Category Archives: Business

business news from China, Sweden and the world.

American travel market eyes Chinese tourists

 BEIJING, March 18(Greenpost) — If there was just one thing the world’s two largest economies could agree on both wanting, tourism would be it.

China and the United States announced this week in Beijing that 2016 will be the year of mutual tourism promotion, one of the outcomes of President Xi Jinping’s visit to the United States last year.
The focus on tourism between the two countries come as overseas travel booms in China, in fact more Chinese vacation abroad than any other nation. More than 120 million Chinese traveled abroad last year, up 12 percent year on year, and they spent 104.5 U.S. billion dollars, up 16.7 percent over the same period.

“The scale and the speed with which the market [has] grow[n] is quite remarkable,” said Fred Dixon, CEO of NYC & Co., the agency responsible for promoting New York City, the top U.S. destination city for Chinese travelers.
Despite New York being the top destination less than 3 percent of Chinese outbound tourists go to the United States. The Republic of Korea, Japan and Thailand are much more popular choices, partly because of their proximity.
Despite this, Chinese visitors to the United States has been growing at a double digit rate over the past few years.
In 2015, 2.67 million Chinese visited the United States, compared with less than 400,000 in 2007. Goldman Sachs estimates that the number of Chinese visitors will almost double to 5 million by 2025.
This growth prospect has excited tourism players across the States. Many have sent delegations to China and the news about the tourism exchange will no doubt see them double down their promotional efforts.

Dixon said his organization’s budget for promoting New York inChina has risen in recent years, and is outpacing growth of marketing expenditure for other destinations.

Travel agencies and tourism promoters say a more powerful boost to Chinese tourists inflow to the U.S. is visa relaxation. In November 2014, the two countries extended visa validity for tourists from one to 10 years.
This policy has pushed up the share of Chinese travelling to the United States purely for leisure. Data compiled by various popular destination cities in the United States show that for Chinese visitors, leisure travelers have begun to outnumber business travelers in many places.

“The 10 year visa extension is really a game changer,”  Dixon said, adding that the relaxation has paved the way for more Chinese to visit the United States for pure leisure and on their own, instead of on business trips or organized group tours.
Chinese online travel service provider Ctrip also reported a surge in U.S. visa application through its platform between January to August last year following the visa relaxation.
With more tourists heading to American shores on their own, tourism promoters say they are reviewing their messages here in China. While travel agencies are still valuable partners, they have begun to engage with prospective travellers directly.

“In the very beginning our work was very much about working closely with the trade [travel agencies] on the group side, but now we are seeing a move toward independent travel,”  Dixon said.

That shift led promoters to prioritize their online presence, as websites, social media and apps have become prime channels for information and planning.
More than 259 million Chinese booked their travel online last year, of which 80 percent did so on their mobile devices, according to ChinaInternet Network Information Center.
The demographics are changing too. China’s outbound travel boom is fueled mostly by a new generation of travelers. 67 percent of China’s overseas tourists in 2014 were born after 1980s, data compiled by Goldman Sachs show.
All these changes impact travel decisions. Promoters say group travelers want to see iconic sites and things they have seen on TV and in the movies. But reaching out to the new generation of savvy Chinese outbound travelers takes more than that.
The appeal for them, Dixon said, lies beneath the surface, in lesser known communities, parks and museums that add more personal character to their travel experience.

“This is an exciting time,” he said. “You don’t often see a market emerge the way China has. And we probably won’t see anything like this again.” Enditem

Source: Xinhua

China’s environment for foreign investors improves, not worsens: spokesman

   BEIJING, March 2 (Xinhua) — China’s business environment for foreigners has improved, not worsened, Wang Guoqing, spokesman for the annual session of the Chinese political advisory body, said Wednesday.

The Chinese government is firmly determined to build an internationalized environment featuring the rule of law and facilitation for foreign investment, Wang said at a press conference in Beijing.
“I believe China will continue to be the world’s popular destination of investment and profit can be made here,” said Wang, spokesman for the Fourth Session of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.  Enditem

China extends fishing ban on Yangtze River

   WUHAN, March 1 (Greenpost) — The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture has activated an annual fishing ban along the Yangtze River, starting March 1.

