While the trade war between China and the US is ongoing, China should look to Europe and Scandinavia! When the US is acting aggressive and unpredictable – China and Europe are entering a more close and integrated relationship.

随着中美贸易战愈演越烈，中国应着眼于在欧洲和斯堪的纳维亚地区寻找机会。当美国盛气凌人、变幻莫测，历史却促使中国和欧洲形成更为紧密的命运共同体。

Europe is the wealthiest and largest economy in the world. Despite having only 11% of the world’s population, Europe controls 30% of the world economy. And, Scandinavia – Norway, Sweden and Denmark – is combined worlds’ 16th largest economy, larger than that of Mexico, Indonesia and Turkey.

作为世界上最大经济体，欧洲在世界上的财富拥有量首屈一指。尽管仅占世界人口的11%，却掌握世界经济总量的30%。斯堪的纳维亚半岛——挪威、瑞典和丹麦——构成了世界第16大经济体，比墨西哥、印度尼西亚和土耳其的总和更大。

Even though Scandinavian countries and China have a longstanding friendship, there are some differences between Scandinavia and China in the way we communicate, how we create marketing plans and how our public institutions are organized.

尽管斯堪的那维亚国家和中国保持着长久的友好关系，但在沟通方式、营销计划制定以及公共机构组织方式上，仍存在一些差异。

When approaching Europe including Scandinavia, you have to think European, try to understand their needs and way of thinking. How can you contribute to solutions that both you and your European counterparts can benefit from?

身处包括斯堪的那维亚在内的欧洲地区时，须用欧洲人的思维逻辑考虑问题，试着理解当地人的需求和思维方式。并找到你与欧洲伙伴共赢的最佳方式。

North European values are essential to understand how the countries function. The five values that most people in Scandinavia range highest are:

了解北欧价值观对于理解这些国家的运作方式至关重要。以下是斯堪的纳维亚人五大核心价值观：

· Democracy

· Rule of law

· Human rights

· Equality

· Freedom of speech

● 民主

● 法治

● 人权

● 平等

● 言论自由

These values are integrated in everything that Scandinavians do, therefore it is essential to get to know them and experience what it means for businesses.

斯堪的纳维亚人将这些基本的价值观融入日常的生活和工作中，因此，了解这些价值观并体会其对于营商的意义，显得至关重要。

Another defining characteristic of the Scandinavian culture is that our countries score high in the UN Happiness Report 2019. When approaching Scandinavians you will meet open people, glad to meet new Chinese friends. Like the Chinese, perhaps a little reserved in the beginning. But after a while: You will all be laughing together!

斯堪的纳维亚文化的另一个显著特征体现在，这些国家在《2019年联合国幸福指数报告》中得分名列前茅。初次接触斯堪的纳维亚人，你会发现他们大多性格开朗，且愿意结识中国朋友。中国人虽在起初时表现得矜持，但没一会儿，气氛会变得很融洽。

We believe there are two striking differences between the Chinese and the Europeans:

这里列出了中国和欧洲存在的两个显著差异:

1) Europeans are more straight-forward, they want to close deals quickly, and has a shorter perspective than the Chinese, that often use more time to evaluate business opportunity, and that have a much longer perspective.

欧洲人更直截了当，他们希望迅速达成交易，所以考虑问题的视角比中国人有限;而中国人往往会花更多时间评估商机，因此中国人考虑问题的视角要广得多。

2) In Europe there are strict regulations in almost every business field. Especially in the fields of health, environment, food security and safety. The strict regulations are both on products and on production processes (in the country the products stem from).

在欧洲，几乎每一个商业领域都有特定、严格的法律法规。特别是在卫生、环境、食品安全等领域，对产品和生产过程(产品的原产国)都有严格规定。

Each sector has its own strong regulations, for example:

任何行业都有其严格的规范，例如：

· Telecom – a long range of security directives

· Consumer goods – CE marking for most products - From toys to big machines, from medical equipment to building materials. All products need to confirm with the CE marking demand on health, environment and safety.

· Food – strong veterinary regulations and documentation requirements/controls

· 电信行业—— 一系列安全规定

· 消费品行业——大多数产品需有CE标识，包括玩具、大型机器、医疗设备、建筑材料等。所有产品均需符合CE标识对健康、环境和安全的要求。

· 食品行业—— 严格的食品卫生法规，及相关文件要求、管控措施

When communicating in Scandinavia: it is important to understand that our society is based on trust. We have a comprehensive welfare state to ensure all people are safe.

与斯堪的纳维亚人沟通时: 首先要知道该国的社会建立在互信的基础上。同时，为确保人民安居乐业，我们为所有人提供全面的福利保障。

We do have public and/or private spending on investment in human capital, to enhance productivity and economic growth. As a basis we have a set of labour market institutions that include strong labour unions and employer associations for social inclusion and sharing of wealth. People in Scandinavia trust each other more. Openness & transparency is what trust is made of. Therefore, all communications and marketing strategies need adjust to this.

为提高生产力、促进经济增长，我们对人力资本进行私有和(或)公共投资。首先我们有一套完整的劳动力市场机制，包括有力的工会组织和雇主协会，提高社会的包容性、促进财富共享。斯堪的纳维亚人更加注重彼此信任——以公开、透明为基础。因此，所有交流的开展和营销策略的制定都需充分考虑这一点。

In Europe, we cultivate free speech. We have a free press, we have public affairs, we have social media and public debates. This creates large opportunity for communication and for mobilizing important stakeholder groups for your cause or your company.

在欧洲，我们推崇言论自由。通过新闻自由、公共事务、社交媒体和公开辩论等渠道，这为更有效的沟通以及调动重要的利益相关者为公司发展做贡献提供了众多机会。

Europe treats all stakeholders equally. Those who comply with rules and build trust are welcome. Those who don’t, aren’t. This is the advice I would give to any client, whether American or Chinese.

在欧洲，所有利益相关者一视同仁：遵守规则并建立信任的人普遍受到欢迎。反之则不会受欢迎。这是我给所有客户的建议，无论美国人还是中国人。

Europe demands quality, and more than ever, China can deliver quality. If you at the same time can comply with rules and build trust you will succeed in Europe and Scandinavia.

欧洲人始终追求品质，而中国以高质量闻名于世。若能遵守规则并建立信任，在斯堪的纳维亚乃至欧洲取得成功只是时间问题。

I sincerely hope our company can be of help!

在此真诚地希望我公司对您有所帮助!

Hans Geelmuyden

CEO Geelmuyden Kiese Group 捷恺

捷恺集团首席执行官