Chinalux president Dirk Dewitte (centre) with secretary of the Luhe district party committee of Nanjing, Zhihong Zhu (l.), and Chinese ambassador to Luxembourg Changqing Huang Chinalux

Chinalux president Dirk Dewitte (centre) with secretary of the Luhe district party committee of Nanjing, Zhihong Zhu (l.), and Chinese ambassador to Luxembourg Changqing Huang Chinalux

The signing took place in the context of Nanjing Techweek @ Luxembourg, during which a delegation from China’s “southern capital” was visiting Luxembourg, including this year’s ICT Spring, taking place on 21-22 May in Kirchberg.

In a keynote speech, secretary of the Luhe district party committee of Nanjing, Zhihong Zhu, called Luxembourg a “reliable, innovative partner” which has demonstrated “openness and vitality in economic development”.

Nanjing, a city with over 8 million, is based in the heart of Jiangsu, the intersection of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road initiatives. 

It’s also home to a national high-tech industrial park, with an eventual planned area of 39.2 km2. With over 800 entreprises, the park aims to be the Chinese “intelligent valley”. 

Calling Nanjing at once “an ancient capital and leader in innovation”, Zhu added that he envisioned a broadened exchange of resources through a joint R&D and tech platform, given that the two locations have focused on niche areas of technological innovation. He also highlighted the potential for increased collaboration not only in up-and-coming fields such as AI, but also modern services, for example, expanding cooperation on tourism and other cultural communication. 

Chinese ambassador to Luxembourg Changqing Huang added that China had been opening more to global markets, e.g., in modern services like manufacturing, and he hoped the free exchange would also be the opportunity for cooperation when it came to, for example, perfecting judicial rights surrounding intellectual property. 

Although it’s the first time for cooperation with Nanjing, Chinalux president Dirk Dewitte highlighted Luxembourg’s support for the Belt and Road Initiative. “Relationships and friendship are very important,” he said, adding that he hoped this would continue “a long-standing relationship between our two countries and our two cities”.