Dear Valued Members and Friends of DUSA,

DUSA is delighted to present to you Bi-Monthly Newsletter which covers following:

• Bi-monthly Recap of Shortlisted Past Events
• Welcome New Member(s)
• What's New with DUSA and Our Members
• Interview with a DUSA Member GM
• Latest Policy and Regulation Updates
• Announcement of Upcoming Events
• DUSA 2019 Oktoberfest Sponsors
• DUSA Annual Partner

-1.1- IBSS SEA November Session:

Transformation of Chinese SMEs in a New Era

On November 7th, IBSS, XJTLU hosted the November Session of SEA Seminar themed "Transformation of Chinese SMEs in a New Era". 

The seminar started with the release of a survey on small enterprises in China conducted by CPA Australia, followed by Dr. Anna Tian's analysis of three major difficulties faced by Chinese SMEs through two theoretical models which were foreign competition, resource constraints and policy limitation. Ms. Sandy Wang, Partner of the China Tax & Business Advisory Services practice in PwC China Suzhou Office, closed the evening by introducing advantages of SMEs from policy aspect, such as the establishment of Suzhou Free Trade Zone. She also mentioned the contribution of SMEs to economy and innovation. Moreover, she used some examples to explain how to use tax policies

-1.2- Training: Inventory Management 

On November 14th, Mr. Shawn Gao gave a training on Inventory Management to 36 attendees from DUSA member companies. 

Attendees paid great attention to what was explained by Shawn and shared by peers in the training. Discussions were still on in the WeChat group after the training. 

-1.3- November Roundtable: 5G for Manufacturing Companies 

On November 21st, DUSA had its first Roundtable in Kunshan. 

Mr. Christian Dorfmueller, Managing Partner of Smart Factory Kunshan welcomed all attendees by introducing Startup Factory and Smart Factory to the audience. The plant tour was split into two groups and was led by Mr. Frank Gaenzle alongside Mr. Dorfmueller. 

Mr. Florian Weihard, GM of Suzhou Ruhlamat Smart Technologies spoke about 5G applications for manufacturing companies. 

Mr. Xu DAI, a former Huawei employee and now an expert on wireless network optimization in the China Telecom Suzhou Branch, started with the introduction of technology evolution from 1G to 5G. He focused on the differences between 4G and 5G illustrating how 5G exceeds its predecessor in just about all directions such as flow density, connection density, air interface delay, mobility, efficiency, user speed, and so on.  

Mr. Dai explained gave examples of how 5G can be applied: Intelligent Connected Vehicle, Remote Control, AR/VR/HD video, Smart Manufacturing, and Internet of Things. Could be used in various ways in manufacturing; application scenarios vary from wireless real time control, industrial wear and industrial image processing, wireless scheduling/positioning of mobile devices such as AGV, sensing /meter data collection, and so on. 

The informative evening ended with a Bavarian dinner and Bavairian beer that was sponsored by Smart Factory Kunshan. 

-1.4- InterChamber Christmas Mixer 

-1.5- Workshop Series Session #1:

Benchmark Manufacturing Company Efficiency held at KeyTec 

How can you pinpoint resources and sharpen operational capabilities in a way that enables you to set the pace in a fast-evolving marketplace?  On December 12th, DUSA organized the 1st session of workshop series "Benchmark Manufacturing Company Efficiency" and invited three speakers to speak on the topics: human and organizational development, operational strategy, and lean production. At the end of the session time was allocated for sharing their expertise and experiences. 

Mr. Jospeh Chen first explained why agile, collaborate, and composite skills and more are needed in the era of VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous). Jospeh analysed the key influences of efficiency to both front-line employees and their superiors from the Whole Person Development Model and neuro-science, where he made reference to his very own project as a case study. 

Mr. Andreas Krahmer shared with attendees the continuous improvement program within the Operational Strategy of Freudenberg Filtration Technologies.

Mr. Volker Michels from Jungheinrich Lift Truck shared the story of Jungheinrich's Efficiency Program – SPEED that targed at lean production with extremely short lead times, why Jungheinrich focused on lead times, and how they implemented globally. At the end, the project was upheld due to organizational changes, which points to the leaders and their ability to adapt to complexity and continuous change. 

Intensive discussion about leadership and how to optimize efficiency were ongoing. Mr. Andrew Zhang, Plant Manager of CAREL and Mr. Uwe Thoenniss, General Mager of Brueckner Group China Co., Ltd. shared their own stories. 