The ban, which lasts until June 30, covers the spawning season for most of the river’s aquatic life. It will include the entire river as well as key tributaries and lakes.
The ban also applies to the Huaihe River, which runs almost parallel between the Yangtze River and the Yellow River.
The ban has been extended by one month, from three months to four, in a bid to better protect fish resources, said Li Yanliang, director of the ministry’s Fishery Inspection and Management Office.
“The extension marks a new phase for environmental protection along the river as the central government starts intensive efforts to protect the Yangtze,” Li said.
The first ban on the lower reaches of the river was in 2002. In 2003, it was approved by the State Council and extended to the whole river basin.
The Yangtze is regarded as a cradle of China’s freshwater fish species and a valuable reserve of aquatic biodiversity. However, excessive fishing has put some species on the brink of extinction.

Last week, China vowed to improve the water quality of the Yangtze as part of wider measures to balance economic activity and environmental protection.
In the years leading up to 2020, China will work to ensure that more than 75 percent of the water in the Yangtze economic belt, covering 11 provinces and municipalities, meets at least the Grade III standard, according to the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the top economic planning agency.
China classifies water quality into six levels, ranging from level I, which is suitable for drinking after minimal treatment, to level VI, which is severely contaminated.
The NDRC said China aims to bring more than 97 percent of water from sources along the Yangtze belt up to Grade III before 2020.  Enditem

Source  Xinhua

Chinese Pianist Wang Yujia will perform in Stockholm in August

By Xuefei Chen Axlesson

STOCKHOLM, March 14(Greenpost)– World famous pianist Lang lang has just played in Stockholm with a great success.  Then Chinese Pianist Wang Yujia is scheduled to play in Berwaldhallen in Stockholm in August during the Baltic Sea Festival.

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Michael Tyden, General Manager of the Baltic Sea Festival said the Baltic Sea started in 2003 at the launching ceremony on Monday.

“It was ten years after the war and we decide to have a festival and since then we did it every year.” said Tyden.

DSC_7988Tyden said the Baltic countries include nine countries and 90-100 million people, even though it is not as many as Chinese, any how it is a lot of people.

DSC_7986Being asked about inviting Chinese pianist Wang Yujia to perform at the opening concert, Tyden said China has so many fantastic pianists. Lang Lang has played in Stockholm many times. He just played in the Concert Hall on Sunday with all the tickets sold out.

DSC_8002Tyden said Wang Yujia is an amazing pianist. She has been in Sweden several times too.

Tyden said the themes also involve environmental issues and welfare issues because the Baltic Sea was very polluted and needed more attention.

DSC_8006Tyden said the festival will begin with a newly written opera about the hospital activity.

The host of the festival will be Berwaldhallen Concert Hall and Radio Sweden.

DSC_8010The participating performers include Swedish Radio’s symphony orchestra and orchestra from Finland,  Lativia, Poland and Sweden.

 

 

 

If you have any questions and suggestions, write to us, at chenxuefei7@hotmail.com, or chenxuefei@greenpost,se

Premier Li draws a comprehensive blueprint, action plan for China

By Xuefei Chen Axelsson

Beijing, March.5(Greenpost)–China’s Premier Li Keqiang made a very comprehensive and down to earth blueprint and action plan to China for the next five years and this year.

This year marks the beginning of the 13th five year plan period for China. China has set up a goal of realising the comprehensive wealthy and healthy society by 2020.

“We shall eradicate poverty all over the country by 2020,” said Premier Li.

He stressed economic development again as the first important task, but he also emphasised the importance of environment and the balance of structure.

He said China must restructure its economy so that it can be sustainable.

Li said the important task in the following five years will be to treat the filthy air pollution and water pollution. In 2015 China has outdated 1.26 million vehicles and it plans to outdate three million in the following five years.

He also emphasised the equal treatment between the state-owned enterprises and private sectors.  The government will further reduce tax for industries.

Modern agriculture is encouraged to help eradicate poverty.

Li stressed the completion of social security so that all the people in China can benefit from the social security.

He almost mentioned all the areas that need to be done in the country which draws a very promising picture for China.

Tove Lo wins Swedish Music Export Prize(图沃露获得2016瑞典音乐出口奖)

By Xuefei Chen Axelsson

STOCKHOLM, March 1(Greenpost)–Swedish singer and song writer Tove Lo has won 2016 Swedisn Music Export Prize.

DSC_7815The 28 year old singer is currently working in Los Angles, USA. Her father Mangnus Nilsson received the prize for her.

DSC_7770Swedish Minister of Enterprise and Innovation Michael Damberg issued the prize.

“Music has become an important sector for Swedish to export.  Last year the music export is 29 percent higher than that in 2014.”

DSC_7805He praised Tove Lo for her efforts to export Swedish music to the USA.

Talking about Swedish experience, he said Sweden tried to improve its culture and music from ground school education. A lot of investment has been invested in attracting young people’s interest in music. This has been a long process.

