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Khujun (King) Xie (CHINALUX) : Paving the Way for Chinese Family Offices
With the industrial, commercial and financial relationships between Luxembourg and China stretching back over a century, Khujun (King) Xie, President of Chinalux, believes that the networking opportunities available to LAFO members through Chinalux can help lay the foundations for the establishment of Chinese family offices in the Duchy.
Chinalux: An Introduction
If we look at the historic relationship between China and Luxembourg, we can go back well before Luxembourg was a financial hub. In the late 1800s, Luxembourg engineer Eugene Robert spent many years in China and built the first blast furnace in China in 1894. Chinalux – the China – Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce – was founded in 2013 with a mission to support the bilateral trade and cultural ties between the two countries by promoting positive connections and networking. We no longer focus solely on the financial sector as our members are also active in telecommunications, ICT and, especially, logistics. We do our best to help our members develop their business in China and Luxembourg. We started with 20 founding members; we now have around 115.
“We expect to see more Chinese clients being attracted to Luxembourg’s flexible family offices in the future.”
Finance and Banking Remain a Focus
From 1979 when the Bank of China established its first branch in Luxembourg, the banking sector has been at the forefront of economic cooperation between the two countries. Since then, the other six Chinese banks have set up their EU hubs in Luxembourg. Luxembourg has become a gateway for Chinese banks to Europe and other sectors including fintech. Of course, it works both ways: In addition to Luxembourg firms establishing a presence in China and Luxembourgish products reaching the Chinese market, we saw BIL establish its office in Beijing in 2019, the first Luxembourg bank to do so. We encourage Luxembourg companies to connect with these firms to learn more about the opportunities between Luxembourg and China.
Chinese Perspective on Luxembourg Private Offices
When you look at the Chinalux members' directory you won't immediately see it as a family office membership list, although we do have members who are involved with family offices. While our members in both the financial sector and the individual members do not seek visibility, they are part of the chamber in order to make connections with potential players and the service providers in Luxembourg. China now has the largest number of billionaires in the world, so the business of China family offices has huge potential. We increasingly see Luxembourg family offices exploring the possibilities of developing Chinese business. We expect to see more Chinese clients being attracted to Luxembourg’s flexible family offices in the future.