KeyTec was a full house with 45 attendees, all agreed that the points discussed at the worshop were useful and interesting with hopes that DUSA will continue to deliever workshops on such topics. 

-1.6- Training: Sales Strategy in a Difficult Economy 

The economy has been in the doldrums since 2017. Therefore it is particularly important to formulate a successful sales strategy under the continuing economic situation. 

Groups discussed about the challenges faced during the economic downturn such as price, service, delivery lead time, payment period, project postponement, shrinking investment, fierce competition, tight and uncertain national policy environment, the impact of the Sino-US trade war, and so on. 

The attendees discussed scenarios and generated advice and solutions via collective intelligence: What to do when customers are asking for customized products of higher quality but are not willing to pay extra while headquarters do not want to invest more? What do customers expect from salespeople? How can sales create more value for customers? How to spend more time and resources on a small number of suitable customers? Why are the prices from foreign enterprises higher than those of domestic ones? Should you decide to reduce price? 

Attendees found what was discussed can be implemented in daily work, and felt happy to meet old and new friends to learn from each other and progress. 

-2.1- Sino German dual (Taicang) Education&Technologies.,Ltd 

Sino German (Taicang) Education & Technologies.,Ltd is Project company of German Handwerkskammer in China, the business scope is to import German vocational education resources and provide technical training services under German standard. The German Handwerkskammer can certify more than 151 different occupations in Germany. 

-2.2- Kunshan Excellent Automation CO.,LTD 

Kunshan Excellent Automation CO.,LTD focuses on systematic solutions, automation equipment design and production in the field of manufacturing , since the establishment provided lean manufacturing solution/automatic assembly line and equipment to more than 30 customers. From ideas to turnkey, IE-AUTO always offers customers with competitive cost and satisfactory after-sales service. 

-3.1- DUSA was Invited to Startup Factory Phrase III+Opening

Smart Factory Kunshan

On November 6th, 2019 Startup Factory together with German Industrial Park Kunshan celebrated the opening ceremony of Startup Factory Phase III and open house of Smart Factory Kunshan.  

DUSA Board Member, Mr. Florian Weihard and Business Manager Sarah Tian were invited to attend the Ceremony. 

The joint venture between Startup Factory China, the Kunshan City Government, Kunshan German Industrial Park and IoT ONE on smart manufacturing welcomed 500+ guests from government, business and academia.  

-3.2- Winston Jin Became Part Time Instructor of Nanjing University 

-3.3- MODULA China Grand Opening Ceremony 

On 13th November 2019, Modula (China) Grand Opening Ceremony was officialy held in SIP, Suzhou.  

Modula China will become one of the biggest production plant for the Group. This investment once again represents the commitment of Modula to the Chinese market. 

In recent years, MODULA has made full use of its own advantages, seized the opportunities of the Industrial Park, actively seek new development models, and transformed the external opportunities into its own development advantages. 

DUSA Board Members, Mr. Nan Zhang and Business Manager Sarah Tian, together with many Italian member companies, all gathered to witness the grand opening. 

-4.1- Interviewee: Mr. Sunny Sun, General Manager of

Suzhou KeyTec Precision Components Co. Ltd. 

1. What is your role in the company?

Sunny: General Manager since November, 2003 to be fully responsible for KeyTec China from new business development to customer satisfaction, HR, Finance, R&D and Operations. 

 3. What originally brought you to Suzhou/KeyTec? (Latter for Chinese/Suzhouese interviewee)

Sunny: I came to join KeyTec in Suzhou in November, 2003, 15 years ago. The career development interests brought me here. 

4. What makes Suzhou a great place to work?

Sunny: The culture, the "reliable" society, the full supply chain and the talent pool.  

5. What are some of the challenges being a Chinese General Manager of an International company? Sunny: The communication "bridge" between western shareholders and local team; to build the full trust from the western shareholder; to perform and to be recognized; to build local team "International". 

6. What are you most proud of in your career?

Sunny: it is not common for a local Chinese person to work in a Dutch Company for more than 15 years in China; I am proud of KeyTec shareholder and headquarters who trust me so much because my team and I have been loyal to the company and dedicated to KeyTec's operations in China and perform as the headquarters expects. 