DSC_7823 In an interview with Green Post, Nilsson said Tove Lo was her daughter’s nick name. It was a place where she liked very much. Later she took this name as her art name.

She really focused on singing and writing songs when she was 15 years old and her songs have been always among the top 25 near Hollywood and she has been cooperating with those artists there.

She is good at team building and team work and has been very creative.

DSC_7842Ander Hillberg won honorary prize for his modern music.

Swedish ABBA and Roxette and so on have been famous for their world influence in music world.

Sweden has been very generous in supporting music talents to work.

Photo by Xuefei Chen Axelsson

Norway Ranks first in the Regional Potential Index

By Xuefei Chen Axelsson

STOCKHOLM, Feb. 16(Greenpost)–Norway ranks the first of the top ten cities in nordic region in the Regional Potential Index, according to a new report published on Tuesday.

“Norway has succeeded in keeping these regions’ economy boosting with very high GRP/capita. It is accompanied by important immigration flows, especially in Oslo and Akershus, and low demographic dependency rate”, the report said.

Norway’s most successful regions in the top five are there mostly due to their very high scores in economic potential. Oslo and Akershus have very high scores in demographic potential, whereas the three other Norwegian regions perform pretty well in labour market potential. Demographic potential consist of important immigration flows, high population density, low demographic dependency.

 

 

2015 rank

(2010 rank)

Region Territorial potential (total points) Demographic potential Labour market potential Economic potential
1 (3) Oslo (NO) 758 278 190 290
2 (1) Hovedstaden (DK) 756 286 170 300
3 (4) Stockholm (SE) 753 263 190 300
4 (2) Akershus (NO) 748 248 260 240
5 (5) Helsinki-Uusimaa (FI) 738 278 180 280
6 (6) Rogaland (NO) 728 188 270 270
7 (10) Sør-Trøndelag (NO) 703 173 260 270
8 (7) Hordaland (NO) 685 165 240 280
9 (9) Uppsala (SE) 618 218 180 220
10 (8) Höfuðborgarsvæðið (IS) 598 248 220 130

 

 

Norway’s strengths and weaknesses

The largest population increases for the period 2005-2015 were in the municipalities of Stockholm (+147.000 inhabitants), Oslo (+118.000) and Copenhagen (+78.000). Norway is one of the Nordic countries among Sweden and Denmark where migration has accounted for the majority of population growth over the past twenty-five years. Migration movement between Nordic countries (intra-Nordic migration) in 2014 shows, that Denmark and Norway have net Nordic immigration, whereas Finland, Iceland and Sweden have net emigration. The largest flows are between Norway and Sweden (about 7,5% of the total intra-Nordic migration, in each direction). Norway is the only country with net immigration from all the four other Nordic countries.

 

Norway has the highest share (36%) of international PhD graduates followed by Denmark (33%), Sweden (29%) and Iceland (26%). Surprisingly Norway also stands out together with Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland in the early school leaver rates, above 15%.

 

Nordkapp in Northern Norway received the most passengers in 2014 in the Nordic Arctic. Norrkapp received 122 000 passengers from 109 ports of call. In Northern Norway, cruise ship tourism is centred on a few ports, the largest, in terms of passenger numbers, also include Tromsø (112 000 passengers), followed by Leknes (60 000 passengers).  In Norway a clear trend is that a large share of the international tourists are from other European countries. However, the largest numbers of overnight stays are comprised by visitors from Sweden and Denmark.

 

Since 2011, the increase in air passengers has been highest in Norway and Iceland. The air passenger development is expected to slow down to annual growth by year 2020 for Norway and Finland, with only 1-2%.

 

In all of the Nordic countries Housing price indexes have increased more than the EU average. As an example the housing prices in Norway have increased with 400 percent in the period 1992-2014. During the same period prices overall have increase with only 55%.

 

In sharp contrast with falling emissions in Finland, Denmark and Sweden, Norway’s emissions have actually increased since 1990. After decades of support at levels below its neighbours, Norway has emerged as the largest funder of low-carbon RD&D in recent years due especially to two very large demonstration projects in CCS and aluminium smelting.

 

Nordregio’s State of the Nordic Region 2016 is a unique collection of comparative data and maps on economy, migration, employment, education, energy and accessibility in the Nordic countries – at regional level. The report includes a new Regional Potential Index, highlighting climbers and slow movers among the 74 regions of the Nordic countries. State of the Nordic Region is released biannually by Nordregio – Nordic Centre for Spatial Development.

