You will never have better chance to fly to the US for free than you will on Wednesday, November 7 at the JW Marriott Hotel.

Join AmCham-China and celebrate the new China-US routes of five airlines; American Airlines, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines, and United Airlines. The airlines and event-host JW Marriott are “upgrading” the event with a draw that includes a pair of round-trip tickets on each route and hotel accommodations at the US destination.

The demand for air passenger routes between China and the United States continues to rise and no delays are in sight. Each airline will make a short presentation about its new China-US route and what it means for tourism and business between the two countries.

Members then better fasten their seatbelts because the event is going to take off with one of the best draws AmCham-China has ever held. You will never have better chance to fly to the US for free! The prizes include:

- Two roundtrip tickets on United’s Beijing-Washington route
- Two roundtrip tickets on Northwest’s Shanghai-Detroit route
- Two roundtrip tickets on Delta’s Shanghai-Atlanta route
- Two roundtrip tickets on Continental’s Shanghai-Newark route
- Two roundtrip tickets on American’s Beijing-Chicago route

The JW Marriott will provide accommodation at the US destination of each of these routes.

Make the trip to the JW Marriott on November 7 to learn about the new airline routes, meet fellow members and industry professionals, enjoy beverages and hors d’oerves, while getting a first look at this great new Beijing hotel. Enter our lucky draw. You must be present to win. This event is sponsored by the Tourism Forum.

Program
5:30-6 PM Registration and networking
6 PM-7:30 PM Presentations and draw

Venue
Ballroom, JW Marriott Hotel Beijing (86 10 5908 6688)
83 JianGuo Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing

Registration
The fee for this event is 100 RMB for AmCham cardholders, 200 RMB for non-cardholding employees of AmCham member companies, and 250RMB for non-members. Beverages and hors d’oerves will be served. Sign up for this event on the AmCham-China site.

At least one should no longer be a mystery. AmCham-China helps you get your personal income taxes right.

Gus Kang, an expert in US and Chinese personal income taxes, will give the AmCham-China community a primer on preparing Chinese and US personal income tax returns for people living and working in China. This will be a practicum on what expats need to know about the world of personal income tax filings.

Kang will explain how to best plan and prepare 2007 and 2008 tax filings and will provide valuable tools and tips for maximizing deductions and exemptions and avoiding tax preparation pitfalls. This is a must-attend seminar. Members and non-members are welcome. Members are encouraged to bring their friends and colleagues.

Gus Kang is a tax partner at the Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Beijing office. He has resided in China for almost ten years, has nearly 25 years of international tax experience, and specializes in PRC and US individual income taxation. Kang is co-chair of AmCham-China’s Tax Forum. He graduated with a BA in History and Economics from Yale University and has a Master’s degree in Accounting and Taxation from New York University. He is a New York State certified public accountant.

The identical workshop will be held on two different days in two different locations; Nov. 6 at the Shangri-La Hotel and Nov. 8 at the American Club.

For more information, and to register, check out the events area on the AmCham-China site.

Author Debbie Weil gets it right

Thirty AmCham-China members received insights on Internet communications during an event featuring Debbie Weil, author of ‘The Corporate Blogging Book: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know to Get It Right’, on October 16 at the Beijing American Club.

Weil discussed why CEOs should blog, who is doing it successfully, and some of the challenges of posting online. She said there is a social media revolution in corporate communications, branding and imaging, and that blogs allow for authentic feedback, making it an attractive way of CEOs to keep in touch with stakeholders. She also noted that blogs can be an effective tool for crisis communications. The Q&A session afterwards covered areas ranging from the use of blogs as internal communication tools to the frequency with which CEOs should blog.

The event was co-sponsored by the Media and Entertainment Forum and the PR Forum. Weil’s China book tour is sponsored by Edelman. AmCham-China President Mike Barbalas moderated the event.

Deputy USTR Ambassador Karan Bhatia (third right) with AmCham
-China Chairman James Zimmerman (second right) and (from left)
former chairmen John Holden, Chris Murck, Tim Stratford (current
Assistant USTR for China Affairs) and Jim Gradoville.

Over 50 members attended a luncheon with Deputy U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Ambassador Karan Bhatia and Acting Undersecretary of Commerce for International Trade Chris Padilla on October 10 at the Grand Hyatt.

Ambassador Bhatia and Undersecretary Padilla offered remarks on the state of U.S.-China trade relations in the run-up to December’s Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT) and Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) meetings, while reviewing their opinions and observations of recent negotiations and discussions this week with the PRC government.

