The Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce organized an information session on Opportunities to Finance your Business with China on 23 October 2018 at Umicore in Brussels. Experts presented information on available investment funds and financial support when expanding your business to China.

Following an introduction by Ms Gwenn Sonck, Executive Director, Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce, Mr Rik Daems, Chairman, China-Belgium-Direct Equity Investment Fund gave a presentation on ”Different Investment Vehicles for Belgian Companies investing in China and Chinese Companies investing in Belgium or in Europe”. Mr Jos B. Peeters, Managing Partner, Capricorn Venture Partners talked about “Capricorn-Scorpio: Equity & Support for China roll-out”. “Support from the SME Growth Portfolio” was presented by Mrs Benedicte De Buck, SME Growth Portfolio, Project Adviser, Agency Innovation and Entrepreneurship, VLAIO, and “Securing/Financing your exports to China” by Mr Frank Haak, Head GTS Sales Belgium, BNP Paribas Fortis.

Mr Wim Bosman, Business Development Specialist, Marketing and Communication from Credendo, Export Credit Agency, gave a presentation on “Exporting to China? Investing in China? Support by Credendo”, followed by “Subsidies to Promote International Business” by Mr Yves Roekens, Head Financial Incentives Flanders Investment & Trade. The final speaker, Mr Jan Holthuis, Lawyer, Buren, talked about “Financing of Sales Offices in China”.

A question and answer session and networking lunch concluded the event.

U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose another round of tariffs on China and claimed that Chinese meddling in U.S. politics was a “bigger problem” than Russian involvement in the 2016 election. In an interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes” he also compared China’s stock-market losses since the tariffs were first imposed to those in 1929 at the start of the Great Depression in the U.S. “I want them to negotiate a fair deal with us. I want them to open their markets like our markets are open,” Trump said in the interview, while adding that more tariffs “might” be in the mix. So far, the U.S. has imposed three rounds of tariffs on Chinese imports totaling USD250 billion, prompting China to retaliate against American products. Trump has previously threatened to hit virtually all Chinese imports with duties.

The U.S.-China trade war’s worst effects will be felt over the long-term and could slow China’s ability to continue the strong pace of development it has enjoyed in recent decades, according to the International Monetary Fund’s former Representative in Hong Kong. Shaun Roche, currently Chief Asia-Pacific Economist at Standard & Poor’s Global Ratings, said analysts tended to overestimate the short-term impacts of the conflict while underestimating its long-term effects. Speaking on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund’s annual meetings in Bali, Roche said the short-term economic “headwind” for the Chinese economy created by the tariffs could be “easily offset” by a loosening of monetary policy and depreciation of the yuan exchange rate. It would be more difficult for the Chinese government to offset “the restrictions put on Chinese firms regarding their investment in the U.S., and other matters that slow the technology transfer from the U.S, Europe and Japan into China”, he said. Roche warned the slowing of technology transfer may undermine the whole basis of how China had grown in past decades – adapting and innovating based on foreign technologies – which could significantly erode its growth potential in the future. Still, Roche believes there are plenty of things the Chinese government can do to resolve the trade conflict and avoid the long-term negative consequences.

Chinese government officials are referring to “competitive neutrality” as a new catchphrase to defend the country’s state-owned firms at a time when the United States and the European Union are complaining that they distort competition. Chinese officials argue that there could be a level playing field between state, private and foreign firms in China. However, China’s major trading partners are not convinced. The idea of “competitive neutrality” is promoted by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). It involves companies of different ownerships being able to compete fairly through improved transparency in policies, to ensure equitable treatment in areas such as subsidies, taxes, trade instruments such as tariffs, and other support mechanisms, and reforming them where they unnecessarily distort competition, the South China Morning Post reports. About 80% of the Chinese companies in the top 500 global companies ranking are SOEs.

China has no interest in depreciating its currency as a tool, People’s Bank of China (PBOC) Governor Yi Gang said. “We have considerable space for using monetary policy tools, including interest rates and reserve requirement ratios. These tools are available to deal with uncertainties.”

