Liang Zhimin, Chairman of the Shenzhen General Chamber of Commerce, and his deputy Zhang Ge, met with Chamber CEO Dr Eden Woon on February 18 to explore how the two chambers could broaden their scope of co-operation. Both parties discussed organising joint programmes to promote PRD integration and to help private enterprises in Shenzhen break into international markets.

A delegation from Hebei Provincial Bureau of International Investment & Co-operation called on the Chamber on March 19. The delegation was in Hong Kong to prepare for the province's investment fair on March 31, which the Chamber co-organised.

Zhai Zhongtai, Deputy Secretary of Shenzhen Longgang District and Deputy Chairman of Longgang Chamber of Commerce, visited the Chamber on February 19 to promote his district. Longgang is one of Shenzhen_s six districts, and specialises in high-tech products, logistics services and tourism, Mr Zhai said.

Wang Guoyao, Deputy Secretary of Hubei Province, met with Chamber CEO Dr Eden Woon on February 19 to discuss preparations for Hubei Province's trade and investment fair, which will be held in Hong Kong from June 9 to 13. The Chamber agreed to be one of the co-organisers of the fair. During the meeting, Dr Woon said that the Chamber would consider organising a mission to Hubei to visit the Three Gorges Dam in 2004.

Bai Mingshao, Deputy Chairman of Guangdong CCPIT, met with Chamber CEO Dr Eden Woon on February 26 to discuss how they could expand co-operation between the two organisations. Ideas raised included organising training programmes in Hong Kong for Guangdong enterprises, business matching meetings, PRD-related roundtables, seminars and conferences, among others. Guangdong CCPIT also agreed to meet with the Chamber PRD Mission delegation this May.

Speech    Slides    Clifford Chance

Haakon B Hjelde, Norwegian Ambassador to the PRC, met with Chamber CEO Dr Eden Woon on February 20. The Royal Norwegian Consulate General in Hong Kong closed on March 1 and will be represented in China by the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Beijing and the Consulate General in Shanghai. Meanwhile, all visa applications for Norway are now being handled by the Consulate General of Finland in Hong Kong.

Representatives of a French chain store met with members on February 27 for a business-matching meeting. The visitors were interested in sourcing a wide variety of products from Hong Kong, including furniture, lighting, hardware tools, textiles, luggage and camping accessories.

Peter Gordon, Chairman of the Chamber's Russian Interest Group, spoke at a roundtable luncheon on February 28 about what opportunities he feels exist for Hong Kong businesses interested in Sino-Russian trade.

Cathy Kai Jiang, Tax Services Manager, PricewaterhouseCoopers, spoke at a Chamber WTO training course on February 25 on the latest changes to taxation laws in China, especially transfer pricing.