The little big man of Europe

Chinese business takes a shine to the small but centrally important state of Belgium

A Cosco container ship arrives at the Belgian port of Antwerp in April. Provided to China Daily

The contrast could not be more stark. One is a global economic superpower, the other a minnow by comparison.

The apparent gulf between China and Belgium is all too obvious, with the latter's 11 million population half that of Shanghai alone and its surface area roughly the size of Hainan island.

But in many other ways, Belgium is a big country - and one that is increasingly attracting serious Chinese investment.

To the disbelievers, the facts are clear enough: Belgium is a top-10 exporter and, above all, a top destination for foreign investment.

Figures show that Belgium ranks fifth in terms of inward FDI, behind the United States, United Kingdom, France and Hong Kong with an estimated 706 billion euros ($957 billion). A total of 169 foreign investment projects were launched in 2012, a 10.5 percent increase on 2011.

Many of these investors are Asian companies and, from China, Belgium has been able to attract Cosco Group (the Chinese State shipping company), Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, Sany Heavy Industry Co Ltd and Hainan Airlines Co Ltd.

How can Belgium, a nation once dismissed by UK politician Nigel Farage as a "non-country", make this happen?

A source at Flanders Investment and Trade says: "The answers obviously are many, but essentially they revolve around access; access to productivity, skills and R&D; access to the European No 1 for logistics; access to targeted tax incentives."

Brussels plays host to the European Union, NATO, more than 120 international governmental organizations and approximately 1,400 non-governmental organizations. With 159 embassies and 2,500 diplomats, Brussels ranks second in the world in terms of diplomatic representations.

Apart from logistics, Belgium is home to one of the densest clusters of life sciences and related research in Europe, while funding and venture capital is widely available.

The land of frites and chocolate also has expertise to offer elsewhere, such as in renewable energy, environment, IT, chemicals, agriculture and medical devices.

But, adds the FIT source, even more important is how central a role Belgium plays in Europe. "It is where decisions are made at EU level on trade, on standards and regulations in nearly all industrial sectors," the source says.