Guillaume and Stéphanie make return trip to China

Luxembourg's Prince Guillaume and Princess Stéphanie will visit China for a second time from December 16 to help develop new business and strengthen ties between the two countries.

The couple will be part of a delegation, including Economy Minister Etienne Schneider and Secretary of State for Economy Francine Closener, which will remain in China from December 16 to 20.

The multi-sector trade mission forms part of the government's objective of making Luxembourg the first international centre in Europe for Chinese currency Renminbi. 

Schedule

While there, the group will visit Beijing where they will attend meetings with Chinese Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng, president of the People's Bank of China, Zhou Xiaochuan, as well as the chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), Xiao Gang.

On December 17, the young couple and state representatives will travel to Shanghai to join a business delegation composed of 23 companies active in various sectors of the Luxembourg economy.

In Shanghai, the official delegation will hold talks with local authorities on the development of economic and trade relations.  

On December 18, the delegation will travel to Hangzhou, 200 kilometres southwest of Shanghai. The city is experiencing strong economic development as one of the most important hubs for the development of Chinese private enterprises.

During the visit, the delegation will hold talks with local authorities and participate in an economic and trade seminar for the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce and the Federation of Industry and Commerce of Zhejiang.

Members of the delegation will then meet leaders of Chinese ICT company Alibaba. The delegation's final destination will be Wuxi City, 200 kilometres northwest of Shanghai where it will visit the premises of industrial company Impro and participate in an economic and commercial B2B seminar organised by the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce and the Chamber of Commerce of Wuxi.

History of relations

The People's Republic of China is Luxembourg's largest trading partner in Asia and the second outside Europe after the United States. Last year, Luxembourg celebrated 40 years of diplomatic relations with China.

However, economic relations date back as far back as 1911 when Luxembourgish engineer Eugène Ruppert installed the first blast furnace at the Hanyang Iron Plant in Wuhan, marking the beginning of China’s modern industry.

The trip will mark the second time that the Hereditary Grand Duke and Hereditary Grand Duchess will have visited China as part of a trade mission. The pair attended a trade mission in November 2012 as part of their first official trip since marrying in October 2012.