 

 

图片新闻Photo:Nordic Furniture and Light Exhibition concludes

北欧绿色邮报网报道(记者陈雪霏)--一年一度为期五天的北欧家居灯具展13日在斯德哥尔摩落下帷幕。请欣赏北欧设计的魅力。

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精美的造型

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最欣赏这款。希望能挂在自己家里。

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芬兰公司也来这里参展。他表示,来这里参展见到了20多个国家的同行。

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大理石音响真是让人耳目一新啊!

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Gansu to establish logistics center for China-Europe cargo transportation

LANZHOU, Feb.4 (Greenpost) — Lanzhou, capital city in northwest China’s Gansu province will establish a transportation junction and logistics distribution center of China-Europe cargo train on Silk Road.

As a core city in Silk Road economic belt, Lanzhou city has strong power in railway cargo distribution, and is equipped to be a transfer station in the process of China-Europe cargo transportation.

Meanwhile, General Administration of Customs has given support for the Gansu province on establishing a transportation junction and logistics distribution center.

In recent years, many domestic cities, including Chongqing, Chengdu, Zhengzhou, Wuhan, Lanzhou, and Changsha opened through freight rail routes linking China with Europe under the “Belt and Road” Initiative, and played an important role in China-Europe trade.

Source  Xinhua

Swedish garment giant H & M reports 16 percent profit increase last year

By Xuefei Chen Axelsson

Stockholm, Jan. 28–Swedish garment giant H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB has reported 16 percent gross profit increase in 2015.

Karl-Johan Persson, CEO of H&M said 2015 has been a very expansive year for the H&M group.

“We have opened 413 new stores net, of which 249 in the fourth quarter, as well as ten new H&M online markets and we have successfully established stores in our new markets of India, South Africa, Peru, Taiwan and Macau. In total, we now have stores in 61 markets and offer online sales in 23 of these.

It published its full year report on Thursday.

Persson said sales have developed well for all our brands: H&M, H&M Home, COS, & Other Stories, Weekday, Monki and Cheap Monday. During the year sales totalled SEK 210 billion including VAT, which is an increase of 19 percent in SEK. In local currencies the increase was 11 percent. Profit for the year after tax increased to SEK 20.9 billion, which is our highest result to date – this despite the fact that the strong US dollar exchange rate has made our purchasing much more expensive.

“Our employees are doing a fantastic job and are decisive for our success. The increase in the financial result for the year means that SEK 75 m has been allocated to the H&M Incentive Program (HIP), which is for all employees in the H&M group. The accumulated value to an employee who has been in the programme since it started five years ago amounts to approximately SEK 45,000 per person*. In 2015 we created 16,000 new jobs within the H&M group and we are now more than 148,000 employees and we plan to employ further thousands of new employees in 2016 since our strong expansion continues.” said Persson.

“Our growth target of increasing the number of stores by 10-15 percent per year with continued high profitability remains intact, In 2016 we plan to open 425 new stores net and open H&M stores in three new markets: New Zealand, Cyprus and Puerto Rico. In addition, H&M plans to offer e-commerce in a further nine existing H&M markets. These countries are Ireland, Japan, Greece, Croatia, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Luxembourg. We are very pleased with the continued strengthening of our online customer offering and developments within our online operations.” said Persson.

“We operate in an industry that is exposed to a lot of competition and are therefore constantly working to develop our customer offering within our different brands which are all based on the idea of giving customers the best combination of fashion, quality, price and sustainability – from each brand’s unique identity. Among other things, we are making substantial long-term investments in order to grasp the opportunities coming from the increased digitalization.
In addition, we are also continuing to broaden the product range further as well as adding more brands to the group. One example of broadening our range is the successful launch of H&M Beauty, which is now in 900 stores in 41 markets and which will continue to be rolled out to a further 300 stores in 2016.” said Persson.

“Sustainability is something that concerns us all and at H&M we have been working on these matters for a long time. We have made lots of improvements and are constantly working on how to improve even further to meet the challenges that we and our industry are facing. A specific example of what we have achieved in 2015 is that we have switched to 100 percent renewable energy in all markets where this is possible. For the group as a whole, this means that around 80 percent of all the energy that we use globally comes from renewable sources; in 2014 this figure was 27 percent. We have also increased the proportion of cotton that comes from sustainable sources, which now represents 31 percent of our total cotton usage (21 percent in 2014). Our goal is that all cotton in our product range will come from sustainable sources by 2020 at the latest.We closely follow developments in the market in each country where we are present. For 2016 we see many opportunities, but are also well aware of the challenges that exist. We firmly believe that our customer offering and our investments will lead to increased market share and strengthen H&M’s position even further in 2016.” said Persson.

