China and the West: where do we go from here?

LØRDAG 29. OKTOBER 2022
KL 13.00
PÅFYLL

China and the west have long had a rocky relationship. On the one hand, we are each other's largest trading partners, spanning centuries back, and on the other hand we have some fundamental disagreements, most notably concerning human rights.

With more “woke” and alert consumers in the west, how will the appetite for Chinese goods be affected, if all? Can business and cash smooth the way for a bigger conversation about human rights? Or is it so important to keep the business flowing that we can never address the sore issues?

Where does an assertive and proud China go from here? And how does the west respond?

Chris Weafer has lived and worked in China and knows the country. Yuhong Hermansen, Chair and owner of Herfo AS, has done business in both China and the west. Togehter with other experts, they will share their insights and opinions on the future of the relationship between China and the West. 

Participants:

– Yuhong Jin Hermansen is from Shanghai, and has lived in Norway since 1995. She was married to businessman Folke Hermansen, and after his death she took over as owner and general manager of Herfo. Since 2014, Yuhong has been working chairman of the board, and has broad experience in business both in Norway and in China. She now sits, among others things, as chairman of DSD and is a board member of Stavanger Næringsforening, and has previously been a board member of NHO's central board and a board member in Skagenfondene.

– Chris Weafer is the founding partner of Macro-Advisory Ltd, an independent macro consultancy which provides macro economic, political and business trend advice for business managers and investors working in Russia, the C.I.S., Iran and across the broader Eurasia region, including Mongolia. Weafer is also an expert in all aspects of China’s One Belt, One Road transport system and the Indian sponsored North-South Transport Corridor. Weafer has worked in Russia and the CIS/Eurasia region for nineteen years. Most recently Christopher Weafer was voted the best Policy Forecaster for 2016 by Focus Economics. Before leaving to co-found Macro Advisory, Weafer held the position of Chief Strategist at Sberbank-CIB, Russia’s largest bank and one of the biggest banks in Europe. Chris Weafer is the author of a wide variety of published articles about Russia, Central Asia, and the Eurasia region and about macro energy trends. He is widely quoted in the international financial press and appears regularly on, e.g. BBC, CNN International, CNBC, and Bloomberg.

Moderator:
– Bent Sofus Tranøy, professor at Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences and Kristiania University College. Tranøy has a doctorate in political science from the University of Oslo and a master's degree in political economy from the London School of Economics.