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CMS: Focus on Doing Business in China

11/11/2011

At the event “Focus China”, which took place early this week and was organised and hosted by international law firm CMS Reich-Rohrwig Hainz, companies learned all they need to know about doing business in the country. CMS legal experts from Shanghai and Vienna shed light on key aspects of expanding into China and a high-profile round of experts working in the region discussed their experiences in the country. 200 visitors came to this interesting CMS event.

Following “Focus Russia”, “Focus China” was the second highly successful CMS event with a country focus on an emerging market. On 8 November 2011, CMS experts from Shanghai and Vienna presented an overview of legal framework conditions to consider when doing business in China. Topics discussed included M&A activities and joint ventures, secondment of staff to China, tax issues of opening business establishments in the country and, of course, the perennial question of how to protect intellectual property. Christian K. Fuchs of Kick Off Management Consulting gave the audience an insight into specifics to consider when communicating with Chinese business partners from a business psychology point of view.

Lenzing AG CEO Peter Untersperger, whose company is strongly represented in China, drew an optimistic yet differentiated picture of the Asian nation in his keynote speech. He also participated in a high-profile panel discussion, which deliberated on success factors for business in China. Joseph Eberle, division manager corporate customers at RBI, Thomas Obendrauf, CFO of AT&S, Robert Kastil, CFO of Rosenbauer AG, and Peter Weigand, management board member at TTTech Computertechnik AG, – who can all report about successful business activities in the Middle Kingdom – shared their experiences with the audience. All participants in the panel discussion pointed out that the difficulties in protecting intellectual property in China made the market a challenge, yet one that would certainly pay off for Austrian businesses to expand into. For the moment, European businesses were still in the lead because of their innovative power. There was also consensus among the experts that China was continuously gaining in importance as a sales market.

CMS China – local expertise, advice in German

CMS has been active in China since the mid-1990s. “With currently about 25 senior attorneys at the locations in Shanghai and Beijing, we offer our clients international and local expertise, also in German,” Ulrike Glück, managing partner of CMS China underlines an aspect that makes her company the preferred choice for many clients. “We are very happy that our colleagues from Shanghai share their knowledge and experience with our Austrian clients today,” Peter Huber, managing partner at CMS Reich-Rohrwig Hainz and host of the event, said. “Events like ‘Focus China’ show that the competences of CMS reach far beyond the European continent. Our clients benefit from the close, cross-border cooperation of our offices.”

The large number of visitors also bore proof of the great interest of Austrian companies in the growth market China. About 200 guests attended the event hosted by CMS, which was supported by the following cooperation partners: DIE PRESSE, EcoPlus, Eco Styria, ICC Austria, Life Ministry Export Initiative, Medianet, Oesterreichische Kontrollbank and the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber of Commerce.

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