2nd Business Networking Festival in China

Cindy Lu, COO XING China:

The XING Networking Festival was initiated in October 2006, with Lars and Dr. Song opening the first Networking Festival together in Shanghai. More than 400 Beijing members witnessed the opening ceremony via a live web link. Every year in October, XING China members celebrate their own Networking Festival by organizing social networking events, creating opportunities for members to come together, communicate and exchange in a relaxed and informal atmosphere. 

This year eleven city communities organized offline events in October, with two taking place in early November. These cities are Beijng, Shanghai, Tsingtao, Zhengzhou, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Chongqing, Changsha, Wuhan, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Nanjing and Xi’an. The events in Beijing, Shanghai, Fuzhou and Changsha all took place on the same day (October 27), with hundreds of members participating. Here’s an impression from the Guangzhou get-together:

I met many interesting people from various different business areas, including real estate, security, internet, investment, food, the arts, electronics, media, etc. Some people had just returned to China for a new career opportunity from Italy, France and other countries, while some members had brought their company product along as lucky draw gift. We received a lot of positive feedback: Many members told me how much they enjoyed the real-life communication with others, and they enjoyed the friendly atmosphere created by the organizers and participants. A lawyer later posted in the XING community group that he did not believe in offline meetings for people networking online until he visited the XING event, where he made very good business contacts and enjoyed himself.

The event in Shanghai, which took place on the same day, was entitled "European Business in China", with both Chinese and foreign members attending. Mr. Gerard Engelkamp, GM of ORBIS China, was invited to give a speech on “European Business in China”. Here you can see his audience listening:

Afterwards members shared their experiences of doing business between Europe and China with one another. We are looking forward to October 2008 already!