Hildebrandt: Time to meet customer expectations + Fitness boom among under 40s • China.Table

AHK head Jens Hildebrandt in CEO-Talk
Sport and nutrition are gaining importance as a lifestyle trend
Fixed quarantine centers planned for inbound travellers
Power shortage preoccupies foreign chambers of commerce
Beijing sends fighter jets into Taiwan’s airspace
US does not see trade agreement realized
Lithuania’s parliament approves trade office in Taipei
Outlook for today’s program of the Asia Berlin Summit 2021
Profile: Didi Kirsten Tatlow – China-critical analyst

Dear reader,

Some call it sinister, others ingenious: the business model of fitness studios. After all, who hasn’t experienced it: You sign up, go regularly for a few months, but eventually, your weaker inner self wins. However, you don’t cancel your membership either. The fitness boom has not passed China by. The young generation is spending more and more money on memberships, fitness apps, equipment, and the right diet. The billion-dollar market is further fueled by the CCP’s goals of making the population more athletic, report Jörn Petring and Gregor Koppenburg.

Jens Hildebrandt, head of the AHK in Beijing, describes the challenges faced by German companies in China in the CEO Talk with Frank Sieren: Travel restrictions due to COVID, competitive and innovation pressure from Chinese competitors. He calls for learning from Beijing’s state support and the People’s Republic’s courageous start-up companies. His motto: “Take risks and simply dare to do something new“. He advises German companies to adapt more flexibly and quickly to Chinese customer requirements. In the areas of industrial automation and decarbonization, there is still a lot of growth potential for Germany’s “hidden champions”.

We wish our readers in Europe a good start to the new working week – and those in China continued relaxing days off during Golden Week.

Your
Nico Beckert

Interview

‘It’s also increasingly about risk management’

Jens Hildebrandt, Head of the AHK in Beijing

Jens Hildebrandt, head of the Chambers of Commerce Abroad in Beijing, takes a critical view of China’s isolation due to COVID policy – according to him, this also creates major problems for Chinese companies. He talks to Frank Sieren about the prospects for German companies in a stronger, more authoritarian China and why it is more important than ever to resume exchange with China.

Jens Hildebrandt, 43, has dedicated his professional life to one question: How can German companies be successful in China? He became interested in this while studying sinology and politics in Leipzig, Beijing, and Hong Kong. Since 2007, he has been active in the network of German Chambers of Commerce Abroad (AHK). Hildebrandt was head of the East Asia department of the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) in Berlin. As head of the AHK office in Guangzhou, he then became aware of how the People’s Republic wants to shape the future. Since 2018, Hildebrandt has been AHK head and executive board member of the German Chamber of Commerce for North China in Beijing. He has also been Asia-Pacific coordinator of the Asia-Pacific Committee (APA) of German Business since 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic recently presented him with a whole new set of challenges. You can watch the CEO-Talk in full length here.

Disclaimer: This interview has been translated into English and is not considered an official translation by any party involved in the interview.

Mr. Hildebrandt, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the AHK has organized charter flights to China. How did the idea for the flights come about, which is still the most important way to get from Germany to China?

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