Luxembourg woos Chinese investors

Luxembourg, the second-largest financial hub of the European Union, welcomes Chinese investors and expects China to open up its markets further and carry out more economic reforms, its finance minister said.

"We're looking forward to seeing how the financial market is going to open up more in China in the near future, and very eager to hear what decisions are going to be announced after the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China," said Pierre Gramegna in an exclusive interview.

"Europe and China are really today on the same line as they together promote bilateral trade and investment, which will strengthen the relationship between the two sides," he said.

With the UK leaving the round table of the EU, Luxembourg, which holds the second place after London as a financial center in Europe, is attracting more Chinese financial institutions to conduct their business, and establish branches or subsidiaries in its territory. "We should not over-dramatize the impact of Brexit－(but) many Chinese banks have also found solutions in Luxembourg (which they see) as another entrance to the EU single market," Gramegna said.

Seven Chinese banks have opened subsidiaries or branches in Luxembourg. They include Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and China Construction Bank.

"Luxembourg now has 50 billion yuan ($7.62 billion) of RMB Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (RQFII)," Gramegna said. "This will continue to promote the renminbi's internationalization by increasing its usage in trade and investment in Luxembourg."

So far, Luxembourg has been the second-largest global destination for investment funds investing in China. About 65 percent of all European investment funds investing in the Chinese mainland are domiciled in Luxembourg, according to data from Luxembourg for Finance, a public-private partnership between the Luxembourg government and the Luxembourg Financial Industry Federation.

The Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier or CSSF, the country's financial service regulator, has also paved the way for European funds to access the Chinese interbank bond market and the A-share market.

Funds domiciled in the country invested 1.42 trillion euros ($1.67 trillion) in euroarea corporations and governments in 2016, with a further 358 billion euros invested in other EU member-states, according to United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

Contact the writers at chenjia@chinadaily.com.cn