The Danish Minister for Business and Growth, Mr. Henrik Sass Larsen, visited China on September 5-10. The aim was to strengthen the economic ties between Denmark and China through a closer business-collaboration.
The Minister went through a tight schedule with official meetings with Chinese counterparts and institutions as well as meetings with Danish companies and organisations in both Beijing and Shanghai.
Together with the Danish ambassador, Friis Arne Petersen, the Minister met with the Chinese Minister of Transport, Mr. Yang Chuntang, and Minister in State Administration for Industry and Commerce, Mr. Zhang Mao. The Minister also had a dialogue with China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CISC) and he opened the new Danish CSR initiative, ‘Danish Footprint Network’, which was hosted by the Royal Danish Embassy in Beijing.
Another important aspect of the Minister’s visit to China was to promote Chinese outbound tourism to Denmark. The Minister participated in several events hosted by the national Danish tourist agency, Visit Denmark in China, including a promotion event where the fairy tales of the famous Danish author Hans Christian Andersen were recited.
At the meeting with the Chinese Minister of Transport, the Ministers discussed the prospects of bilateral cooperation on shipping and transportation matters. Through the dialogue with CISC the Minister talked about the possibilities of cooperation between Denmark and China on green shipbuilding and increased cooperation in the maritime field.
Minister Henrik Sass Larsen also signed a memorandum of understanding on the importance of intellectual property with the Minister in State Administration for Industry and Commerce, Mr. Zhang Mao. The memorandum of understanding stress the importance in promoting a strong national and global economy, encouraging economic investment in innovation and fostering entrepreneurial spirit through intellectual property rights and efficient enforcement hereof.
During the CSR event, Danish Footprint Network, the Minister held a speech stressing the importance for companies to perform well on CSR when doing business in China.
Minister Henrik Sass Larsen visited Shanghai on September 8-10, where he went to Waigaoqiao Container port to inspect one of the largest container ports in the world. More than 25 per cent of the containers at the port are Danish. The Minister also stressed the importance of maritime cooperation between Denmark and China during his visit.
In 2012 the trade between Denmark and China reached a historically high level of 101 billion DKK, and the past five years the Danish export to China has doubled to 51.5 billion DKK. This tendency has continued in the first half of 2013 where the goods and services exports have increased with 16.3 per cent.
Source: Embassy of Denmark in China
