State of the Chamber
It has been a busy few months at the Chamber and in the Australia-China relationship. With the year almost at an end I wanted to take an opportunity to share some announcements and highlights with you.
New Faces
Many of you will have seen a number of new faces in our team over the past few months. Ali Groch, our Senior Relationship Manager has joined our management team and now leads the membership function of the Chamber with responsibility for all member engagement and industry forum work. With a background in financial services and previous experience in Shanghai, Ali is already becoming well known to many of our members. Alistair Sexton and Miley Yin have also joined the membership team and will continue introducing themselves to members in coming months. Beyond membership, Connie Zhang has joined the Chamber as our Events Manager, while Madison Campbell has started as our new Communications Manager, and Louisa Liu in administration. With these great new additions, the Chamber has a strong team in place to start 2019. You can find details of our full team, their responsibilities and how to get in touch, here.
Membership
Following our annual membership survey in July/August, we held our annual Board Strategy Day in September which was a great opportunity to reflect on feedback and set the direction for the Chamber. Thank you to all who contributed with their ideas and feedback.
We will start 2019 with a number of key strategies to develop the organisation - across membership, programming, advocacy and thought leadership in particular, that will include some new initiatives that will be progressively announced and rolled out. With an overarching focus on lifting membership value and engagement you will also see a more streamlined relationship engagement model, more content in Chinese and a focus on delivering some events digitally, amongst much more!
Events and Programming
On a scorching hot day in September, the community was out in force for our annual Summer BBQ at Wellington College in Pudong. In October, our second Australia-China Sports Summit took place over two days bringing together industry professionals and government representatives from both countries to talk about the future of the business of sport and discuss collaboration opportunities. In November, we had the pleasure of hosting the Shanghai Melbourne Cup Gala Luncheon at M on the Bund. More than 150 guests packed out M on the Bund and Glam Bar, all the while raising funds for our charity partners.
Elsewhere in November our members were well represented at the first China International Import Expo here in Shanghai. I was pleased to see many members across the week and see the Australian Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Senator the Hon Simon Birmingham lead a strong Australian delegation to Shanghai. His visit was backed up by Australian Foreign Minister Senator the Hon Marise Payne who was in Beijing only days later, two very welcome delegates to the mainland. I made some comments to Australian media outlets at the time that you can catch up with here and here noting our great presence in food and beverage amongst other things.
It will be interesting to see the results of our second Westpac Australia-China Business Sentiment Survey that closed at the end of CIIE with more than 200 respondents. We are currently crunching the numbers and look forward to releasing the report in Australia and China in the new year.
And last month of course, it was time for our 23rd Great Australian Ball, this year a Black Tie Mascquerade themed occasion at the Shangri-La Pudong made possible by the support of CSL Behring. In true Australian style, those who joined us partied hard - just look at the photos!
Beyond the major activity, we have also seen some great content delivered across digital marketing, new retail, mental health and corporate governance, to name just a few. You can review what has taken place via our website and please reach out to your relationship manager if you are after anything in particular from an event you might have missed.
New Office
This week AustCham Shanghai will be moving to the exciting new offices of KR Spaces on Huashan Road, Jing’An. From January 2 when AustCham Shanghai re-opens for 2019, after the Christmas and New Year break, we will be operating from the new office space, with access to meeting and event spaces across the complex. Anken Green, a warehouse development of our valued member company, Anken Group, has been our home for four fun-filled years. However, with the lease of the building uncertain, we have opted to move in time for the new year. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Anken for their hospitality over the years. And to our members and friends, we look forward to hosting some events in the new year to show you and welcome you to our new home.
A Look Ahead
2019 is already shaping up as a big year for the Australia-China trade relationship and AustCham Shanghai, made bigger still as we celebrate our 25th birthday. From humble roots in 1994, when Shanghai was still emerging as a place for foreign business, I am proud to say AustCham Shanghai is now one of the largest Australian Chambers of Commerce globally, assists more than 350 businesses, employs more than 20 people, and represents the views of the Australian business community in this part of the world.
We are planning some exciting activity to thank all of our members and celebrate with you. If you would like to hear more and get involved with what we are organising, please reach out.
Elsewhere in 2019, mark your calendars as we will continue to build activity around the annual AFL match in Shanghai on Sunday, 2 June 2019; a week we continue to term ‘G’Day China’ in lieu of the opportunity to brand and lift all Australian activity. The AustCham Westpac Australia China Business Awards (ACBA) will be in Hong Kong on the Tuesday night prior to the game, before trade delegations and senior business and government officials descend on Shanghai towards the end of the week.
Nominations for the ACBA 2019 are now open. Showcase your Australia-China business achievements by entering online. The registration process is quick and easy and the benefits, countless.
On a personal note, it has been fantastic working with you as CEO these past few months. As I enter my fourth year with the Chamber, I am pleased with the progress we have made but am assured there is more we can do to continue to assist our members as you make headway in this market.
To all of our members, thank you very much for your support and engagement with the Chamber this year.
If I can be of assistance, please don’t hesitate to reach out, simply by replying to this email.
In the meantime, and for those managing a break, I hope it’s a restful one. We look forward to seeing you all in 2019.
Best regards,
Jack Brady
CEO and Executive Director
AustCham Shanghai