7. What has been your biggest career lesson?

Sunny: don't sacrifice our time with our family and don't sacrifice our health not matter how challenging the business. 

8. What advice would you give to young managers in China who would like to work internationally? Sunny: Be dedicated to the job, grow and perform well. 

9. How do you hope to see DUSA develop in the future?

Sunny: DUSA is the most trusted non-profit organization in Suzhou, professional; no one who involves DUSA operations has any private interests with DUSA and those members. The Board should be more stable and organize more high value activities for DUSA's members. The more values to her members, the more passion for the members to love DUSA and help DUSA.

10. Is there anything special you would like to say because recently KeyTec will celebrate the 20th Anniversary?

Sunny: 20 years for a company, KeyTec is still young. My long term focus is to build KeyTec as a sustainable enterprise for my team to grow for many years; creating values for our customers and taking care and having an interest in all stakeholders. My focus is to make KeyTec an exemplary company in the community, SND, Suzhou, China. 

11. What do you like to do with your free time? 

Sunny: exercise, jogging, reading and networking. 

-5.1- Yangtze River Delta Economic Region to

Benefit from Improved Tax Services 

• The Yangtze River Delta, which centers around Shanghai, is an important international gateway and one of the major engines of China's economy.
• China has announced 16 measures to facilitate tax services for businesses located in the Yangtze River Delta Economic Region, which includes the Shanghai municipality and Jiangsu, Anhui, and Zhejiang provinces.
• Regional tax bureaus in the region have held their first joint conference and worked out implementation plans. 

On December 4, 2019, China's State Taxation Administration (STA) issued the Circular on the Measures Designed to Support and Serve the Development of the Regional Integration in the Yangtze River Delta (Shui Zong Han [2019] No.356). 

The Circular proposes 16 measures to improve tax services for enterprises in the Yangtze River Delta, which include facilitating cross-provincial taxation for enterprises, shortening the processing time of tax matters, strengthening the interlocal sharing of taxpayer's tax-related credit information, and boosting smart tax 

services with the help of 5G, blockchain, and other technologies. 

These measures were released right after government's roll-out of the Master Plan for Integrated Regional Development of the Yangtze River Delta on December 1, 2019. The master plan sets an ambitious goal to build the Yangtze River Delta – which covers Shanghai municipality, and Jiangsu province, Zhejiang province, and 

Anhui province – among the most influential and dynamic growth centers in the country. 

In a substantial step forward, on December 26, the tax bureaus of three provinces (Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui) and two cities (Shanghai and Ningbo) held their first joint conference in Qingpu, Shanghai. 

During the conference, the five regional tax bureaus signed the cooperative agreement and adopted two documents detailing the joint conference work mechanism and the work plan. 

Facilitating cross-provincial tax service

Among the 16 measures, the first three tax measures aim to further ease the cross-provincial tax collection and management of enterprises in the delta region. 

Enterprises with a high tax credit rating of A or B relocating within the delta region will benefit from this as the local tax authorities of the two places within the delta region are supposed to automatically coordinate and handle the transfer of taxpayer's information. 

The enterprise' tax credit scores, end-of-period value added tax (VAT) credit, and other rights and interests can be retained and transferred to the relevant tax bureau in the place where the business has relocated to. 

In addition, taxpayers registered in one city can handle tax affairs at another city within the regions through the "electronic tax authority," including payment of property tax and urban land use tax. 

Compiling unified lists to streamline tax management

The measures also call for drafting three lists – to unify tax management – in the delta region. These include a list of "first violations without penalty", a list of tax service items that should be closed on-site, and a list of tax matters that can be handled in any place within the region. 

The list of "first violations without penalty", for example, may allow taxpayers who are found guilty of minor illegal acts for the first time but later corrected the irregularities to be exempted from any punitive measures. This is expected to help bolster the region's start-ups, small businesses, and reinvigorate the market. 

Sharing taxpayer credit information

Another measure seeks to share taxpayers' credit information among the different provincial tax authorities in the Yangtze River Delta region, including taxpayers' dynamic credit scores and credit evaluation results. 

Based on the taxpayer credit ratings, the region's local governments will implement the differentiated administrative measures for taxpayers. 

It is specified that taxpayers with high credit scores can enjoy simplified filing process, shortened time frame for handling tax affairs, and fewer on-site inspections. 

