“Doing business with China: the perspective of a Consul General in Shanghai”

 A lecture organised on Monday 28 May 2018 at 19:00.

 Place: MSH Black Box, ground floor, Belval Campus.

 Free entry and open to all.

Eugène Ruppert, a Luxembourg engineer who built the first blast furnace in China more than 100 years ago would probably never have imagined that innovative Chinese start-ups would try to conquer the European market by setting up in his country of origin. From a country that failed to open up to the World and to embrace the industrial revolution under the Qing Dynasty, after 40 years of reform and opening up, China today is fast developing into an innovation-driven high-tech economy.

On the ground, the daily work of the Luxembourg Consulate and the Trade and investment Office in Shanghai has evolved dramatically since it was set up 12 years ago. Its initial main objective was to assist Luxembourg companies in their experience with China. Today, the representatives of the Luxembourg Government in China’s largest city engage more and more with Chinese companies interested in the European market, serving often as a bridge between two business cultures.

This lecture will give a historical perspective on the bilateral economic ties between China and Luxembourg, taking into account the European and global dimensions. It will also elaborate on cultural differences that bring some spice to business ties and show that it is important to engage with each other in order to understand each other.

Since July 2013, Luc Decker is the Consul General of the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg in Shanghai. He is also the Executive Director of the Luxembourg Trade and Investment Office, a role that aims at strengthening the economic ties between China and Luxembourg. Since January 2018, he is the Dean of the Consular Corps in Shanghai.

Before being appointed as Consul General, Luc Decker was in charge of the Luxembourg Trade and Investment Offices in China and the United States at the Ministry of Economy. In that role, which he held from 2007 to 2013, he assisted Chinese and American investors and companies to set up base in Luxembourg as their gateway to the European market. Prior to this, he was in charge of Press Relations for the Minister of the Economy from 2005 to 2007.

M. Decker studied law and political science in Paris, at the Sorbonne (Université Paris 1) where he obtained his Master's Degree in political science in 2004.  He is also a passionate swimmer and represented Luxembourg at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. Luc Decker is married with two kids.