Official Mission
Despite the recent news regarding a slowing growth rate and a tougher economic environment, China is still a country worth detecting the excellent business opportunities it offers to European businesses. In order to support Luxembourg companies in their task to analyse the Chinese market either for sales activities, business partnerships, joint ventures or production facilities, the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce organized in December, and in close cooperation with the Ministry of the Economy and with “Luxembourg for Business”, an official mission to China. The mission was led by TT.RR.HH. the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess of Luxembourg and Etienne Schneider, Vice Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy.
Even if the destinations might not sound familiar to most business developers or CEO’s, for some good reasons, interesting 2nd tier cities have been chosen in order to gain a better understanding of the possibilities China offers outside the well-known centres of Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Chengdu or Chongqing. During this mission, the Chamber of Commerce scheduled to visit 3 cities, well known for their economic dynamism and outstanding development.
The mission started on the 16th of December in Qingdao, a coastal city located in the very dynamic province of Shandong right between Beijing and Shanghai. Qingdao is home to the two major Chinese electronic and white goods producers, Haier and Hisense, two brands competing now successfully for many years on international markets. The delegation had the unique opportunity to visit the production site of Haier and to learn more about the internationalisation strategy of a famous Chinese brand. Although Qingdao is not the capital of Shandong province, economically seen the city is home to many other global brands of Chinese origin and last but not least the home town of the famous Chinese brewery Tsingtao, founded during German colonial times. Qingdao has emerged as a regional international hub through the early commercial relations the coastal city had with Japan and South Korea. Today, Qingdao ranks as the 8th busiest port in the world and the 4th biggest in China. The city features various State Owned Enterprises, Private Chinese Companies and Foreign Owned Companies and was awarded “City of the future” in 2011. Thanks to the great support by the local Chinese Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT Qingdao), the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce organized a seminar highlighting the advantages Luxembourg offers to Chinese companies willing to expand abroad. The seminar was followed by business matchmaking and a subsequent networking reception offered further in-depth networking opportunities. The excellent cooperation with the CCPIT Qingdao was underlined by the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding, laying the basis for further exchanges for mutual benefit.
On the 17th of December the mission continued to Shanghai where an Official Reception was organized by the newly appointed Consul General, Luc Decker. This Reception offered the ideal stage for two renowned Luxembourg companies to conclude, on one hand, a contract and on the other hand, to mark the opening of a permanent representation in China. Cebi Group, better known for its Luxembourg branch ELTH, signed a real estate contract, much needed for its further expansion plans in China. CTI Systems, a 100% subsidiary of Paul Wurth announced the opening of a representative office in Shanghai, in order to serve in an optimized way the expanding Chinese customer basis especially in the field of aviation. These announcements came only days after the official opening of new lab facilities by IEE in Beijing and the official inauguration of new offices by Paul Wurth. All these success stories prove once more that the Commercial Week, organized by the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce, in the framework of the World Expo 2010 Shanghai, was an important event in order to showcase the Luxembourg economy to the Chinese business community.
On the 18th of December, the delegation headed to Hangzhou. Hangzhou, as the capital of Zhejiang province is very well known for its privately operated businesses and has rapidly developed since the opening up of China. Today, it is an industrial city with many diverse sectors such as light industry, automotive industry, fast moving consumer goods and agriculture and can also be considered as an important manufacturing base and logistics hub for coastal China. The promotion seminar, organized with the great help of the Zhejiang Federation of Chambers of Industry and Commerce (ZFCIC), attracted almost 100 businesswomen and businessmen keen on learning what kind of possibilities Luxembourg offers for their plans to internationalise. Underlining the great and long-term friendship between the Zhejiang and the Luxembourg business communities, a MoU has been signed between the ZFCIC and the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce.
On the last day, on the 19th of December the delegation has been led to Wuxi. The origin of Wuxi’s industrial success has been clearly marked by the textile sector but in recent years Wuxi upgraded its industrial basis towards an important ICT and Hi-Tech industry. Numerous industrial zones attracted foreign investors and their piggybacks but they are also ideal ground of Chinese companies looking to go abroad. The economic seminar and the business matchmaking, organized in close cooperation with CCPIT Wuxi, clearly showed that numerous Wuxi companies are ready to be engaged in global expansion plans. The fact that Wuxi-based, mechanical engineering company Impro has chosen Luxembourg as EU headquarter basis might therefore only be a first concrete example. In order to prove Luxembourg’s commitment for further cooperation, the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce signed another Memorandum of Understanding with CCPIT Wuxi and expanded with signature its network to 10 official partners all over China.
If you want further insights about the Chinese market and more specifically about the visited cities: Chamber of Commerce 7, rue Alcide de Gasperi Luxembourg
Contact persons: Daniel Sahr / Anne-Marie Loesch Tel: 42 39 39 313 / 312 E-mail: daniel.sahr@cc.lu / anne-marie.loesch@cc.lu