Business Delegation to Shenzhen and the 2nd Shenzhen China-Japan Investment Summit

At the invitation of the Shenzhen Municipal Government, the Association sent a business delegation to Shenzhen from 22 to 25 October 2018, headed by Chief Adviser Hiroshi Fujiwara, Chairman, President and CEO of Broadband Tower, Inc. It was the Association's first visit to Shenzhen since its founding in September. Members came from Japanese industry and academia, including manufacturers, trading houses, IT entrepreneurs, securities firms and universities. On 23 October the delegation took part in the 2nd Shenzhen China-Japan Investment Summit.

Itinerary

• 22 October: welcome dinner hosted by Shenzhen, with remarks by Wu Huan, Deputy Head of the Shenzhen United Front Work Department, and a reply from Mr Fujiwara
• 23 October (morning): visits to Longhua District and the Shenzhen Information Center, with briefings on key industries and talent policies
• 23 October (afternoon): 2nd Shenzhen China-Japan Investment Summit
• 24 October: company visits including Tencent, Huawei and Xiaopu

The 2nd Shenzhen China-Japan Investment Summit

President Jiang Feng spoke as a guest, noting that the summit coincided with the 40th anniversary of the Japan-China Treaty of Peace and Friendship. Mr Fujiwara gave a keynote on the importance of Japan-China exchange in the IT and IoT sectors, describing Japan's path through the fourth industrial revolution with IoT case studies. Weng Daokui, then Vice President, spoke on investment in Japan from a practitioner's viewpoint, citing its advantages and the many profitable firms facing succession issues.

President Jiang chaired the roundtable that followed, with Mr Fujiwara, Weng Daokui, Zhang Renfa (CEO, Xinhua Chuang Capital), Tang Songrong (CEO, Dongjia Jinfu) and Shoichi Noguchi (Professor Emeritus, Tohoku University), and also delivered the summit's closing summary.

Outcome

After seeing Shenzhen's business environment and investment policies, the Japanese entrepreneurs showed strong interest in investing in the city. The visit was the first of the delegations to Shenzhen that are central to the Association's mission. It laid the groundwork for the exchanges that followed.