The following is the summery of the yearly report.

  • The H&M group’s sales excluding VAT increased by 19 percent to SEK 180,861 m (151,419) during the financial year. In local currencies the increase was 11 percent.
  • Gross profit increased by 16 percent to SEK 103,167 m (89,052). This corresponds to a gross margin of 57.0 percent (58.8).
  • Profit after financial items increased by SEK 1.3 billion and amounted to SEK 27,242 m (25,895), an increase of 5 percent. The group’s profit after tax increased to SEK 20,898 m (19,976), corresponding to SEK 12.63 (12.07) per share, an increase of 5 percent.
  • The profit increase for 2015 has led to SEK 75 m being allocated to the H&M Incentive Program (HIP), which is for all employees.
  • Very strong expansion during the year with a total net addition of 413 (379) new stores and ten new online markets. At the end of the financial year H&M had 23 online markets and the number of stores amounted to 3,924 in 61 markets.
  • More than 16,000 new jobs were created in the H&M group in 2015. The number of employees amounted to more than 148,000 (132,000) at the end of the year.
  • The Board of Directors proposes a dividend of SEK 9.75 (9.75) per share for the 2014/2015 financial year.
  • Sales including VAT in December 2015 increased by 10 percent in local currencies compared to the corresponding month the previous year.
  • Sales including VAT in January 2016 are expected to increase by 7 percent in local currencies compared to the same month last year.
  • The H&M group plans a net addition of around 425 new stores for the 2015/2016 financial year. Most of the expansion will take place in existing markets. New Zealand, Cyprus and Puerto Rico are planned to become new H&M markets. In addition, H&M plans to offer e-commerce in a further nine existing H&M markets.

The information in this full-year report is that which H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB (publ) is required to disclose under Sweden’s Securities Market Act. It will be released for publication at 8.00 (CET) on 28 January 2016. This full-year report, and other information about H&M, is available at www.hm.com
    

H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB (publ) was founded in Sweden in 1947 and is quoted on Nasdaq Stockholm. H&M’s business idea is to offer fashion and quality at the best price in a sustainable way. In addition to H&M, the group includes the brands COS, Monki, Weekday, Cheap Monday, & Other Stories as well as H&M Home. The H&M group has more than 3,900 stores in 61 markets including franchise markets. In 2015, sales including VAT amounted to SEK 210 billion and the number of employees was more than 148,000. For further information, visit www.hm.com.

Sri Lankan PM announces to go ahead with China-funded Port City project

COLOMBO, Jan. 21 (Greenpost) — Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has announced that his government will go ahead with a multi billion U.S. dollar port city project in the capital funded by China after it was suspended earlier last year.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Wickremesinghe said that his government also invited Chinese investors to Sri Lanka.
When asked by the media about China’s role in Sri Lanka’s development, Wickremesinghe noted that China is one of the largest economic powers in the world, and within Sri Lanka, there is a large number of projects in infrastructure development which were funded by the Chinese government.
“So we are going ahead with many of those projects including the Port City, the further development of the Hambantota Harbour. But we’ve also said we would like to see Chinese investments,” the prime minister said.
He further said that infrastructure development alone is not sufficient and that his government is now discussing of bringing in Chinese investments into Sri Lanka.
“I think the Chinese government has also decided that some of its manufacturing industries should move out and Sri Lankan seems to be one of the locations for their industries to move out,” he said.
“We are looking at the Chinese participation in the logistics hub of Sri Lanka as well as further investments in the real-estate sector.”
The 1.4 billion dollar mega port city project is Sri Lanka’s largest foreign investment and is set to attract millions of dollars as investments upon its completion.
The project was suspended by the Sirisena administration in March due to a review on its agreement and some other aspects of the project, but the government has now said that project will resume by February.
The government has already said that it will include the project in its megapolis development plan in order to develop the capital Colombo. Enditem

Source  Xinhua

 

2022 Beijing Winter Olympics plenty of business opportunities for Swedes

By Xuefei Chen Axelsson

STOCKHOLM, Jan. 21(Greenpost)—An event organized by EU-China Winter&Outdoor Sports Alliance  on Thursday focusing on networking and finding opportunities for both Swedish and Chinese upon the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

 

With the presence of many CEOs and Executives of Sports&Outdoor industry guests in Sweden and Taishan Sports Industry Group delegation, delegates exchanged ideas in Winter and Outdoor Sports opportunities.