Introducing smart tax services 

Tax authorities are encouraged to actively explore the use of 5G, blockchain, artificial intelligence, and other technologies to further optimize tax law enforcement and achieve smart tax services like intelligent guidance, intelligent form-filling, and intelligent audit. 

Meanwhile, the Circular states that tax authorities in the Yangtze River Delta region will, based on the actual situation, further expand the scope of application for tax incentives. 

To avail future benefits – taxpayers need to retain relevant documents rather than submit for record-filing – a move to make it more convenient for taxpayers seeking access to tax preferential policies. 

Investors advised to monitor tax measures in the Yangtze River Delta region

The above measures are expected be implemented one after another soon. As stated in the joint conference work mechanism document – the next step will see the five local tax bureaus establishing a three-tier cooperation framework consisting of joint meetings, cooperation offices, and special working groups to guarantee the implementation of various tax policies and measures. 

Foreign investors doing business in the Yangtze River Delta region should monitor the implementation of these tax measures or seek local expertise to better leverage the incentives as they roll-out in the near future. 

Source: Dezan Shira & Associates 

-5.2- China's 2019 Market Access Negative List:

What Investors Need to Know 

• China's 2019 Market Access Negative List opens up more sectors to foreign and domestic investors.
• The 2019 list updates last year's version and reduced 20 more items, which were previously controlled for investment.
• The latest opening follows through China's market reforms, improving investor access while emphasizing sustainable development and social welfare. 

China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) released the 2019 Market Access Negative List (MA negative list) on October 24, 2019. 

Compared with the 2018 MA negative list, the 2019 list has been shortened by 20 items, or 13 percent. The removed items mainly cover industries in the services sector, including the establishment of nursing homes, social welfare institutions, vocational skill assessment and appraisal organizations, and fire control services. 

This means that access to these industries has been liberalized. 

Why the MA negative list is important to investors

The 2019 MA negative list now contains a total of 131 items, including 126 restrictive items and five prohibited items – referring to industries that are restricted or prohibited for private investment, both from domestic and foreign investors. 

Industries, fields, and businesses not included in the list are open to all market players. 

Both domestic and foreign investors should be able to enter these areas on an equal footing in accordance with the law. 

Relevant departments and local governments can no longer issue approval measures for market access at will. 

Further, the 2019 MA negative list has reduced administrative measures, specified the government departments in charge of each industry item, codified the listed items for unified management, and added regional access measures for specific areas. 

The MA negative list system

China first released the MA negative list in December 2018, which marked a new stage towards the full implementation of China's negative list system for market access. 

The 2019 list is the first annual revision since China fully implemented the system, indicating its importance to the government and policy success. 

Foreign investors need to consult both the 2019 negative list for foreign investment (FI negative list) and the 2019 MA negative list to know whether they can invest in their industry, field, or business of choice. 

Source: Dezan Shira & Associates 

6.1 Upcoming Events - February 

February 12 - DUSA Social Gathering

Blue Marlin Xinghai Street, SIP (6:30 PM - 9:00 PM)

February 14 - DUSA Training "Problem Solving"​

Courtyard by Marriott Suzhou

February 26- DUSA Captain's Dinner "TBD"

Hyatt Regency Hotel Suzhou

Upcoming Events - March

March 4 - DUSA Social Gathering 

Blue Marlin Xinghai Street, SIP (6:30 PM - 9:00 PM) 

March 5 - DUSA Training "Lead a High Performance Team" 

TBD 

March 12 - DUSA HR Circle Workshop "Salary Guide" 

TBD

March 19 - DUSA 2020 Annual General Meeting "Annual Report 2019 and Outlook for 2020" 

Hyatt Regency Hotel Suzhou 

Upcoming Events - April

April 1 - DUSA Social Gathering

Blue Marlin Xinghai Street, SIP (6:30 PM - 9:00 PM)

April 16 - DUSA Roundtable "EHS"

TBD

April - InterChamber Spring Mixer

TBD

DUSA European Association Suzhou|苏州欧洲商会

Add: Room 2209, 22F, Modern Media Plaza, No. 265, Suzhou East Avenue, SIP, Suzhou 215000 China

地址：江苏省苏州市苏州工业园区苏州大道东265号现代传媒广场22层2209室

Tel: +86 512 6699 3397        E-mail: biz@dusa-eu.cn

Events: dusaeu.eventbank.cn   Website: www.dusa-eu.cn

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