Spain’s Succession Expertise Meets China’s Innovation Ambition

Spanish family businesses account for 92.4% of the country’s companies and generate around 70% of private-sector employment, according to the Instituto de la Empresa Familiar. That scale anchors Grace Kim’s case for exporting Spain’s succession expertise while learning from China’s approach to innovation, technology and investment.

In Kim’s view, wealth succeeds when it survives generational change and shifting market forces, not simply when an owner builds it. She recently brought an all-female delegation of Chinese business leaders to Spain for an executive roundtable on family wealth and succession planning.

Kim said the meeting grew into a broader discussion of legacy, innovation and the future of family enterprise. Families in Spain and China operate under different business cultures, she said, but face the same core choices: how to transfer a company, preserve decades of value and adapt without losing identity.

Her central warning concerned what the two countries overlook. Kim said: “We talk a lot about competition between China and the West. We talk far less about what we could learn from each other.” The exchange, she argued, should connect Spain’s family-business succession and family-office governance with Chinese perspectives on capital and new technology.

What can Spain export?

Spain has deep experience in succession planning, family governance and preparing the next generation to lead, Kim said. She sees an opportunity to take that know-how to a wider international audience, particularly as significant wealth transfers reshape the global family-business sector and Spanish families look to establish or expand their presence in Europe.

Kim proposed focused channels, including executive masterminds and bootcamps, to turn Spain’s experience into an international offering. Her definition of succession goes beyond naming an heir: families must shape what follows the handover and build a legacy that serves the family, the wider economy and society for generations.

Kim’s takeaway is direct: Spain can treat succession governance as a global advisory specialty, not merely a domestic family practice.

How can China reshape the model?

China’s experience in technological innovation, robotics and AI gives Spanish family businesses and investors a set of practices to assess, Kim said. As AI moves beyond generating content toward executing tasks and coordinating workflows, owners face decisions about which tools to adopt, how to deploy them and how those tools change workflows.

Kim also linked the technology shift to ESG and responsible investment. Those fields ask whether capital can reinforce long-term resilience while still creating value. She paired China’s technology experience with Spain’s strengths in governance and long-term business stewardship, rather than presenting either country as a complete model.

Neither side has all the answers, Kim said: “Neither country has all the answers. That is precisely why the exchange matters.” She rejected a choice between tradition and innovation. A workable succession model must preserve family identity while giving the next generation room to modernize.

Kim’s practical agenda pairs governance discipline with faster technological and capital deployment.

Who joined the exchange?

Kim said she worked with Amber Shuya Chan of Hödi Communications to convene the exchange. The Spanish participants she named were:

• Alex Ibáñez Bordes of Víros Capital
• Mar Güell Blasi of Kreab Spain
• Nely Mayoral of Andbank

Kim said their contributions reflected Spain’s experience navigating family wealth, governance and succession. She also said that expertise could resonate well beyond Spain’s borders, with the meeting intended to leave room for new relationships to form.

The delegation included women working across investment, philanthropy, family offices and responsible business, Kim said. Their connections included six Chinese organizations:

• China Guangcai Foundation
• China Charity Federation
• Shenzhen Center for Innovative Corporate Social Responsibility
• Shenzhen Family Office Association
• China ESG Research Institute
• Taikang Stars Association

Kim said their role went beyond attendance: they helped shape the questions, relationships and opportunities under discussion. The delegation’s value lies in that influence, not simply in who occupied the room.

What happens after the roundtable?

Kim’s immediate goal is to turn a single encounter into durable links between Spanish expertise and Chinese business leaders, investors and families seeking ways to preserve, deploy and adapt wealth. She said that requires moving beyond one-off events toward relationships built on trust, shared interests and a willingness to learn from different approaches.

Kim, an American, said she found that prospect encouraging because political rhetoric and competition often dominate public discussion of China-West relations. In her view, direct dialogue can leave room for curiosity, mutual learning and shared ambition, and can turn differences between the two business cultures into practical insight.

The next test is whether the exchange produces recurring programs, deeper institutional ties and sustained participation rather than another one-off event. If it does, Spain can extend its succession advisory reach while Chinese participants keep a durable channel for technology, investment and governance exchange.