DSC_6463Investment adviser and Executive Director of the Alliance Vanessa Folkesson made a presentation about the vision and mission of the alliance and the 300 billion RMB cross-border business opportunities to engage 300 million Chinese people to participate in winter sports and outdoor travel in EU and mainland China prior to the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

“How can we bring in the brands and products the Chinese have never seen and never know, how do we bring those products to China and how can we help, those are our ambition and goals to achieve, and we see a lot of opportunities in winter&outdoor sports activities, ” said Folkesson.

DSC_6467Executive Chairman of EU-China Culture & Economy Commission William Zhang Yi also said that there is great opportunity in bilateral cooperation in economic, cultural fields.

DSC_6479Four time Olympics official equipment provider Taishan Sports Industry Group’s vice Chairman Bian Qingfeng gave an introduction about his group.

“Established in 1978, Taishan is one of the largest sport products producer and supplier,” said Bian. “We are very proud that we provide equipment and products for 40 percent of the Beijing Summer Olympics Gold medals. We are very good in producing summer sport equipment , but we are still new in producing winter sport equipment, so the main purpose for us to come is to learn from you and find cooperation partners,” said Bian.

Bian said Taishan sincerely look for working partners in developing winter Olympics products.

DSC_6488Per-Erik Holmström made a presentation about Nordic Viking, Ice Hockey and Bandy playing team.

“Nordic Viking is still the best players I believe China’s lady Bandy team will win the 2022 Winter Olympics, but there will be a lot to do. I have great confidence in them,”

During the event, many Swedish sports & outdoor industries CEOs presented their products.

DSC_6562DSC_6558Ingemar Holmberg, Director of International Sales for CRAFT presented various kinds of clothes for the skier or skaters.

World famous Swedish telecommunication giant Ericsson also presented how they can cooperate with Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022.

With the past experience, Ericsson can provide the network for people all over the world to choose to see whatever part of the Olympic Games just by clicking on the internet.

Folkesson said this was a kicking off event and they will organise another event in Beijing next month for similar purposes.

About 50 CEO and Chairpersons of Winter&Outdoor Sports related industries attended the meeting.

Bolife takes part in Stockholm Formex Exhibition

By Xuefei Chen Axelsson

STOCKHOLM, Jan. 21(Greenpost)—Bolife, a newly established 100 percent natural dyeing technology user and brand has shown up at the Nordic largest interior design exhibition Formex Spring 2016 in Stockholm.

Bolife is the only brand developed by a Chinese company to display its product and present its technology here at the Formex exhibition.

DSC_6214As a new immigrant to Sweden, CEO Zhang Yu told Green Post that his purpose to take part in the exhibition is to let Swedish and the Europeans to recognise this brand and the Chinese green technology.

”We know that Swedish people pay great attention to sustainability and green technology. Since we now live in Sweden, we like to find a product or a technology that can fit for the Swedes. We have looked for it in Japan and South Korea, but in the end we found it in China,” said Zhang.

 

”This technology has 13 patents protected in China and no one has really made any products out of it. So we talked with the owner and developed this product for the first time within six months, and now we made it here to the last minute,” said Zhang.

Zhang explained that the technology they used is to use dyeing material from herbs and plants without adding any chemicals. Plus supersonic vibrations. There will be no need to use chemicals to make the form or soften the clothes.

DSC_6205”The natural dyeing method makes the fabric look a bit rough, but if you see the fabric is shining or too soft, it must contain some chemicals to make it like that,” said Zhang.

The natural dyeing method is very traditional Chinese method plus supersonic technology so that people can mass produce the fabric.

This will avoid the problems of being irritated in the skin or allergic for the chemicals in certain material.  So it is pure organic and natural material.

Zhang Yu stressed that they like to develop this in Sweden and Europe first and once it is recognised with the European quality standards for green product, then they can consider to have more sales in China too. They will use the Chinese dyeing technology with Swedish design and European suppliers to make 100 percent natural product for the customers.

DSC_6230Hans Krylander, consultant of  Bolife explained the uniqueness of the Bolife technology.

”This is a new method to use supersonic viberation, they only dye for 30 degrees and before they use 60 degrees, so you save a lot of energy. But the main purpose and the best thing is that you don’t need to have chemical fixation material, you can use tree material. The supersonic technology has existed for many years, but it is the first time to use it this way.  This is the first time in the world history that you can have an ecological dyeing in organic cotton, and it stays with organic fixation material as well, so it is a unique Chinese product,” Krylander said.

DSC_6362During the exhibition, they also cooperate with Swedish Handcraft Friends to present the dyeing method. The presentation also attracted a lot of attention from the visitors. They even practice dyeing themselves during the presentation.

