Market Outlook: China

Mr Joakim Abeleen is heading up Business Sweden’s activities in Greater China, which includes offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Taipei, to help Swedish companies to grow sales in China and Chinese companies to invest and expand in Sweden. Joakim is also Sweden’s Trade and Invest Commissioner in China.

Mr Abeleen leads Business Sweden’s consumer market activities across the Asia Pacific, and has managed several studies and projects related to the consumer industry. He has been based in Beijing, Shenzhen and Chengdu.

Mr Abeleen has a background as Management Consultant within consumer strategy, and has been leading KPMG’s Strategy practice in Denmark and has been part of KPMG’s global Customer & Operations team. He has published several white papers around customers, strategy and digitalisation. He has also worked with international trade, with nine years in the A.P. Møller Mærsk Group, driving logistics and supply chain optimisation for several global retailers.

Mr Per Portén is the head of Business Sweden in Shanghai and has lived in China since2003. He has extensive experience assisting and supporting Swedish companies grow their business in the Chinese market.

During his years at Business Sweden, Mr Portén has worked with a wide range of sectors, although the primary focus has been on industrial companies. Projects include growth strategy, turnarounds, partner searches, M&A advisory and more. Apart from his work in China, he has also managed projects in other Asian markets and been temporarily stationed in Sub-Saharan Africa to develop business Sweden’s work in the region.

Mr Portén joined Business Sweden in 2006 and was based in Beijing until 2016. Between 2016-2018 he was the Commercial and Cultural Attaché of the Swedish embassy in Lima, where he also raised the importance of looking closely at the competition and cooperation possibilities Chinese companies bring for Europe in third markets. As of 2018, Mr Portén is based in Shanghai.