrictions, however, it addressed solely the subsidiaries of Austrian companies here.
The event was wholeheartedly welcomed by our participants who appeared to be yearning for such live formats.
Coping with these new realities, we also switched to other new and innovative offline formats to cater to the needs of Austrian businesses in China. A good example is our joint business trip to one of China’s largest steel factories, Pangang, in Panzhihua October this year. Our Commercial Counselor Ms. Birgit Murr along with two curious Austrian companies explored business opportunities in Panzhihua and had the chance for a chat with Pangang’s top management as well as in-depth B2B-talks. The great feedback from the two companies motivated us to further develop this concept.
In November, Ms. Murr invited two Austrian logistics companies to pay a visit to Chongqing’s Railway Hub, learn more about the growing business on the China-Europe Railway along the Silk Road and establish even better business relationships with this important logistics center.
What’s next?
Since these previous trips were received very well by the Austrian companies, we are currently planning similar visits to other exciting places of opportunity within our service area. The visit will take place in December in China’s Hunan province.
Moreover, we plan to take on destinations such as Zhanjiang and Nanning in Guangxi (steel industry), Hainan (health industry) and Yunnan (tobacco industry). In case we caught your attention with our plans and you would like to join Ms. Murr on one of her next visits, feel free to get in touch with us at any time at chengdu@advantageaustria.org.