DSC_6373

Janne Liang and Lotta Ahlvar, President of Handcraft Friends presents the natural dyeing method.  Photo by Xuefei Chen Axelsson.

Zhang Yu created a home product brand Day & Me and had opened more than 40 shops in China within a year. He felt this was not challenging enough. So now he likes to develop a completely green brand. The brand has been recognised by American SGS certification, the next step is to get the European eco product certification.

Formex is the largest interior design exhibition in Nordic region. It opens twice a year in Stockholm in January and August. Almost all the interior design companies come to participate in the exhibition.

During the exhibition, designer Lotta said the Nordic style is not just simple, it is a combination of both beautiful and useful.

Swedish PM debates on more housing policy

By Xuefei Chen Axelsson

STOCKHOLM, Jan. 16(Greenpost) –After the twice press conference on housing crisis in Sweden held by Swedish Housing Crisis committee led by Klas Eklund, SEB senior economist, the government began to pay attention to this issue.

On Wednesday Swedish Prime Minister Stefen Löfven  and Financial Minister Andersson and Housing and IT Minister Kaplan jointly wrote a debate article on DN to suggest more housing to be built in Sweden.

Their goal is to build 700 thousand houses or apartments by 2025.

Their suggestions include simplifying permission rules, having more building capacity and increasing circulation.

This means the housing crisis report has been taken seriously now by the government after the second press conference in Dec. 15, 2015.

Economist Eklund argued that Sweden has a housing crisis because there are new immigrants and refugees who are urgently needing place to live.

Nya reformer för fler bostäder

STOCKHOLM, Jan. 16(Greenpost)–Statsminister Stefan Löfven, finansminister Magdalena Andersson och bostads-, stadsutvecklings- och IT-minister Mehmet Kaplan, debattartikel, DN Debatt, den 13 januari 2016

Regeringen kommer att under 2016 prioritera investeringar och reformer för fler jobb, förbättrade skolresultat och ökat bostadsbyggande. I dag presenterar vi inriktningen för att öka takten i bostadsbyggandet.

Vi har påbörjat ett nytt samhällsbygge. Vi investerar kraftigt i Sveriges nya jobbagenda – med infrastruktursatsningar, en ny exportstrategi och bättre tillgång till riskkapital för små och medelstora företag.

På skolområdet investerar vi i ett nytt kunskapslyft med över 50 000 nya utbildningsplatser så att fler kan ta de jobb som växer fram. I år förverkligas också vår satsning på höjda lärarlöner, mindre klasser i lågstadiet och ökat stöd till de skolor som behöver det mest.

Regeringen har tagit en rad beslut för att göra det snabbare, enklare och billigare att bygga bostäder. Vi har förkortat överklagandeprocessen, lagt fram en ny bullerförordning, satsat på energieffektiva och klimatsmarta byggnader och har inlett den största bostadssatsningen på över 20 år. Redan i år förväntas bostadsbyggandet vara det högsta sedan början av 1990-talet.

Sverige har även fortsatt behov av investeringar och strukturreformer, för att fler ska arbeta, skolresultat ska höjas och bostadsbyggandet ska öka. Det akuta krisläget i flyktingmottagandet som uppstod under hösten 2015 fotsätter att kräva stora ansträngningar av det svenska samhället. Regeringen gör det som krävs för att få till stånd en bättre fördelning av antalet flyktingar i Europa. Det kommer framöver att ställa stora krav på politiken för att de som kommit till Sverige snabbt ska komma in i samhället, kunna bidra och göra sin plikt.

Vi ska ta vara på att vi nu har ett gott ekonomiskt läge med den fjärde högsta tillväxttakten i Europa. Sedan regeringen tillträdde förra hösten har antalet människor som har ett arbete att gå till ökat med nästan 70 000. Både långtidsarbetslösheten och ungdomsarbetslösheten sjunker. Under 2015 har vi halverat budgetunderskottet. Det gör oss bättre rustade att ta itu med de utmaningar och möjligheter som nu ligger framför oss.

Boverket uppskattar behovet av nya bostäder år 2025 till över 700 000. Med den byggtakt vi har i dag kommer inte samhället att klara det behovet. I stället för att kämpa om vilken regering som står med problemen om nio år bör alla ansvarstagande partier redan nu hitta innovativa och realistiska sätt att öka människors möjlighet att flytta till ett boende som passar jobb- och familjesituation i hela landet. För att klara det behöver vi lägga politiska låsningar och konflikter åt sidan. Låt oss debattera de enskilda förslagen men vara överens om att målet är att tillgodose behovet av nya bostäder. I det arbetet är regeringen beredd att göra det som krävs.

