Op-Ed Commentary: Chris Devonshire-Ellis
Oct. 11 – Now that the annual APEC CEO Summit has finished in Bali, it will reconvene in Beijing in November 2014. It’ll be an interesting one as Chinese President Xi Jinping will want to cement his newfound status as the architect and potential banker for Asian infrastructure development – meaning he’ll have to keep up the good vibes with others members.
Will the U.S. president show up this time? Or will yet another ungovernable American problem keep him away? Will China face political problems with the Philippines and possibly the entire United Nations over the Spratly Islands arbitration case due to be heard next April?
And finally, how will delegates, warmed by the Indian Ocean breeze, the sandy white beaches, the seductive Southeast Asian cuisine, and a languid sense of serendipitous harmony on the tropical paradise of Bali this past week, cope with Beijing’s awful traffic, internet censorship, pollution and smog, unfriendly stern-faced security, and unwelcome attitudes towards international journalists?
China, Asia, the United States and the rest of APEC will all be subtly changed this time next year. But one thing is for sure – APEC Beijing 2014 won’t be like Bali 2013.
Chris Devonshire-Ellis is the Founding Partner of Dezan Shira & Associates – a specialist foreign direct investment practice providing corporate establishment, business advisory, tax advisory and compliance, accounting, payroll, due diligence and financial review services to multinationals investing in emerging Asia. Since its establishment in 1992, the firm has grown into one of Asia’s most versatile full-service consultancies with operational offices across China, Hong Kong, India, Singapore and Vietnam as well as liaison offices in Italy and the United States.
For further details or to contact the firm, please email china@dezshira.com, visit www.dezshira.com, or download the company brochure.
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