Founded in 2013, the China-Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce (CHINALUX) is a private non-profit supporting bilateral trade, investment and cultural ties between both countries. Silicon Luxembourg caught up with the association’s President King Zhujun Xie and Vice President Jacques Bortuzzo to learn more about the countries’ shared past and their upcoming 50th anniversary.
What is the mission of CHINALUX?
CHINALUX brings people from China and Luxembourg closer together so that they can get to know each other and ultimately do business together. Even though we are a non-profit organization, our members are mostly for-profit companies and they need to know who in Luxembourg does business with China. So our mission is to facilitate these exchanges and create more business opportunities for our members.
How would you describe the economic relationship between China and Luxembourg?
The economic relationship between both countries is developing strongly. In fact, there are seven Chinese banks in Luxembourg, eight if you count BIL which was bought by Legend Holdings. Important Chinese fintech companies such as pingpong and Alipay are also active in Luxembourg. These Chinese players have all recently expanded their operations in Luxembourg which has attracted more Chinese businesses.
Furthermore, China has also invested in Luxembourgish companies such as Cargolux, IEE and Encevo. Especially now that we still cannot travel to China it is important for us to continue developing in this direction and further strengthen our relationships with Chinese business partners.
“CHINALUX is the first Chinese association accredited by the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce.”
Jacques Bortuzzo, Vice-President of CHINALUX
2022 marks the 50th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between China and Luxembourg. Are you planning something special?
Yes, of course. For one we are organizing a Chinese film festival together with the China Culture Center in Luxembourg and the Chinese Embassy. This will be the first-ever Chinese film festival and it will also be supported by the Ville de Luxembourg and the Film Fund Luxembourg. It will take place from 30 September to 3 October at Kinopolis and Cine Utopia. The idea is to bring the Chinese culture closer to the Luxembourg community. When doing business it is important to understand the culture you are doing business with. A film festival does not replace a visit to China or many visits to China, but at least we hope it will give people here a different notion about Chinese culture and people. To this end, the event is not just geared towards the CHINALUX community but also the wider Luxembourg community.
How has Luxembourg and China’s relationship evolved over the past 50 years?
The relationship between the two countries started out as a political one and has slowly but surely evolved into an economic one which now obviously also encompasses cultural elements. This is in part due to the good relationship between the University of Luxembourg and Fudan University in Shanghai. Having Chinese banks in Luxembourg has certainly helped attract more Chinese investors, businesses and people to the country. China is interested in technology and ESG, a topic in which Luxembourg has been proving itself recently.
What advice do you have for Chinese companies interested in entering the Luxembourg market?
We would recommend they partner with a few Luxembourgish companies and get in touch with us or the Chinese Embassy or the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce. By the way, CHINALUX is the first Chinese association accredited by the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce. We welcome and accompany Chinese businesses wherever needed and help them find the right contacts and build the necessary bridges.
