Trade Mission to China

International Affairs

The Chamber of Commerce led a successful trade mission to China (Hong Kong – Shenzhen - Shanghai) from 5th to 9th November, 2018. The delegation was headed by the Director for International Affairs Mr. Jeannot Erpelding and composed of some 45 entrepreneurs, business delegates as well as officials from the Ministry of the Economy, the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, and the Ministry of Higher Education and Research.

The mission focused on ‘Innovation’ between China and Luxembourg and the participants represented Luxembourg’s finance, logistics, communication, consulting and the automotive sectors.

Luxembourg for Tourism held successful workshops in Hong Kong and Shanghai, aiming to promote Luxembourg as a touristic destination among the Chinese travel trade and to embrace opportunities for new collaborations. To increase awareness and to strengthen Luxembourg’s image among the Chinese clientele via media and content, individual press briefings were scheduled with journalists and marketers. The tourism delegation was composed of representatives of The Ministry of the Economy – General Directorate for Tourism, Luxembourg for Tourism, Luxembourg City Tourist Office, Park Inn by Radisson Luxembourg City, Château d’Urspelt, Euro-Asie Schengen International Group, Triostone Net, Brain & More.

The mission started in Hong Kong with a workshop entitled ‘why I choose to set up my business in Hong Kong?’ in collaboration with the Hong Kong Trade and Development Council and the Belgium-Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong. The Honorary Consul of Luxembourg in Hong Kong, Mrs. Sophie Leung joined the participants at the end of the workshop and introduced the Greater Bay Area. In the afternoon, the delegation visited Hong Kong’s Cyberport, which hosts some 1000 tech, digital and fintech startups.

The Ministry of Higher Education and Research benefited of this occasion to visit interesting actors in the area of research and higher education in Hong Kong. It had fruitful exchanges with ASTRI (Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research), NAMI (Nano and Advanced Materials Institute) and with the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology regarding possible exchanges for students of the University of Luxembourg.

In Shenzhen, the second stop of the mission, delegates visited DJI, the world’s largest producer of commercial drones and the Huaqiang Bei district, dubbed the “Chinese Silicon Valley”.

The program included one business networking event co-organised by Euro-China Economic and Trade Cooperation, A.s.b.l and a workshop on economic cooperation and innovation.

Luxembourg’s business representatives had the opportunity to meet and matchmake with Shenzhen and Chinese officials and companies.

The municipality of Shenzhen Futian district stressed its readiness to deepen business relations with Luxembourg’s companies and seek cooperation opportunities in the area of research and development.

The last and main destination of the mission was Shanghai, where the delegation visited the China International Import Expo (CIIE). The CIIE, an initiative of President Xi Jinping aiming to provide foreign companies with easier access to Chinese market to foreign businesses, this first edition has attracted over 3,600 companies from 151 countries and regions.

The delegates visited the booth of Cargolux at the CIIE. Maxim Straus, Cargolux’ Vice President and CFO declared:

‘We were very proud that we had the opportunity to participate at the first edition of the CIIE which allows us to connect with the major importers and will help us to further develop our footprint in China. Since HNCA became a shareholder in Cargolux we have increased our operations to China successfully, standing today at around 50 weekly flights.’

The mission was successfully concluded by a workshop hosted by the Luxembourg Trade and Investment Office in Shanghai at the premises of the Consulate General of Luxembourg in Shanghai. BenCham Shanghai (Benelux Chamber of Commerce) and EU Sino Business Consulting chaired a panel of 5 the topic ‘exporting to China’, which provided valuable information and expertise on how to do business successfully in China. http://www.eusinobc.com/events/delegation-chamber-of-commerce-of-luxemburg-and-ciie/

Communication around this mission was set up using the hashtag “#LUmission2China”.  Posts and photos concerning the mission can be found on Twitter and LinkedIn, under the ‘Luxembourg Trade and Investment’ group, jointly managed by the Chamber of Commerce, Luxinnovation and the Ministry of the Economy.