President Xi Jinping reaffirmed China’s stance on supporting free trade and economic globalization while meeting in Beijing with a British delegation led by Stephen Perry, Chairman of The 48 Group Club, a British organization composed of company leaders promoting Britain-China trade. The 48 Group Club now has more than 500 members.

The Trump administration avoided a major escalation in the trade war with China after the Treasury Department said in a report that Beijing was not intentionally devaluing its currency. Still, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin sent a warning about the lack of transparency and the relative weakness of China’s currency, the renminbi. “Those pose major challenges to achieving fairer and more balanced trade, and we will continue to monitor and review China’s currency practices, including through ongoing discussions with the People’s Bank of China,” he said.

The U.S. China trade war has so far not affected China’s investments abroad. China’s non-financial outbound direct investment totaled USD82.02 billion in the first nine months of this year, up 5.1% from a year earlier. China directly invested in 4,597 overseas companies in 155 countries and regions throughout the world in the first nine months, according to the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM). Cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As) also posted steady development, with 265 M&As by Chinese companies completed year-to-date and the total actual transactions reaching USD43.3 billion.

The People’s Daily argued in a commentary that the trade conflict would have little impact on the nation’s current or future prospects. The country’s rise did not depend on the U.S., and China was a “super large” country that could thrive on its own. Readers were urged not to lose faith in the country’s prospects.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump have tentatively agreed to meet on November 29, prior to the G20 leaders’ summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Premiers Li Keqiang (left) and Charles Michel (right)

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang completed visits to Belgium and the Netherlands. China and the European Union have made progress in negations to conclude a bilateral investment treaty (BIT), Li said when meeting the press alongside Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel in Brussels. Li also discussed accelerating BIT negotiations with EU leaders at the 12th Asia-Europe Meeting summit. “The treaty will help China and the EU further open to one another,” he said. China is ready to ease market access for investors from Belgium and provide them with the same treatment as local businesses, the Chinese Premier said. He added that China is willing to further enhance cooperation with Belgium in innovation and high-technology. Cooperation in technology and innovation as well as safe use of nuclear energy were among the topics of talks between Li and Michel. “We believe that advanced technologies from Belgium will have great market potential in China, and China will give strict protections to intellectual property,” Premier Li said. “China is now working on the procedure of lifting the ban on imports of beef from Belgium, and we will accelerate the process,” Li said. “We are ready to expand imports of high quality agriculture products from Belgium.” Premier Charles Michel said that Belgium is willing to enhance cooperation with China in areas of agriculture, energy, infrastructure and connectivity.

Premier Li also visited the Netherlands. In a joint press conference with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Li said that China will further expand its market access in manufacturing and financial and other services to worldwide investors. Agreements worth close to USD10 billion were signed during the visit. Li said that some European companies have already benefited from China’s new opening-up efforts in easing equity share limits in basic manufacturing industries. China is willing to further cooperate with the Netherlands in agriculture, manufacturing and services. Calling the graying of the population a challenge facing both countries, Li said China is ready to learn from the experiences of the Netherlands and expand cooperation with the country in taking care of the elderly, as well as in clean energy and urbanization. Premier Li also called to jointly protect multilateralism and free trade. “Without free trade, there is no such thing as fair trade. And free trade cannot be sustainable without fair trade,” Li said. He told Premier Rutte that China is willing to strengthen coordination with the Netherlands on reform of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the China Daily reports. It was the first trip by a Chinese Premier to the Netherlands in 14 years.

