- ECOVIS Vietnam Law attended AUSTRIA CONNECT China 2026 in Shanghai (20–22 September 2026), ADVANTAGE AUSTRIA’s flagship Sino-Austrian business event with around 200 business leaders.
- China’s 15th Five-Year Plan points to a China that competes increasingly on technology and industrial depth, not on cost alone.
- “China or Vietnam?” is usually the wrong question: the decision is which functions stay in China, which capabilities are built in Vietnam, and how both fit one Asian supply chain.
- Vietnam projects increasingly originate from DACH groups’ Asian management or from mixed Chinese–European groups; the holding entity, technology licensing and rules of origin should be settled before the investment registration is filed.
Shanghai as a window into the next Asian investment cycle
From 20 to 22 September 2026, Attorney Vu Manh Quynh, Managing Partner of ECOVIS Vietnam Law, represented the firm at AUSTRIA CONNECT China 2026 in Shanghai. He attended at the invitation of Pingwen Hu and colleagues at ECOVIS Ruide Shanghai, and met executives and entrepreneurs from Austria, Germany, Switzerland and China.
Organised by ADVANTAGE AUSTRIA, Austria’s official foreign trade promotion organisation, AUSTRIA CONNECT is its flagship Sino-Austrian business event in China. The 2026 edition brought together around 200 business leaders and institutional representatives, including Austrian company heads, local representatives of Austrian companies and officials from Austria’s diplomatic missions in China.
The theme, “Strategic Choices: Enhancing Your Competitive Edge in China”, reflected a wider shift in Asian investment. The question for international companies is no longer simply whether to manufacture in China, but how different Asian markets should perform different functions within a company’s global operating architecture.
China’s 15th Five-Year Plan matters beyond China
The opening panel, “Mapping Out the Future: China’s 15th Five-Year Plan”, was hosted by Franz Roessler, Head of ADVANTAGE AUSTRIA Beijing. Among the panellists was Pingwen Hu, Managing Partner of ECOVIS Ruide Certified Public Accountants, alongside senior representatives of industry and the European business community in China.
The Recommendations of the CPC Central Committee for formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan call for industrial clusters in strategic emerging fields such as new energy, new materials, aviation and aerospace, and the low-altitude economy, and for new growth drivers including quantum technology, biomanufacturing, hydrogen and nuclear fusion power, brain-computer interfaces, embodied AI and 6G. They also seek decisive breakthroughs in core technologies such as integrated circuits, industrial machine tools, high-end equipment, basic software and advanced materials.
For international manufacturers, this points to a China that competes increasingly through technology, industrial depth and scale rather than cost alone, creating both opportunities and competitive pressure.
Companies need to reconsider what China represents in their Asian strategy: a market, a manufacturing base, a supplier ecosystem, an innovation platform — or several of these at once.
Attorney Vu Manh Quynh, Managing Partner, ECOVIS Vietnam Law
Beyond the simplistic China+1 narrative
Vietnam is often discussed under the label “China+1”. ECOVIS Vietnam Law regards the concept as useful but incomplete, because it can obscure how real investment decisions are made. Reflecting on the Shanghai discussions, Vu Manh Quynh put it this way:
“China or Vietnam?” is usually the wrong question. A better one is: which functions should be located in China, which capabilities should be developed in Vietnam, and how should both operations fit within a wider Asian supply chain?
Attorney Vu Manh Quynh, Managing Partner, ECOVIS Vietnam Law
China may remain essential for the Chinese market, sophisticated supplier ecosystems and localised production. Vietnam may at the same time provide complementary manufacturing capacity, supply-chain diversification, access to ASEAN and an additional export platform. These strategies are not mutually exclusive. The legal side of this model is covered in our China+1 manufacturing legal and compliance FAQ.
The DACH–China–Vietnam connection
The event was particularly relevant for ECOVIS Vietnam Law because of the substantial presence of Austrian and wider German-speaking businesses in China. Many DACH industrial companies have spent decades building production facilities, supplier relationships and management capabilities in the Chinese market.
A future Vietnam investment may not begin in Vienna, Munich or Zurich. The decision may increasingly come from existing Asian management in Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong or Singapore. That changes how a Vietnam project has to be advised: the investor’s China operations, supply chain, customers, tax structure and regional strategy may all shape the right Vietnam structure.
Attorney Vu Manh Quynh, Managing Partner, ECOVIS Vietnam Law
Our legal roadmap for German manufacturers relocating production from China to Vietnam sets out the steps involved.
Wanfeng: when the investor is Chinese, European and global at once
The Diamond Networking Night was hosted by Wanfeng Auto Holding Group at the Wanfeng Aviation Club. Wanfeng, a Chinese industrial group, acquired the Austrian aircraft manufacturer Diamond Aircraft in 2017. The evening itself illustrated how blurred the line between “Chinese” and “European” investors has become.
For Vietnam, this has practical consequences. A growing share of projects will come from groups that combine Chinese capital, European technology or brands, and regional management. For these investors, structuring choices are rarely neutral: which entity holds the Vietnam project, how technology is licensed into it, how products will be treated under rules of origin, and how customers and authorities will view the ownership chain.
These questions should be settled before the investment registration is filed, not after.
Attorney Vu Manh Quynh, Managing Partner, ECOVIS Vietnam Law
What this means for Vietnam
In ECOVIS Vietnam Law’s view, Vietnam’s opportunity is not simply to become a lower-cost substitute for another manufacturing jurisdiction. A more sustainable position is to become a specialised and reliable component of increasingly sophisticated regional operating models.
For investors, this makes pre-investment analysis more important. A manufacturing project must connect investment structure with location, industrial land, licensing, environmental requirements, construction, customs, taxation, workforce, supply chain and post-licensing execution. The firm applied this lens to one sector in Vietnam as a Second Manufacturing Platform for China’s Semiconductor Supply Chain; site questions are covered in our site selection scorecard.
The question is not merely “How do we establish a Vietnamese company?” It is: what role should Vietnam perform in our Asian strategy, and what legal and operational architecture is required to make that role work?
Attorney Vu Manh Quynh, Managing Partner, ECOVIS Vietnam Law
The value of an international professional network
AUSTRIA CONNECT China 2026 also underlined that cross-border investment still depends on trusted relationships. Collaboration with colleagues such as Pingwen Hu and ECOVIS Ruide Shanghai helps ECOVIS Vietnam Law understand investors before their Vietnam project begins — their existing operations, strategic pressures and commercial context in another jurisdiction.
I return from Shanghai with a clearer view of an emerging investment corridor linking DACH, China, Vietnam and ASEAN. For advisers working with foreign investors in Vietnam, understanding that corridor will matter more and more over the rest of this decade.
Attorney Vu Manh Quynh, Managing Partner, ECOVIS Vietnam Law
How ECOVIS Vietnam Law can assist
ECOVIS Vietnam Law advises foreign investors, including DACH and China-connected manufacturers, on Vietnam market entry and FDI structuring, investment licensing, industrial site due diligence, factory setup, corporate governance and post-licensing compliance. See our Vietnam FDI legal guide for German investors, or contact our team to discuss your project.
ECOVIS Vietnam Law Firm is a licensed Vietnamese law firm based in Ho Chi Minh City and a member of Ecovis International, a global network of around 19,000 people in more than 90 countries whose member firms also provide accounting, audit and tax services.
Cover photo: ADVANTAGE AUSTRIA.
This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax or accounting advice. Project-specific advice should be obtained before making an investment commitment.
Written by the ECOVIS Vietnam Law Communications Team. Last reviewed: 2 October 2026