The event provided an opportunity for participants to ask the delegates questions regarding bilateral consultations and U.S.-China trade patterns. Topics discussed included food and consumer product safety, emerging industrial policies in China, and increasing protectionist sentiments in both countries. Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for China Affairs and former AmCham Chairman Tim Stratford was also in attendance.

The luncheon was hosted by AmCham-China and the U.S.-China Business Council.

Wearing hardhats and getting hard facts

AmCham-China 2005-2006 Chairman Emory Williams and President Michael Barbalas led a team of 24 chamber members and employees on a four-day fact-finding tour of Shaanxi late last month. The delegation visited the cities of Xi’an, Baoji and Xianyang as well as Yangling agricultural district, toured state-owned, foreign-invested and private companies, and met with municipal and provincial officials, including Shaanxi Governor Yuan Chunqing. The trip wrapped up a busy year of regional visits that saw chamber members investigate the business and investment environment in Anhui, Henan, Heilongjiang and Tibet. AmCham-China has organized 12 trips covering more than 11 provinces during the past two years. Full details of the Shaanxi trip will appear in AmCham-China’s China Brief magazine.

Taking note of business trends

U.S. Embassy experts provided the quarterly economic briefing on the state of China’s economy to AmCham members on September 27 at the American Club.

David Loevinger, minister-counselor for financial affairs, Sarah Ellerman, senior import administration officer for the Department of Commerce, and David Meale, first secretary of the macroeconomic and financial policy unit, reviewed new government policies impacting business trends and the policy environment for decision-makers involved in the China market.

Meale broke down the latest economic figures and the components of China’s GDP growth, noting that fixed assent investment has served as a recent major driver.

Loevinger discussed the US-China Strategic Economic Dialogue and highlighted the focus on rebalancing the sources of China’s economic growth through further reform of capital markets, social security, and the development of corporate dividends. Due to low-yielding bank instruments and lack of alternative investment options, Chinese households are forced to save more in order to generate increased income, thus contributing to China’s current account surplus and imbalanced growth, Loevinger commented.

Ellerman provided an update on the Department of Commerce’s recent countervailing duty cases against China and an overview of the Embassy’s new “Invest in America” initiative.

Arthur Kroeber, managing editor of China Economic Quarterly, moderated the event and provided insights on some opportunities and challenges involved across various service industries in China.

Teaming up on the White Paper

The Public Policy Development Committee (PPDC) kicked off the 2008 White Paper process by hosting an advocacy strategy meeting for chamber’s forums and committees at the American Club on September 20.

PPDC Co-chairs Matt Roberts and Mark Duval led the meeting and facilitated the brainstorming sessions between forum and committee members. The participants discussed advocacy strategies for the coming year, exchanging ideas and best practices, and reviewing the White Paper process.

Participants were asked to evaluate how they could increase the impact of their White Paper chapters, and deepen and strengthen engagement with outside stakeholders and other chamber forums. They discussed how they could solicit involvement and effective representation throughout the White Paper drafting process.

Medical Devices Forum Co-chair Jimmy Ip provided a case study of a forum’s effective outreach program and strategy for influencing the business environment. Representatives from other forums and committees - including those focused on cosmetics, legal issues, clean technology, energy, human resources, corporate social responsibility, SMEs, aerospace, and tourism - attended the meeting.

On September 26, the chamber’s Legal Committee, led by chair Mike Dardzinski of Dewey Ballantine, met with a U.S. delegation in China to open discussion about a Bilateral Investment Agreement (BIT).

Dardzinski and AmCham-China Chairman James Zimmerman met with Daniel Bahar, the USTR’s Director of Investment Affairs, and Michael Tracton, State Department’s BIT Program Coordinator. They discussed a variety of issues concerning the proposed BIT with China, the BIT negotiation process, and potential impact of the BIT on U.S. industry.

The Legal Committee will lead AmCham-China’s work with the U.S. government on BIT relations issues and provide feedback to members as new information is received. Members interested in participating in the discussions should contact Gabe Lopez at gabelopez@amcham-china.org.cn.

Around 80 government officials, journalists, industry representatives and AmCham-China members gathered at the residence of the U.S. Embassy’s new Deputy Chief of Mission, Daniel W. Piccuta, for the second annual IPR and media networking reception on September 19.

The networking and information-sharing event provided chamber members with a good platform for meeting members of the Chinese media community, and exchanging ideas on best practices in IPR and future AmCham-China events. The U.S. Embassy’s Patent and Trademark Office organized the event with support from AmCham-China. Members from AmCham-China’s IPR Forum and Media & Entertainment Forum were invited to attend.