(L-R): Shi Wenchao, President of China Union Pay; Minister Pierre Gramegna; Credit: MFIN

This week, Luxembourg for Finance organised a mission to China which was headed by the Minister for Finance, Pierre Gramegna.

During his stay in Shanghai, Minister Gramegna held meetings with leaders of some of the leading Chinese Fintech groups to discuss their development strategy; as a result of these discussions, two companies announced their decision to expand their business in Luxembourg.

Minister Gramegna had a working meeting with Shi Wenchao, President of China UnionPay: the Chinese leader in card payments has decided to establish itself in Luxembourg, through its subsidiary China UnionPay Merchant Services (China UMS), to develop its activities on the European market.

Minister Gramegna also had a meeting with the management of Ant Financial, which announced its participation in the Infrachain initiative, of which the Luxembourg government is one of the promoters. The financial arm of e-commerce giant Alibaba now dominates the Chinese e-payment market and wants to accelerate its international development. Through its participation in the Infrachain project, Ant Financial will contribute to the strengthening of the expertise in blockchain distributed technologies in Luxembourg, for the benefit of all sectors of the economy.

The Minister and his delegation also visited the Fintech JadeValue incubator. This visit was an opportunity to discover the latest innovations in this field in China and to explore the potential for collaboration with entities located in Luxembourg.

Minister Gramegna commented "Today, Fintech is booming in China, and Luxembourg offers a favourable environment for the reception of Chinese companies active in this field who would like to establish themselves in the European market. The decision of two Fintech giants to join Luxembourg underlines the credibility of our country as a Fintech European hub and contributes to further strengthening the existing ecosystem for the benefit of all players in the financial centre."