Navigating Chinese regulation and cultural differences in Shanghai to support Nordic customers

In the tower block on the 27th floor in the Jing’an district, there is a small piece of the Nordics. Angela Tu is General Manager of the Shanghai branch and, together with 25 colleagues, she supports the Nordic customers’ business development in China, Hong Kong and Macau.  

Compared to Nordic countries, China’s different culture, economic policy and financial regulations pose some of the biggest challenges for foreign companies doing business in China.  

Supporting a challenging deal 

The Shanghai Branch has two client executives, Leslie Li, covering Danish and Finnish customers, and Madeleine Asplund, covering Swedish and Norwegian customers.  

Both work closely with many different stakeholders across Nordea, such as the local business support teams as well as Nordic colleagues from Large Corporates & Institutions, Business Banking, Cash Management, Trade Finance and Markets, to give Nordic customers the best support. When Madeleine Asplund meets new clients, the first thing on the agenda is often to explain the basics of how to do business in China: 

“The capital is subject to strict regulations here. Most of our Nordic customers entering the Chinese market don't have this kind of knowledge, so we need to guide them and explain these regulations,” she says. 

That was the case recently, when Leslie Li was contacted by one of his corporate customers, that had established a production facility in China some years ago. 

“The customer wanted to sell the plant to a Chinese buyer and extend the facility to support the transition. Due to local regulations on fixed asset loans, extending the facility was quite challenging,” says Leslie Li. He and the team carefully reviewed the local regulations and managed to reach an agreement in the end. 

“The customer was really happy with our support and impressed that we managed to find a solution very quickly.” 

Enhancing awareness and meeting new customers 

Nordea’s branch here in Shanghai has strong collaboration with the Chambers of Commerce of Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland. The branch participates actively in different events to strengthen our brand exposure in the Nordic communities in China and organise seminars on topics related to Chinese economy with the support of Nordea’s chief economist and marketing team. 

“Via social gatherings we connect with local subsidiaries of Nordic companies. Through these events, they discover how we can support their local banking needs and business growth,” says Angela Tu.   

Madeleine Asplund summarises: “We work closely with many different stakeholders in Nordea to provide personalized, one-on-one support for each customer, ensuring that clients receive timely responses and consistent support. If you have a customer that needs support in China – feel free to reach out to us.”