Danish Entrepreneur Shares 33-Year China Journey at Jiaxing Opening-Up Symposium

JIAXING, China, Dec. 31, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On December 10, 2025, at a high-level symposium on high-standard opening-up and high-quality development held in Jiaxing, China, a foreign entrepreneur drew wide attention by sharing his “Jiaxing story” in fluent Chinese.

He was Simon Lichtenberg, a Danish entrepreneur, an Honorary Citizen of Shanghai, and a recommender of the China International Import Expo (CIIE) for the eighth time.

The symposium served not only as a platform to review and look ahead to Jiaxing’s achievements in opening-up, but also as an occasion for Lichtenberg—widely known as a “China hand”—to reaffirm the deep integration of his business career with the city.

“Many people know me as a ‘Shanghai son-in-law,’ but Jiaxing is the strategic heart of my business in China,” Lichtenberg said in his remarks, defining his relationship with the city. His core manufacturing base—the global manufacturing and R&D headquarters for intelligent healthy home products of Trayton Group—is located in Jiaxing. Covering an area of 120,000 square meters, the modern factory was built and put into operation in just 18 months, transforming from an empty site into a fully functioning facility. This repeatedly cited “Jiaxing speed,” in Lichtenberg’s view, exemplifies China’s continuously improving business environment and the efficient collaboration between local governments and enterprises.

This trust was built much earlier. After earning his “first pot of gold” in China in the 1990s, Lichtenberg began seeking to transform his trading experience into physical manufacturing. Attracted by the Yangtze River Delta’s comprehensive industrial chains and strategic location, he ultimately chose Jiaxing for its clear planning, pragmatic policies, and efficient government services—placing the core manufacturing operations critical to his company’s future in the city. Today, the Jiaxing base is not only a production hub supplying products to more than 1,500 outlets worldwide, but also a frontier for R&D innovation and the practice of green and intelligent manufacturing within the group.

“Choosing Jiaxing was no coincidence. It connects Shanghai’s international outlook with the solid industrial foundation of the Yangtze River Delta hinterland,” Lichtenberg noted. The success of the Jiaxing facility, he said, provides the confidence underpinning his company’s deep participation in the CIIE and its ability to showcase the upgrading strength of “Made in China” to the world.

As a long-time friend of the CIIE, Lichtenberg shared that among the “China opportunities” he has promoted during his eight terms as a recommender, an indispensable chapter lies in cities like Jiaxing—cities that demonstrate development resilience, momentum for industrial upgrading, and a genuine commitment to openness.

At the symposium, speaking also in his capacity as the founding national chairman of the Danish Chamber of Commerce in China, Lichtenberg pointed out that Jiaxing serves as an excellent window for observing China’s high-quality development and sustained opening-up. He has witnessed and facilitated the strategic evolution of foreign investment—including many Nordic companies—from viewing China merely as a sales market, to establishing manufacturing bases, and further to setting up R&D centers. “Behind this transformation lies the long-term certainty provided by continuously optimized industrial ecosystems and government services in many Chinese cities, including Jiaxing,” he emphasized.

From arriving in China in 1993 with borrowed funds to starting a business, to anchoring his company’s core operations in Jiaxing, Lichtenberg’s more than 30-year journey in China has often been described as a “modern fairy tale.” His remarks in Jiaxing added the most substantial footnote yet to this story of trust: long-term investment and shared growth with a place form the strongest bond between foreign enterprises and the Chinese market.

As Yangtze River Delta integration advances toward higher quality development, the story of Simon Lichtenberg and Jiaxing is expected to continue unfolding with new chapters ahead.

A short video highlighting Lichtenberg’s reflections on his China journey and his insights from Jiaxing can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/gWrwts46guA?si=BaKwqllk45kM_Rqv

Contact Person: Qian Jixia
Email: jiccjiaxing@gmail.com

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