Sino-Swiss Business Forum 2026 Celebrates SwissCham's 30th Anniversary with a Full Day of Dialogue, Innovation, Trust, and Digitalization in Shanghai

Shanghai, May 14, 2026 – The Sino-Swiss Business Forum 2026, organized by SwissCham China - Shanghai，convened executives, government officials, and innovators at the MGM Shanghai West Bund. Marking the 30th anniversary of SwissCham China, the event was themed "Innovation, Trust, and Digitalization" and featured a robust program of sub-forum discussions, an experiential gallery, an exclusive government-corporate dialogue, and a 30th Anniversary Gala Dinner.

Afternoon Sessions: Forum Talks

Meeting Room 1 – Innovation

Sub-forum 1: How High-Performance Consumer Ecosystems Are Built in China

Title Sponsor: Logitech

Speakers: Viktoria Yin, Lorenz Beringer, Winnie Lau

This session explored the dynamics behind China's fast-evolving consumer ecosystems, examining how international and local brands are building high-performance go-to-market strategies in an increasingly complex and digitally-driven environment. Key themes included:

• Why the Chinese consumer joins a community before they buy a product — and how identity, subcultural signalling and peer belonging drive purchasing decisions that marketing funnels were never designed to capture.

• Where the investment in community pays back — and how to make the case for patience when the board wants metrics and the market wants speed.

Sub-forum 2: Innovation through Partnership: New-Co Model, Moving Ahead Past Narrative

Title Sponsor: ABB Robotics

Speakers: Cheng Chen, Patrick Gallagher, Henry Han, Heini Shi, Georg Stieler, Megan Xu, Raphaela Oliver

This panel examined the next frontier of Sino-Swiss business collaboration — moving beyond traditional joint ventures toward agile New-Co models that can respond to market realities. Key insights included:

• How early-stage Swiss companies are using China's manufacturing depth, hardware iteration speed and ecosystem density as a forcing function — turning ideas into commercial products faster than any European market would allow, and sharpening value propositions that other markets never required them to articulate.

• Why China has become a source of innovation, not just a destination for it — and what it means for Swiss companies when the partner across the table arrives with world-class IP of their own, clinical data at unmatched scale, and the confidence to negotiate accordingly.

• What the NewCo model actually is — and why the most consequential restructuring of Swiss-China deal-making in a decade is happening in term sheets and offshore incorporation filings rather than in boardrooms or headlines.

Meeting Room 2 – Digitalization

Sub-forum 1: Smarter Machines, Harder Choices: B2B and Aftermarket Services

Title Sponsor: Schindler

Speakers: Pau-y Chow, Rita Ma, Michael Shi, Dai Xia, Yong Yang

This session tackled the growing complexity Swiss industrial companies face as automation and AI reshape B2B sales models and aftermarket service delivery in China. Key themes included:

• Predictive maintenance as a business model shift and the balance between automation and human centricity.

• Data ownership at industrial scale.

• Sales incentive restructuring: how to drive a salesforce toward service revenue.

Sub-forum 2: Swiss Precision in China's Next Growth Cycle: Leadership from AI & the Data Center Business

Title Sponsor: Belimo

Speakers: Shirley Chen, Wilhelm Cheng, Joanna Wu, Reynold Cheng

This session unpacked how the AI and data centre boom is creating new opportunities for Swiss precision technology companies in China's next growth wave. Panelists explored:

• China is building AI infrastructure at a scale and speed the world has never seen. This session explores where Swiss precision companies fit within that ecosystem, and what the rise of AI means for industrial businesses operating in China today.

• Swiss engineering and quality have long been a competitive advantage — but Chinese competitors are advancing faster than many expected. Three senior executives share how they are responding: where they continue to differentiate, where they must adapt, and what transformation looks like on the ground.

• The session opens with a keynote by Professor Cheng on AI-driven industrial transformation, followed by a candid panel discussion on competitiveness, localisation, and the hard decisions companies must make to remain relevant in one of the world's fastest-changing markets.

Meeting Room 3 – Trust

Sub-forum 1: Navigating China's Demographic Megatrend: The Silver Economy

Title Sponsor: Straumann

Speakers: Xin Dai, Weiyu Wang, Ning Tang, Laimei Yeung, Jimmy Liang

This session examined China's rapidly ageing population as both a structural challenge and a significant commercial opportunity. Key takeaways included:

• What separates companies that lead a demographic shift from those that follow it — and what long-term commitment to China's silver economy looks like in practice.

• Why the ageing consumer decides differently, and how awareness, trust and family dynamics shape the market more than product features do.

• Where AI and digitalisation are genuinely closing the gaps in eldercare access — and where the infrastructure still needs to be built.

Sub-forum 2: Going Global: The New Strategic Role of Swiss Companies in China

Title Sponsor: UBS

Speakers: Alan Ni, Song Yu, Ying Ni, Iwan Wuelser, Daniel Jäggli

This session reframed China not merely as a market to serve, but as a strategic launchpad for Swiss companies expanding globally. Highlights included:

• How leading Swiss firms are repositioning their China operations: the internal changes, new capabilities and client conversations that define the transition from local operator to strategic bridge.

• Where Chinese companies consistently hit friction going abroad — in compliance, supply chain, talent and governance — and why the Swiss firm already in the room is best placed to help them through it.

• What best practice looks like concretely: the partnerships, operating models and trust-building approaches that are already working — and what other Swiss companies in China can learn from them.

Experiential Gallery & Networking

Throughout the afternoon and during the networking aperitif, guests explored an interactive exhibition featuring Swiss member companies and partners. The gallery showcased Swiss innovation, craftsmanship, and culture in an engaging and immersive format, offering attendees the opportunity to connect directly with exhibitors and sponsors.

Exclusive Government and Corporates Dialogue

From 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM, an exclusive Government and Corporates Dialogue brought together senior Swiss multinational executives and Chinese government representatives. This high-level roundtable provided a platform for:

• Policy feedback on market access, regulatory reforms, and investment conditions.

• Dialogue on future-oriented economic cooperation between Swiss business and local government.

• Deepening bilateral economic diplomacy in a changing geopolitical environment.

Evening Gala Dinner: 30th Anniversary Celebration

The day concluded with a VIP Keynote Speeches & Gala Dinner, bringing together senior leaders from Swiss and Chinese business communities, official delegations, and long-standing SwissCham members to celebrate three decades of the chamber's presence in China.

The evening honoured the relationships, milestones, and shared achievements that have defined SwissCham Shanghai since its founding, and set the stage for the next chapter of Sino-Swiss collaboration.

Key Sponsors

SwissCham extends special thanks to its event sponsors:

Platinum: Belimo, Logitech, Schindler, UBS, Straumann

Gold: Roche, Swiss Military

Exhibitors & Partners: ABB Robotics, Bühler, SIBA, SIP, Dushan Port, EBN, Sika