ThinkSport joins in conference on Swiss-Chinese sport business relations

On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Montreux Gymnastics Club this year, a conference exploring business opportunities and challenges between Switzerland and China, taking the example of the sports sector, will take place this Friday, 9 June 2017. Held at the Montreux Music and Convention Centre, the event will feature Li Ning, gymnastics icon and founder of Li Ning Sports Goods, as well as experts on China  from the world of sport business and politics.

Click here for the full conference programme.

ThinkSport will take the floor to present the sport ecosystem in Switzerland, the canton of Vaud and the city of Lausanne, highlighting the unique concentration of international sports organisations, academic excellence and innovative businesses in the region.

China has been known as a sport powerhouse for a long time, but in recent years, many successful business leaders in the country have turned their attention to sports as a real business. The growth of China’s sport industry has brought tremendous opportunities to organisations and businesses both domestically and globally. A good example of a company leveraging these developments is Shankai Sports, which specialises in developing and delivering strategies focusing on China for international sports organisations in the fields of sponsorship, media rights, hospitality, event operations and licensing. Olivier Glauser, co-founder of Shankai Sports, will share his wealth of experience at the conference. The company’s headquarters are in Beijing, but Shankai Sports recently opened an office in Lausanne at the end of 2015 due to its increasing collaboration with UEFA, the IOC and other International Sports Federations. For instance, Shankai introduced Hisense, a Chinese electronics manufacturer, as a global sponsor for the UEFA European Championship in France in 2016, making it the first Chinese sponsor in the 56-year history of the tournament. More recently, Shankai facilitated a 12-year partnership deal between the Alibaba Group, an e-commerce company, and the IOC.

Throughout the year, the 150th anniversary of the Montreux Gymnastics club is being celebrated in the region with special events, including a dedicated exhibition at the Museum of Montreux, highlighting the important role sport has played for the economic growth, dynamism and well-being of the entire region ever since.

Click here for the full programme of events.
www.montreux-gymnastique.ch