Romanian- Chinese House opens end-March

The Romanian-Chinese House, a non-governmental association which gathers under the same umbrella more than 40 Chinese forms of organization in Romania, from various domains such as business, sports, culture or education, will be inaugurated on March 27 at the Parliament Palace.

The Romanian- Chinese House was created after the model of the Chinese-American House at the initiative of Nicu Vasilescu, who is now president. The house has offices in Shanghai and Beijing.

“We have over 20 vice-presidents, important business members from Romania and China. Generally, they are presidents in large Chinese companies present on the Romanian market. However, Chinese associations of small traders, cultural associations, the association of business women and so forth are also represented in The House,” Tudor Simota, president of the Bucharest branch (in picture), tells BR.

Members of the organization include Chinese restaurants, large Chinese companies such as ZTE or Huawei, Romanian companies such as Murfatlar, Vincom, Alexandrion or Niro Group.

“Romanian wine producers such as Murfatlar or Vincom have come to us, because they are interested in exporting to China. In fact, during the last visit to China, in which we participated with former prime-minister Emil Boc, they even signed a contract there,” he said.

“We are now in discussions with DHS, a bike production unit in Deva, because they are further from Bucharest and have only found out about this,” Simota told BR.

Would-be members should be ‘legally clean’ and must pay a membership fee. There are 3 types of fees, the highest being EUR 1,000 a month.

What are the investors’ needs?

“Chinese investors in Romania are confronted with exactly the same problems as Romanian investors: fiscal issues, the lack of coherence of legislation, the fact that public workers are sometimes over-zealous, especially in the case of Chinese community,” explains Simota.

Romanian companies doing business with China are looking for investors, partners, cheaper goods and merchandise that arrives safely in Romania. “There are sometimes situations like this in China: you go to a fair where you see the product, pay for it, get the first ranges of products, but after the second or third transport, the quality of the product may decline. The role of the Romanian-Chinese House is to guarantee that you receive what you have paid for,” explains Simota.

On the other hand, Romanian producers with intention to export in China need business partners. “Except for wine, we are not really exporting in China, we are generally importing goods,” said Simota. Romanian exporters are also looking for financing or better technologies.

Otilia Haraga

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