Lithium Werks, a Dutch battery start-up which makes rechargeable lithium iron phosphate batteries, agreed to build a 1.6 billion euro plant in China’s Yangtze River Delta region. The plant will be the company’s second in China and will be able to produce batteries with 500 GWh storage capacity per year by 2030. Royal Dutch Shell and China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) also signed a deal to develop a third-phase project valued at billions of U.S. dollars. The two operate a joint venture at the Nanhai petrochemicals complex in Huizhou in Guangdong Province. Xiamen Airlines and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines intensified their partnership with a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on maintenance worth CNY2.8 billion. ING and the Bank of Beijing signed an agreement on setting up a joint venture retail bank in China worth CNY3 billion, with the Dutch side holding a 51% stake.

The Netherlands is China’s second-largest trading partner in the European Union. Bilateral trade volume between the two countries reached USD78.38 billion in 2017, an annual increase of 16.5%.

Premier Li also attended the 12th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit in Brussels. Launched in 1996, the ASEM Summit is a venue for dialogue between Asian and European countries. The theme of this year’s summit was “Europe and Asia: Global Partners and Global Challenges”. Asian and European countries should work together to play a guiding role in protecting multilateralism and to build an open global economy, Premier Li Keqiang said at the Summit.

In the past, Banks in Shanghai usually turned down applications from foreigners to obtain a local yuan-denominated credit card. Foreign card applicants needed to produce a lot of paperwork, such as proof of property ownership, employment contracts and tax receipts. The process was long and slow, and it usually didn’t end up with credit card approval. Many expats have also found that credit cards issued by banks in their home countries don’t work in Shanghai, or, if they do, cardholders need to pay foreign-currency exchange fees. Now, the Bank of China’s Shanghai branch is offering yuan credit cards to foreigners with Type A work permits, which are given to top foreign professionals.

The Shanghai Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs recently joined hands with the bank to launch a special “fast-track” pilot program to streamline credit card applications for high-end foreign talent in the city. The Bank of China, located in the historical building at Bund 23, is an ideal partner for the program because it is the nation’s most international bank. There are nearly 90,000 foreigners in Shanghai with work permits. Of those, about 13,000 are Type A permits. To date, 30 foreigners have successfully used the program to obtain local credit cards. Feng Yanrong, Senior Manager of the bank’s Banking Department, admitted to Shanghai Daily that local banks are cautious about issuing credit cards to foreigners because expats usually live here temporarily, which presents a repayment risk. “If foreigners leave China and fail to repay credit card debt, it’s very difficult or sometimes impossible for us to collect,” she said. In the past her bank has issued credit cards to only a handful of foreigners, mostly top executives who are considered small risks.

Under the pilot program to apply for a local credit card, only a valid passport, a residency permit valid for a year or more, and a Type A work permit are required. The application process has also been shortened to about two weeks. Andres Ruiz-Linares, 57, Professor of Genetics at Fudan University, was the first to receive a yuan credit card from the bank under the program. Manager Feng said the trial program may be extended to other classes of foreigners following an evaluation. The Shanghai Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs said it also might be expanded to other banks, the Shanghai Daily reports.

China released a plan to build Hainan into a pilot free trade zone – including substantial relaxation of market access for foreign companies and upgrading of trade facilitation – to create a gateway for opening up toward the Pacific and the Indian oceans. The China (Hainan) Pilot Free Trade Zone will cover the whole island of Hainan. The government plans to make the zone an international tourism and shopping center, as well as offer services and support for development of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Wang Shouwen, Vice Minister of Commerce, said that the island, which covers 35,400 square kilometers, will be granted more autonomy to enact reforms and speed the development of a law-based, international and convenient business environment.

Hainan’s FTZ will adopt preentry national treatment and negative list management to increase openness, especially in areas like seed production, healthcare, telecom, internet, aviation, marine economy and new energy vehicle manufacturing. It will abolish stock ownership limits for foreigners in vegetable breeding and seed production. It will transfer the power to approve foreign investment in value-added telecommunications services from the central government to Hainan province. In addition, it will allow foreign companies to hold up to a 51% ownership in life insurance companies and remove foreign share restrictions in vessel and general aircraft design, manufacturing and maintenance. A free trade port will also be developed in Hainan. Not counting Hainan there are 11 pilot FTZs.