Jun 08 2018

Learn How American Society for Quality Has Grown in MENA in LIVE Webinar, June 26 @1000 Eastern

The American Society for Quality  continues to expand  its engagement and strengthen member and customer relationships throughout the MENA region attracting new members, retaining them and building a larger stakeholder base.  The core of this success is getting the strategy and planning right.

Join us on June 26th @ 10am Eastern for a LIVE 45-minute webinar presented by Carmen O’Neill, Certification Offerings,  ASQ Global, and Kavitha Prabhu, Director Association Management & Consulting, MCI Middle East as they highlight how they used diverse product offerings targeting different industry verticals to expand ASQ in the Middle East and Africa region including membership.

Carmen and Kavitha will share:

  • Why MENA has been a great source of demand for ASQ products using product customization/ localization

  • Strategies gained to expand market and brand awareness as a critical source of knowledge

  • How the regional demand for specific knowledge based expertise was tapped

To register, please follow this link.

For questions, please contact Karine Desbant at .

 

 

Apr 10 2018

A Conversation with Mr. Kenneth Jarrett, President of the American Chamber of Commerce Shanghai

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Developing Your China Strategy, What’s Next?

MCI China is pleased to announce a unique opportunity to listen to a deeply experienced China expert as he helps US association executives seek ways to improve their China strategy in an era of major change.

Join Mr. Kenneth Jarrett, President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai , as he shares his keen insight and observations on today’s Chinese government policies and the changes that may impact US association strategy and operations in China.

This special event will take place on Thursday, May 3rd from 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. EDT at the ASAE Conference Center, first floor in Washington DC.

Mr Jarrett will discuss:

  • How the operating environment for U.S. associations in China has changed as a result of the recent key Chinese government 19th Party Congress and  National People’s Congress?
  • What are the policy impacts, government restructuring,  and attitudes toward foreign investors and key Chinese government initiatives?
  • What does this mean for US associations?
  • How should this shape future US association Chinese strategy?

 

Mr Jarrett will entertain questions posed in advance upon registration.

To register for this special MCI China event, please follow this link.  If you have questions about this event please contact Karine Desbant at [email protected].

About the Speaker

Mr. Kenneth Jarrett has been President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai since September 2013.   Previously, he was the Greater China Chairman for APCO Worldwide, a Washington-based public affairs consultancy from 2008 to 2013.  He served also as a U.S. diplomat from 1982 to 2008.

During his 26-year diplomatic career, his postings included Consul General in Shanghai, Deputy Consul General in Hong Kong, and Director of Asian Affairs at the White House National Security Council.  Mr. Jarrett served in Beijing, Chengdu, Singapore, and had several assignments in Washington, DC.

Mr. Jarrett has degrees from Cornell University, Yale University and the National War College. He is the recipient of the Magnolia Award (Silver) from the Shanghai government and is a member of the National Committee for US-China Relations.

Dec 08 2017

China’s Foreign NGO Law Update: 242 Offices Register Successfully

Reported by Maria Tong, Director Association Management & Consulting, MCI China

 

 

 

As of October 31, 2017, a total of 242 foreign NGO (FNGO) offices have registered  successfully in China.  In figure 1 below, shows the leading registration areas and where FNGO’s are based.    

  • Beijing 80
  • Shanghai 57
  • Yunnan 19
  • Guangdong 15
  • Tianjin 8
  • Liaoning 8
  • Other areas 55

Most of these registrations have existed in some capacity and for some period in China who registered under another license, e.g. WOFE, a representative office for a foreign company, or a team in partner’s office.   Beijing and Shanghai are the most popular registration areas.  The number of offices registered in other Chinese cities grew slower than Beijing and Shanghai.

So far the top five “countries of origin” representing FNGO registrants come from the following countries (figure 2):

  • US 62 
  • Hong Kong 51
  • Japan 33
  • South Korea 19
  • Germany 15

 

Forty four percent of associations are from US and Hong Kong.   More Japanese trade promotion organizations registered successfully in Shanghai and number of offices grew faster than other regions of China.

The leading fields or industry sectors include (figure 3):

  • Trade 111   
  • Livelihood (Professional) 33
  • Education 22
  • Healthcare 19
  • Culture 15
  • Other 41

 

Organizations in fields of livelihood and trade represent 60% of FNGO registrants and the rate is higher in last two months.  More organizations in the field of trade have successfully registered and the growing rate is higher than organizations like chamber of commerce and charity organizations.

Registering with the Chinese government requires the FNGO applicant to register with a specific Chinese government authority, “the Organization in charge of their Operation“.   The above FNGO registrants have applied to the following government authorities (figure 4):

  • Commercial department 102    
  • Department of civil affairs 29
  • Health and family planning department 22
  • Education department 19
  • People’s organization 13
  • Other 57

 

Seventy six percent of successfully registered offices are approved by “the Organizations in charge of their Operations” in China, such as the commercial department, department of civil affairs, health and family planning department, education department and people’s organization.  People’s organization  is the type of organization that is  directed by the Chinese Communist Party, such as CAST, Labor Union, Women’s Federation, etc.

China’s Foreign NGO Law allows for two major categories of activity for Foreign NGOs who wish to operate in the mainland. Groups can either register an office in China, or they can file paperwork to notify the authorities of what the law calls “temporary activities.” Among these 242 FNGO registrants, they combined to register 344 temporary activities in the last 10 months of 2017.

Suggestions for Associations Seeking to Organize 2018 Activities in China

If you have not begun the process and are not already established under another license such as a WOFE, you may consider the following:

  • If an association does not intend to register in China but wishes to organize a conference in 2018, finding a Chinese partner for temporary activity registration is essential.
  • If an association plans to register as a foreign NGO in China, we suggest that the association prepares all the government documents in 2017, and finish registration in early 2018.
  • According to our experience, it is more efficient to find a department which an association has previous contact and cooperation to serve as the “Organization in charge of their Operations” or provide referral.

 

 

 

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