MOFCOM Delegation in Denmark

Back to the contents

On the occasion of the celebration of the the 60-year anniversary of Sino-Danish diplomatic relations, a high-level Chinese trade and investment delegation headed by the Chinese Minister of Commerce, Mr. Chen Deming, visited Denmark on 17 and 18 May. The overall purpose of the visit was to strengthen the trade and investments between the two countries.

The High-Level Delegation
The delegation consisted of more than 100 Chinese business people from 80 Chinese companies, accompanied by 20 high-level officials from China’s Ministry of Commerce. This is the largest Chinese delegation ever to have visited Denmark. Leading Chinese companies, including the large shipping company COSCO, the telecommunication company Huawei and the successful manufacturer of  electric cars BYD, were all part of the Chinese delegation.

On the morning of 17 May, the commercial part of the delegation paid visits to different companies, among them visits to a number of Danish-Chinese Business Forum’s members.

The Danish-Chinese Trade and Investment Symposium
In the afternoon, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in cooperation with Danish-Chinese Business Forum, Confederation of Danish Industry (DI), Danish-Chamber of Commerce, Danish Agriculture & Food Council and Danish Shipowners’ Association, organised a Danish-Chinese Trade & Investment Symposium. At this networking event the Danish participants had the opportunity to meet some key Chinese business people and investors from the group of companies selected by China’s Ministry of Commerce.

The event commenced with speeches by representatives of Danish and Chinese authorities, organisations and companies, including the Minister of Economic and Business Affairs, Mr. Brian Mikkelsen, and the Chinese Minister of Commerce, Mr. Chen Deming. According to one of the speakers from MOFCOM, there are 465 Danish companies registered in China. The speeches were followed by the signing of Danish-Chinese business contracts. Danish-Chinese Business Forum’s members were among the Danish companies entering an agreement with Chinese companies; Novo Nordisk signed a contract with Tianjin Development Zone, China Car Import A/S signed a contract with BYD, and APM Terminals signed an agreement of partnership with Chongqing Port on the Yangtze River. It was also a great pleasure to note that BGI is now investing in Denmark after many years of cooperation with Aarhus and Odense Universities.

After the signing ceremony, workshops and matchmaking for Danish and Chinese companies were arranged in five different business areas: cleantech, energy and environment, agriculture, food and agritech, innovative healthcare, IT, telecommunication and electronics, and transport. This was followed by a networking session and dinner.

On 18 May, a boat trip to the offshore wind turbine park at Middelgrunden was arranged for the Chinese minister of commerce and a number of the delegation members. A few Danish business organisations within the energy sector participated, as well as the Chairman of Danish-Chinese Business Forum, Mr. Nils Foss. The chairman had the opportunity to discuss the possibilities of the promotion of Danish-Chinese trade relations with the Chinese minister of commerce. As a follow-up, Mr. Foss has sent a letter to the minister regarding further Chinese investments in Denmark.

The visit of the high-level Chinese delegation has proved to be of great importance to the Danish business community and the future commercial cooperation between Denmark and China. At Danish-Chinese Business Forum we are happy that a large number of our members participated in the workshops and networking sessions with the Chinese delegation.