Mr. Philip Eyskens, Vice Chairman of the Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce and Chief Legal & Compliance Officer of Bekaert, accompanied Premier Alexander De Croo and Minister of Foreign Affairs Hadja Lahbib on their state visit to China. He provided the following testimony:
I could never have imagined that I would have the opportunity to join a private banquet hosted by the Chinese Prime Minister in the Great Hall of the People on Tiananmen Square opposite the Forbidden City! A true privilege for CEO Yves Kerstens and me to be invited by Prime Minister Alexander De Croo and Foreign Affairs Minister Hadja Lahbib to represent Bekaert in a small delegation of 25 on their visit to China to meet with the highest level of Party and Government officials and interact with local Chinese business partners.
We were very proud to present the story of Bekaert that came to China as a pioneer more than 30 years ago, has developed a business run by 8,000 Chinese colleagues in 15 sites to serve our customers every day, as a longstanding partner in tire reinforcement, and also with Dramix® metal fibres, which contribute to decarbonization of construction, with Currento® porous transport layers in electrolyzers to make hydrogen, and with total mooring solutions for off-shore floating wind mills.
Also happy to represent the Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce (FCCC) established 20 years ago to support economic, scientific, and trade relations with China. We not only had the honor to be invited by Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang, but also to be welcomed by Mr Wang Yi (Director Central Foreign Affairs Commission), and to have a round table dialogue with Mr Wang Wentao (Minister of Commerce). We had the opportunity to connect with potential new Chinese business partners in wind and solar and energy transition solutions during a seminar hosted by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CPPIT) and listen to key messages from the EU Chamber of Commerce in China.
Moreover, it was a pleasure to connect with other members of the delegation, exchange experiences with CEOs and senior leaders of other MNCs (like AB InBev, Solvay, Volvo Cars, Ostend-Bruges Airport, EnergyVision, Inbiose and VLAM), and to discover the great capabilities and entrepreneurship Belgium offers in many areas (just to name IBA as leading provider of cancer diagnosis, family brewery De Cock with delicious 'Kerel' beer, the inspiring story of Pairi Daiza, and several logistics providers).
I took away an inspiring Chinese proverb: “If you want one year of prosperity, grow grain. If you want 10 years of prosperity, grow trees. If you want 100 years of prosperity, grow people”. The visit emphasized the importance of collaboration in areas of opportunities and dialogue amongst people for better understanding in establishing long term relationships, which are key elements in our way of doing business.
