Cultural version of the “China-Europe Railway Express” opens

Xiamen Zhi Tianxia Culture Media and Swiss China Vision Organization has signed a strategic cooperation agreement. 

On the 10th January 2024, Mr. Ivan Buck, Director of the Department of Economic Development of the Canton of Lucerne, Switzerland, said to Mr. Chen Tianxiao, Deputy Secretary General of Xiamen Jiaocheng Chamber of Commerce, and CEO of Zhi Tianxian Culture media: “Jiangsu Province is already a trading partner of our canton, and we are very much looking forward to opening more areas of the ‘China-Europe Railway Express with entrepreneurs from Xiamen city of Fujian Province.” 

On the 10th January 2024 Xiamen Zhi Tianxia Culture Media Co. Ltd. with Swiss China Vision Org (SCVO) reached a strategic cooperation and held a signature ceremony in the government office of the Canton of Lucerne, Switzerland.

Siffert-Tang Qingyi (left), representative of Xiamen Zhi Tianxia Culture Media – 

Benjamin KOCH (right), representative of Swiss China Vision Organization (SCVO)

The year 2023 will mark the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative. So far, China has signed more than 200 documents of “Belt and Road cooperation” with more than 150 countries and 30 international organizations. 

P.R. China has become the EU’s second largest trading partner after the U.S. In 2022, the imports and exports between China and the EU totally amounted to €856.3 billion, about 15.3% of the EU’s total trade. China is the EU’s third largest place of exporter of the goods, accounting for 9% of the EU’s total external exports, and the EU’s largest market of importer of goods, accounting for 20.8% of its total imports. The Netherlands is China’s largest merchandise importer, while Germany is China’s largest merchandise exporter.

Despite increasing pressure from the United States on EU countries, the positive trend in China-EU trade is unstoppable, with more than 1,500 Express trains carrying daily using goods between China and Europe in the month of July 2022. Until now, 82 routes have been opened, connecting 217 cities in 25 countries. 

In the context of the Belt and Road framework, the signing of this contract is also between Swiss and Xiamen economic scholars and entrepreneurs. They are generally optimistic about this cooperation. The relevant experts pointed out that this cooperation will become a strong push to promote the Sino-European trade, which connects the culture of China and Europe. This “Cultural Express Railway” will become a living, breathing initiative.

Xiamen located in the southeast of Fujian Province is an important central city on the southeast coast of China. It is one of the first four special economic zones in China to open up to the outside world, and a sub-provincial city. Xiamen’s major industries include transport, storage and postal services, information transmission and information technology, business services, exhibition and tourism, finance, machinery manufacturing, aviation maintenance and electronics manufacturing. Xiamen is one of the world’s largest LED chip production bases, and has the world’s largest large bus production base and one of the largest aviation maintenance bases in Asia. In addition, The Port of Xiamen is the 7th largest container port in China and the 13th largest in the world, and the Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport is the 6th largest inbound and outbound airport in China.

The Xiamen Chamber of Commerce has a total of more than 40,000 member enterprises, and there are nearly 300 business associations affiliated with and linked to the Xiamen Federation of Industry and Commerce. Among the representative chambers of commerce are: Zhejiang Chamber of Commerce, Shanghai Chamber of Commerce, Jiangsu Chamber of Commerce, Sichuan Chamber of Commerce, Jiangxi Chamber of Commerce, Quanzhou Chamber of Commerce, Ningde Chamber of Commerce, Xiamen International Chamber of Commerce and so on.

Lucerne presents itself as an outstanding business location in Europe, characterised by an exceptional combination of low taxes, a diversified industry landscape and a strategic location. The region offers a unique mix of traditional and modern industries, ranging from global corporations to innovative start-ups. Companies such as Schindler, Emmi, Schurter and Komax are based in the canton of Lucerne, which emphasises the attractiveness of the location. This diversity helps to create a dynamic and innovative business environment that attracts professionals from all over the world.

One of Lucerne’s greatest advantages is its comparatively low taxes, both for companies and private individuals. These tax incentives are an important factor that makes the canton of Lucerne particularly attractive to international companies. Low corporate taxes, together with cost advantages in the areas of personnel and rent, make Lucerne a competitive location for business relocations.

