Air transportation helping trade with Europe

Bilateral imports and exports of goods between China and Luxembourg increased over 30 percent in 2018, amounting to $750 million

China's inland province and Luxembourg are seeing more opportunities in trade and economic cooperation thanks to further development in air transportation, executives and officials said.

As a transport hub in Central China, Henan province is taking advantage of its location to further develop air transportation, according to Li Jiaxiang, former head of Civil Aviation Administration of China.

Li addressed the speech at an economic cooperation forum on the Air Silk Road in Henan province early this month.

In 2014, Henan Civil Aviation Development and Investment Co acquired a 35 percent stake in Cargolux Airlines International and successfully launched the Air Silk Road in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan province, linking it all the way to Luxembourg.

"At the beginning, we worried that the company would not be able to operate such a business, but now the development has exceeded our expectations," said Zhang Mingchao, chairman of Henan Civil Aviation.

The results of the Air Silk Road construction demonstrated the principle and vision of the Belt and Road Initiative with regard to wide consultation, joint construction and shared benefits.

"Over the past few years, Luxembourg and Henan have maintained robust development in trade and have established a long-term partnership with construction of the Air Silk Road," said Wieger Ketellapper, vice-president of Cargolux Airlines.

From 2014 to 2018, Cargolux's flights increased from two flights to 18 flights per week. Its flight routes extended to more than 100 cities in 23 countries across Europe, America and Asia forming a network of international hub flights across the economic zones of Europe, America and Asia and other major economies in the world.

Lu Peng, deputy head of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, said Henan should deepen cooperation with Luxembourg and other European countries. That will bolster its transportation advantage in fields including expanding its network of routes, cultivating special industries and exchanging economic and cultural experience, which will be helpful to construct the Air Silk Road and participate in the BRI.

In 2017, a senior Chinese official pushed for China to build a "Silk Road in the air" between Luxembourg city and Zhengzhou during a meeting with Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel in Beijing.

The official noted that China and Luxembourg should deepen cooperation in finance and production capacity within the framework of the BRI.

The Air Silk Road is the most successful cooperation in aviation logistics between China and Luxembourg under the BRI and fully represents a win-win cooperation. That's according to Huang Changqing, ambassador of China to Luxembourg, who shared that thought with Cankao Xiaoxi, a Chinese newspaper.

Known as the crossroads of Europe, Luxembourg plays an important role as a transportation hub in the region and is prosperous in the industries of iron and steel, finance and satellite communication. Luxembourg is the eighth-largest financial and investment center in the world. The country ranks first in the world in number of banks per capita, and it's the second-largest fund management center in the world as well as the largest in Europe, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

In recent years, China and Luxembourg have reached new heights in the levels of economic cooperation.

Last year, prices of three of China Central Depository & Clearing's domestic green bond indices were simultaneously displayed in the Luxembourg bourse. By the end of August in 2018, 1,147 overseas investing institutes held 1.75 trillion yuan ($260.45 billion) of China's bonds, accounting for 2.4 percent of the market, according to Xinhuanet.

Data from the Eurostat showed that in 2018, Luxembourg and China's bilateral imports and exports of goods amounted to $750 million, an increase of 30.6 percent year-on-year. Luxembourg's exports to China amounted to $250 million, an increase of 9.7 percent, and its imports from China amounted to $500 million, an increase of 44 percent. The exports from Luxembourg to China focus mostly on steel and iron products while the imports from China target mechanical and electrical products.

In March, Luxembourg signed a memorandum of understanding on jointly promoting the Belt and Road Initiative, and financial cooperation documents with China during the annual Boao Forum for Asia.

The two sides agreed to further develop a bilateral relationship and cooperation, enhance political and economic ties, and deepen pragmatic cooperation in fields including finance and culture, to achieve common development.

liangkaiyan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 04/26/2019 page32)