Det finns en stor potential i ett ökat bostadsbyggande och ökad rörlighet på arbetsmarknaden både för samhället och individer. Det är en möjlighet att öka antalet jobb och minska arbetslösheten genom att fler utbildas till byggbranschen och får jobb. Det är en möjlighet för ökad tillväxt och bättre matchning med växande företag som kan rekrytera personal utanför sin egen region. Skenande bostadspriser motverkas. Samtidigt som unga kan flytta hemifrån, barnfamiljer flytta till större och äldre till ett mer anpassade boende.

Regeringen tar därför i dag initiativ till breda politiska samtal om hur vi ökar byggtakten med Moderaterna, Centerpartiet, Liberalerna, Kristdemokraterna och Vänsterpartiet. Samtalen kommer att ledas av finansminister Magdalena Andersson och bostads- och stadsutvecklingsminister Mehmet Kaplan. Regeringen ser att det inom tre områden krävs reformer och nytänkande för att öka byggandet.

1 Förenkla regelverken: korta tiden från idé till färdigt hem

Ska vi öka byggandet tillräckligt måste staten och kommunerna arbeta tillsammans. Regeringen kommer att fortsätta arbetet med att förändra plan- och byggreglerna i syfte att förenkla, främja konkurrens och korta tiden från idé till färdigt hem. Exempelvis se över om det skulle kunna gå att bygga med bara översiktsplan som grund och att ha samma överklagandemöjligheter för bygg- och rivningslov som för detaljplaner.

Regeringen är beredd att se över krav på bostadsbyggande för kommunerna. Om inte varje kommun tar ansvar för att det byggs tillräckligt för regionens och nationens behov skulle dessa krav kunna göras bindande.

2 Öka byggkapaciteten

För att avsevärt kunna öka byggtakten i Sverige behöver kapaciteten att bygga fler bostäder utökas. Regeringen vill kraftigt öka antalet utbildningar som kan ge arbetslösa möjligheter att arbeta i byggbranschen. Den svenska marknaden behöver även i större utsträckning än i dag öppnas för utländska byggbolag. Dessa ska dock självfallet arbeta under svenska villkor och svenska kollektivavtal.

En modell med typgodkända hustyper eller certifierade entreprenörer skulle kunna snabba upp och förenkla plan- och byggprocessen och samtidigt leda till en industriell utveckling av prefabhus.

Som ett komplement till de större insatserna att få fram fler bostäder vill regeringen se över om statliga bolag kan ges större möjligheter att se till att det byggs nya bostäder. Akademiska Hus bygger i dag studentbostäder och bör vara en aktuell aktör. Specialfastigheter kan vara en annan sådan aktör. Syftet skulle vara att få fram fler bostäder åt studenter, ungdomar och övriga grupper som har svårt att etablera sig på bostadsmarknaden.

Vi behöver möjliggöra bostadsbyggande på statligt ägda fastigheter genom en modell för avyttring eller upplåtelse av statligt ägda fastigheter. Regeringen är också beredd att ta ytterligare steg för att se över hur lokal infrastruktur kan planeras och finansieras i syfte att skapa attraktiv bostadsmark genom effektiva transportlösningar.

3 Finansiering och ökad rörlighet

Regeringen har infört ett investeringsstöd för hyresrätter och ekonomisk stimulans till kommuner för ökat byggande. Regeringen vill se över behovet av att komplettera investeringsstödet med nya former av hyresgarantier. Samtidigt behöver kapitalförsörjningen till mindre aktörer ses över. Om behov finns är regeringen beredd att tillföra medel till SBAB för utlåning till allmännytta, byggföretag och kommuner för nybyggnation av både hyresrätter och bostadsrätter.

Det befintliga bostadsbeståndet behöver också användas mer effektivt. Regeringen vill inom ramen för dagens samlade beskattning av bostadssektorn se över skatternas utformning för att främja ökad rörlighet på bostadsmarknaden.

För att investeringarna och strukturreformerna ska vara möjliga i dagens svåra parlamentariska läge krävs samarbetsvilja och samförstånd. Vi är beredda att fortsätta utveckla bostadspolitiken tills byggtakten möter behoven på bostadsmarknaden. Utmaningarna måste antas tillsammans – i bred samverkan med näringsliv, fackförbund, civilsamhälle, forskare och politiker på alla nivåer.

Ett hållbart samhällsbygge kräver samarbete. Därför vill vi samla Sverige för att bygga ett starkare land tillsammans.