This unique mix of economic and tax incentives, coupled with a high quality of life and the strategic location in the heart of Switzerland, offers Chinese entrepreneurs an excellent platform to successfully establish and develop their business. 

The Swiss China Vision organization is a Swiss local institution, founded on 2016 in Fribourg, Switzerland. This organization focuses on building international bridges to help enterprises of different cultures and different backgrounds to establish a communication exchange platform, to help China, Switzerland and European countries (mainly German-speaking European countries, such as Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Luxembourg, Holland) in the international trade and cultural exchanges, in the field of higher education, chemical industry, medical and health care, luxury works of art and other fields.

Through its close partnership with the Swiss cantonal governments, and its unique position as a strategic partner with various Swiss chambers of commerce, associations and professional organizations, SCVO helps Chinese entrepreneurs to understand the local culture of Europe, the European way of thinking, business logic, and legal norms. In addition, it opens up international trade channels, in order to achieve the objective of a smooth entry of Chinese brands into the European market.  

In the healthcare field, the founders of the Swiss China Vision organization established the International Organ Protection Society (IOPS) in Geneva in 2018. It is an officially registered non-governmental organization (NGO) based in Geneva, and a non-profit international scientific society. With the support of the healthcare industry and professional organizations, IOPS aims to promote the development of human organ preservation research. It is aiming for connecting national healthcare systems by organizing international conferences, forums, exchanges of medical expertise and other activities.

Witnesses to the signature ceremony, pictured above from left to right, are:

Mr Tomas Gfeller: Member of Parliament of the State of Lucerne.

Mr. Benjamin KOCH: Chairman of the Business Association of the Canton of Lucerne, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Swiss China Vision Org (SCVO)

Mr. Ivan Buck: Director of the Economic Development of the Canton of Lucerne

Miss. Qingyi Tang-Siffert: Co-founder and member of the Board of Swiss China Vision Org (SCVO)

Mr. Hans Wirth: Senior Consultant of luxury Art Industry of Switzerland

Mr. Christophe Allemann：Professor and head of the ChemTech Institute, University of Applied Sciences, Western Switzerland

Xiamen Zhi Tianxia Culture Media was founded by Mr Chen Tianxiao, who has served as secretary general of Xiamen Jiaocheng Chamber of Commerce, as director of Xiamen Daily Group Morning News Division, and as director of Today’s Headline Minnan region. The Zhi Tianxia Media offers a one-stop service package including live streaming, e-commerce training, IP operation, shopping platform (Xiaohongshu), etc. It aspires to create the most cost-effective solutions for its customers. All staffs are post-90s with strong innovative ideas. All the resources of the companies are from the first-hand. In the influencers economy, full planning, IP to create a new media industry, the Zhi Tianxia Media is in the forefront in Xiamen. 

Xiamen Zhi Tianxia Culture Media Co., Ltd. and Swiss China Vision Org. decided to join forces and to work together to carry out comprehensive cooperation in the fields of real economy, medical and health care, chemical industry, construction engineering, international trade, luxury art, investment consulting and so on. Both have an excellent business philosophy and demonstrate professionalism, improving services to create a win-win and sustainable strategic partnership.

This strategic cooperation can help both parties to further enhance their international industrial service capability and their ability to create value for human health and culture. It will also help to promote Sino-European cooperation in various fields, like medicine, science, technology innovation, investment, culture, art, industry and supply chain. The purpose is to complement each other’s strengths and to realize mutual progress and social value enhancement. The two sides will actively explore close cooperation at different business levels on the basis of strategic cooperation, explore opportunities for investment and cooperation at the capital level.

Xiamen Zhi Tianxia Culture Media Co., Ltd. works closely with Swiss China Vision Organization (SCVO) to build an international platform for consulting and sharing of international culture, business and advanced technology between China and Europe. They will also establish an alliance for international conference set up. They will provide the timeliest information service opportunities for enterprises in the region. 

Swiss China Vision organization is precisely to Zhi Tianxia media professional skills and power of the focus, so to be combined, this cooperation is also bound to collide with different sparks.