China Business Forum 2026

China is home to the world’s most dynamic digital economy, with over 1.2 billion internet users and a marketplace where innovation isn’t optional – it’s survival. In this high-pressure environment, Chinese companies have mastered the art of rapid, customer-focused innovation, often setting the pace for global trends. What can Western leaders learn from the companies thriving in this red ocean of relentless competition? A lot.

From leveraging AI and real-time data to drive new products, services, and even entire business models, to adopting a culture of experimentation that keeps them agile and future-ready – these companies offer powerful lessons in speed, adaptability, and customer obsession.

In this keynote, you’ll gain insights into how China’s top innovators stay ahead of the curve – and how your organization can apply these strategies to accelerate growth, manage risk, and lead through change.

As the global balance of power shifts, China’s role on the world stage is being redefined—bringing both challenges and opportunities for international business.

The presentation explores how the evolving geopolitical landscape is reshaping the relationship between China, Europe, and the United States – and the implications for Denmark.

The talk also offers insights into how businesses can navigate this new reality, balancing economic engagement with China amid changing global alliances.

For decades, Western countries have gradually reduced investment in China expertise and Chinese language education. At many universities, language programmes have been downsized as funding models increasingly prioritize short-term demand and revenue generation. Yet this decline is occurring just as China’s global economic, technological, and political influence continues to grow.

At the same time, artificial intelligence is transforming how information about the world is produced, accessed, and interpreted. Businesses, analysts, and students increasingly rely on AI tools to gather open-source intelligence, yet much of the information shaping China’s policies, technological development, and regulatory environment exists primarily in Chinese-language sources.

AI can assist with translation and data processing, but it cannot replace the contextual understanding needed to interpret these materials reliably. As China develops its own rapidly evolving digital and AI ecosystems, a partially parallel information environment is emerging that remains difficult to access without language and area expertise.

In this context, Chinese language competence becomes more rather than less valuable. This talk argues that China skills should be understood as a strategic competence for both business and education in an increasingly AI-mediated information landscape.

China has many facets and continues to evolve rapidly. For people from a geographically smaller country, should China be viewed with concern—or with admiration?

The reality lies somewhere in between. Beyond simplistic black-and-white narratives, how can we develop a more balanced and informed understanding of China—setting emotions aside and focusing on facts and experience?

In this talk, Hao will share first-hand observations drawn from his long-term stay in Denmark, where he has become well integrated both professionally and socially. As a native Chinese national and an entrepreneur operating in global business, he offers a unique dual perspective.

Culture is at the core of this discussion. The focus is less on right or wrong, and more on understanding, inspiration, and how different perspectives can be bridged and combined.

China analyst, thought leader and keynote speaker

Christina Boutrup is former journalist and a China analyst.  She has lived and worked in China several times, most recently as Asia correspondent for national Danish TV2. Since 2004, she has closely followed China’s development and traveled extensively throughout the region, including hosting radio and television programmes.

She has authored several critically acclaimed books on the Middle Kingdom, including The Green Superpower – How China Shapes Our Future. In addition, she is recognised by Thinkers 50 and has previously been appointed to the Danish Competitiveness Council, as well as the Danish government’s expert panel focusing on China.

China Political Director, Danish Industry (DI)

Peter Bøgh Hansen is a recognized political analyst on China. Based in Shanghai, Peter is heading Danish Industry’s China department in Shanghai as well as Sense China, a network for Danish companies with activities on the Chinese market.

Peter has been residing in China for over 20 years. He is a regular commentator in Danish and international media, and in 2022 his book Handelsvejen til Kina was published from Akademisk Forlag.

Peter was co-founder of the E-commerce platform EasyBizChina and several other start-up initiatives. Among several honorary positions, he is now a board member at the Danish Chamber of Commerce in China, and in the advisory board of the Sino-Danish Center in Beijing.

Associate Professor, Department of Culture and Society – China Studies, Aarhus University

Mette Thunø, PhD, is Associate Professor at Aarhus University, Denmark, where she lectures on contemporary China within the Department of Global Studies’ China Studies Section. Between 2006 and 2010, she served as Vice Dean of Research at the University of Copenhagen, and from 2010 to 2014, she was the Dean of the Faculty of Arts at Aarhus University.

She co-founded the “China-Europe Research Platform on Chinese Migration to and beyond Europe” (CERPE) with Professor Li Minghuan, Xiamen University. Her research primarily focuses on global China, specifically exploring China-Europe relations concerning migration and diplomacy, along with China’s recent diaspora policies. She has authored numerous works on Chinese migration and transnationalism, including co-authoring Transnational Chinese: Fujianese Migrants in Europe (Stanford UP, 2004), editing Beyond Chinatown (NIAS, 2007), and is the Editor-in-Chief of the Handbook of Chinese Migration to Europe (Leiden: Brill, 2025).

Her latest research projects involve using computational methods to study ethnic Chinese media framings on EU elections and a book project on China’s diasporic geopolitics.

CEO & Founder, TEGnology

Hao Yin holds a PhD in Materials Science from Aarhus University, following a master’s degree obtained in China. Based on his research and inventions, a high-tech company was established. Hao joined the company at an early stage and is today its owner and director.

Like many international businesses, Hao and his company maintain extensive links to China, spanning supply chains and customer relationships. In recent years—amid significant shifts in global geopolitics and trade—ensuring operational resilience, securing supply, and complying with regulatory requirements in both the EU and China have become key priorities.

Hao has a strong interest in understanding how cultural differences influence decision-making in a business context.

Deputy Secretary General, Danish-Chinese Business Forum

Martin Bech is Deputy Secretary General of the Danish-Chinese Business Forum.

In 2025, Martin was affiliated with Copenhagen Business School (CBS), where he coordinated the EU-funded consortium ‘China Horizons – Dealing with a Resurgent China’. He has previously worked for the Danish Academy of Technical Sciences (ATV) and, before that, for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he served as Innovation Attaché in Shanghai from 2017 to 2020.

In addition, he has worked for the think tank ThinkChina at the University of Copenhagen and for the Nordic Centre at Fudan University in Shanghai. Martin holds a PhD in Organizational Studies and Anthropology from Aarhus University and has studied at Roskilde University (MA) and the University of Copenhagen (BA). He is also currently an external lecturer at CBS.