Wallonia welcomes China to heart of Europe

Region hopes it can be a small partner with a big role, trade official says

Wallonia's position at the heart of Europe means it can play a useful role in exploring synergies with the Belt and Road Initiative, says the region's senior trade official.

Wallonia, a mostly French-speaking region in the south of Belgium that also borders France, Germany and Luxembourg, covers 55 percent of the territory of Belgium and has a population of 4 million.

Pascale Delcomminette, CEO of Belgium's Wallonia Export and Foreign Investment Agency, says the region can open doors for China's investors.

"We know that we are a small region nearly at the end of (Eurasia). Smaller partners can often be very useful," Delcomminette says ahead of Premier Li Keqiang's visit to Germany and Belgium.

Delcomminette says the region's Liege Airport is a hub for Chinese traffic, and there are frequent cargo flights between Liege and Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong.

"Goods arriving from China by air, by train or by sea and waterways can rapidly be dispatched and delivered to all major European cities," she says.

The speech that President Xi Jinping gave at the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this year was very important for Belgium and the rest of Europe, Delcomminette says.

Belgium will join China in defending free trade and globalization while protectionism is on the rise in other regions of the world, she says.

"It was striking how President Xi, the highest leader from the most populous country in the world, has defended the global economic scheme, sharply dismissing the populist attitude that would introduce tariffs and hinder global commerce," she says.

Belgium is not afraid of Chinese investment and has a long tradition of welcoming foreigners and investors, she adds.

The major Chinese investment in Wallonia is the China Belgium Technology Center in Louvain-la-Neuve, Delcomminette says.

The project, involving the high-tech, biotech, digital, electronic and green sectors, was launched in June last year, and construction is expected to begin this month.

The center, expected to be completed by 2025, will create 1,300 jobs, of which 40 percent will be held by Chinese and 60 percent by local workers.

"The 780 jobs (for local workers) in Wallonia are equal to 300,000 jobs in China. You then realize how important this investment is," says Delcomminette.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 06/02/2017 page28)