Strengthen reform of the business system and improve market supervision to create a market environment for fair enterprise competition

Seminar on economic opportunities and regulations in China

H.E. Mr Zhang Mao, Minister of State Administration for Industry & Commerce of China and Carlo Thelen, Director general of the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce

On Friday 13th of May 2016, the Chamber of Commerce hosted a seminar on economic opportunities and regulations in China with the keynote speech given by H.E. Mr Zhang Mao, Minister of State Administration for Industry & Commerce of China (SAIC) on the occasion of his visit in Luxembourg.

SAIC is the Chinese authority responsible for the development and implementation of legislations relating to trade and industry. They are also the competent authority for the supervision and regulation of the market as well as the implementation of laws in this field. SAIC not only issues licenses and authorizations required for any trade, but also deals with market regulations and the protection of rights and interests of companies and consumers.

This seminar gave an overview of the current economic policies established by the Chinese authorities, with focus on the new regulations and recent reforms about the registration of foreign-invested enterprises, e-commerce supervision and anti-competitive practices.

It’s SAIC’s first visit to Luxembourg, which started with a visit at the Luxinnovation, the National Agency for Innovation and Research in Esch-Belval. Innovation was also the topic of the Economic Seminar organized by the Chamber of Commerce last Friday in Beijing. As a matter of fact, Luxembourg is THE premium Business Hub and Innovation Center in Europe. In the framework of entering into further cooperation between our 2 economies, it is very essential for Luxembourg companies to be aware of the regulations that are currently in use in China but also the reforms carried out with the intention to create an even more important level playing field for EU companies.

As an important content of this visit, H.E. Minister Zhang also had a meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy, Mr. Étienne Schneider, where they signed an agreement with the Ministry of the Economy to establish and strengthen cooperation in the sectors of registration policies and competition law, consumer protection as well as the IP protection; fields in which the two governments will work closer and tighter together aiming to provide better services to the corporate and private entities of both countries.

After the trade mission co-organized by the Chamber of Commerce of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the Ministry of the Economy to China from the 1st to the 6th of May 2016, this visit of a high level Chinese official will stimulate further the economic exchanges of the two countries.