7 September 2011

Sherbrooke Innopole’s Director General, Mr. Pierre Bélanger, has taken part in the economic mission to China lead by Québec’s Prime Minister, Mr. Jean Charest. Also attending were Mrs Monique Gagnon-Tremblay, Minister of International Relations, and Mr. Clément Gignac, Minister of Economic Development, Innovation and Export Trade.

This government mission aimed at presenting the Plan Nord to Chinese companies and investors and allowing the participating organizations, such as Sherbrooke Innopole, to create and tighten links with the Chinese industry. China is Québec’s second most important commercial partner, with a volume of exchanges exceeding nine billion Canadian dollars this year, and is thus a major economic player for the region.

Last week, the government mission made a stop in Beijing where Mr Bélanger had the opportunity to visit Tsinghua University Science Park (TusPark), one of the most important technological parks in China, and to discuss with its Director, Mr. Hongbo Chen. This park houses some major players in the information technologies sector such as Google and NEC, as well as several start-up companies and incubators.

Mr. Hongbo CHEN, Mr. Pierre Bélanger and Ms. Christine WANG

Mr. Bélanger also had the pleasure of meeting Mrs. Christine Wang, Assistant Director for Beijing Software Enterprises Advisory Centre (BSEAC), a professional knowledge service company specialized in providing commercial solutions for international clients planning to enter or expand their interests in the Chinese market.

Another important meeting also took place in Beijing, where Mr Bélanger met Mrs Xiuying Zhang, Head of the international cooperation division of theZhongguancun Haidan Science Park, a park specialized in the life sciences, microelectronics, clean technologies and new materials sectors.

These three organizations have shown great interest in cooperating with Sherbrooke Innopole to promote strategic alliances and develop partnerships between companies.

After a stopover in Jinan in the Shandong province, where was unveiled a sculpture offered by Québec to commemorate the partnership between the two provinces, the economic delegation moved on to Shanghai where several meetings were planned over the last few days of the mission.

On September 2^nd, after the end of the Economic Mission to China, Mr. Pierre Bélanger left for Xi’an to attend the APEC annual meeting. The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is a forum for 21 Pacific Rim countries that seek to promote free trade and economic cooperation throughout the Asia-Pacific region. During this five-day conference, Mr. Bélanger will take part in discussions about methods of company incubation and the possibility of developing an international co-incubation project with Sherbrooke. He will be back on Canadian soil on September 9^th.