On January 26th, Minister-president Bourgeois met with the Chairman of the Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), Mr. Jiang Jianqing. Mr. Jiang came to our country to attend the opening of the first ICBC office in Flanders.
ICBC is the largest commercial bank in China. In 2011 it opened a first office in Brussels. While the emphasis of the Brussels office is on Chinese businesses and customers in Belgium, the Antwerp office will focus on Flemish companies. ICBC chairman Jiang is confident that the bank can support Flemish companies with their internationalisation.
China is a major trading partner of Flanders, it is our 9th export market. Flanders' share in Belgian exports to China amounts to almost 92%. For the service sector, the numbers keep rising according to Flanders Investment and Trade. Over the last couple of years the Chinese government has put increasing emphasis on the service sector, which provides opportunities for Flemish companies.
