The global luxury brand industry is now reacting to a worldwide trend toward increasing sophistication among consumers and a growing need to produce exclusive products offering a personalized, made-to-order touch. Makers of luxury products are finding growth through adapting to varied cultures, tastes and preferences, and customizing for specific niche consumer segments.

Within a single generation China has emerged as the third most important customer base for the global luxury goods industry. Today, the country’s growing consumer class accounts for 12% of total global sales of the world’s biggest luxury brands.

The world’s luxury industry leaders are now competing to strengthen their premium brands and win-over increasingly fickle consumers in the key international markets as well as in the vast but volatile China market. Meanwhile, emerging Chinese competitors are making headway in both the domestic and global markets. Attend the 1st Annual Luxury Brand Forum for your front-row seat at a dialogue between some of the world’s most influential trend-setters for this industry. Expect to hear a frank and informed discussion of the critical challenges facing this sector, as well as proposed solutions.

2007 is a landmark year for China’s banking sector as it opens up to foreign investment to meet its WTO commitments. Both domestic and major multinational firms are being presented with enormous opportunities to grow and tap a significant new market. While multinational entrants are concerned with building infrastructure and headcount, domestic firms are faced with balancing existing systems with rapidly innovating processes and technologies to transform into world-class institutions. The wide range of Chinese customers also has to be appropriately targeted with the right products and services, especially given the dramatically different needs of various segments. This conference, by providing a powerful East-West dialogue, looked at the transformational issues facing China’s rapidly expanding banking sector and facilitated deeper understanding of the emerging landscape of China’s banking structure in the coming years.

With the birth of the digital age, the advent of the Internet and cell phones has played an incredibly important role in developing new means of broadcasting media. In the twenty-first century, China is experiencing an unparalleled media revolution, and the emerging media industry is beginning to have a profound impact on the lives of people around the world. The First Annual China Media Industry Forum, which was held on July 06, 2007, presented by CEIBS, in conjunction with CEBIS Media Industry Students Association, aimed at discussing the growth of new media and transformation of media industry; promoting multi-party research; facilitating communication and discussion among governments, the media industry, and academia; marketing institutions and investment organizations; and boosting the development of China’s media industry from “academic” and “business” perspectives.

Year 2007 is witnessing a critical moment of China’s health care reform. The official announcement of “reaching health for all” has ended the long debate on China’s medical reform. However, the Chinese government is fully aware of the great challenges to explore and build a sustainable path for China’s health care reform, the priority of which is given to the construction of four basic systems: 1) national primary care system covering urban and rural residents; 2) multi-level medical insurance system; 3) national essential drug system; and 4) efficient public hospital management system. This year’s forum, by providing a high-profile platform for East and West dialogue, probed into the challenges that China is encountered with in the process of building these four basic systems, and seek for practical solutions from the perspectives of government, scholars, companies and hospitals.

The Chinese market, ranked second in the world’s vehicle market, can no longer be ignored by global manufacturers. Chinese local brands have grown beyond expectation - over a dozen manufacturers are exporting or have a serious potential to export cars and commercial vehicles abroad, including to the developed markets of the US and Europe. However, in a technology-driven industry, with growing consumer and regulatory requirements, China’s automotive sector will continue to seek foreign investment to effectively drive its development. All this is taking place against a background of ferocious competition and declining margins. These forces will result in a dramatic re-shaping of the competitive landscape of China’s automotive industry over the years to come. CEIBS’ Auto Forum 2007 provided critical insight into the complex forces that are reshaping China’s car industry, through the perspectives of prominent government officials, industry leaders and renowned academics.