Located in the North Atlantic at the center of the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates, Iceland is home to a mix of glaciers, spouting geysers and volcanoes that have provided Icelandic Water Holdings ‘Icelandic Glacial™’ with a superb and premium spring water, sourced from one of the world’s most naturally pristine and untouched ecosystems.

“Icelandic Glacial is bottled at the source from Iceland’s legendary Ölfus Spring, which was formed more than 5,000 years ago and is shielded from pollution by an impenetrable barrier of lava rock,” says Jon Olafsson, Chairman and co-founder of Icelandic Water Holdings.“The Spring produces water so pure that nothing is added or taken away. As a result, Icelandic Glacial possesses exceptional balance featuring a naturally low mineral content and a high alkaline pH level of 8.4.”

Icelandic Glacial is also dedicated to being the active leader in environmental sustainability which includes being the world’s first bottled water to have a net-zero carbon emissions footprint and to be certified as CarbonNeutral® for product and operation. The brand’s efforts have been recognized with international acknowledgment, including an award for Bottled Water World Design Awards for Best Sustainability Initiative.

“As Chinese consumers continue to seek out premium brands, Greater China is becoming a very important market for us,” says Frankie Suen, General Manager, Greater China Region. “Our goal is to work closely with our distributors and trade partners to make Icelandic Glacial one of the leading imported premium bottled waters in Greater China. We believe that once Chinese consumers experience Icelandic Glacial, they will prefer our uniquely pure mineral water sourced from majestic Iceland over any other bottled water brand.”

the Icelandic community practiced their own personal austerity measures to avoid accumulating debt. This represents the pragmatic and sensible approach of Icelanders and explains why we rebounded from the crisis relatively quickly.” Iceland has one of the highest card penetration rates in the world at eighty percent. Valitor issues a remarkable sixty percent of all cards issued in Iceland.

The company has accumulated knowledge and expertise over three decades. The company works in close collaboration with Visa EU and MasterCard and has long established partnerships with international banks.

“We have been developing a relationship with China Union Pay and have integrated their services into our system,” says Thorkelsson. “I am a strong believer in using software technology solutions to help consumers. Our issuing and acquiring software solutions do that in a unique way”.

As Valitor continues to establish effective business relations across Europe, Thorkelsson has his eye on the Asian Market “We have seen our company grow in Europe during the last few years and we’ve been successful in exporting our knowledge and solutions to our European partners. We have a dynamic development team delivering tailor-made solutions to customers. While our strategy has focused on Europe, we find the increasingly important Chinese market a very interesting option for future development”.

The Icelandic economy has emerged from the financial crisis as a more resilient and fundamentally stronger economy. Its resolve in addressing economic issues was founded on the island nation’s rule of law and supported by the country’s dynamic legal services sector.

As a result of the country’s economic recovery and the recently signed Iceland-China Free Trade Agreement (FTA), cross-border interest between the two countries is growing.

“As a nation, one of our great strengths is that we learned from the financial crisis,” says Orn Gunnarsson, Managing Partner of LEX. “The reformed, modern banking system is one of the positive consequences of the crisis and the legal system has become more sophisticated post-crisis. A wealth of knowledge has been acquired following multifaceted legal encounters and a stronger legal sector in Iceland has emerged today”.

Following the financial crisis of 2008, Iceland’s successful recovery remains a point of reference for countries with past and current economic challenges. Strong leadership and financial stability ensured MP Banki was the only privately-held bank in Iceland to emerge intact from the country’s financial crisis.

MP Banki offers comprehensive solutions in Asset Management and Private Banking for private entities and investors. The Bank is a broker-dealer of securities on domestic and international markets, and provides all major services in the field of Corporate Finance, including financing for clients.

The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Iceland and China has created opportunities within the financial sector for both countries. MP Banki aims to be the first point of contact for Chinese investors looking for investment opportunities in Iceland.

“We have already established contacts in China with Chinese financial institutions and energy companies”, says Sigurdur Atli Jonsson, CEO of MP Banki. “There is a great deal of interest from China in the opportunities to be found within the Icelandic economy and we are playing an important role in advising investors looking at the resources and energy sectors. Our Corporate Finance team has specialized in the Icelandic energy sector and the Bank has participated in projects in China and South East Asia. Our location in the North Atlantic and our close proximity to both Europe and the Arctic provides investors with a spring-board from Iceland into key regions of interest”.

MP Banki’s dedication to support the growth and success of their customers remains at the heart of the Bank’s offering. World Finance, a leading financial magazine, recently awarded MP Banki ‘Best Investment Management Company in Iceland 2014’.

“We understand our clients’ cross-border transaction requirements and are well positioned to build on our hard-earned reputation for success after the crisis,” says Jonsson. “As we strengthen our relations in China, we intend to ensure MP Banki is recognized as the first choice for the Chinese financial sector and investors looking at the Icelandic market”.

2014 has proven to be a momentous year for Eimskip, Iceland’s oldest shipping company. Celebrations included the company’s 100th anniversary and marked ten years of doing business in China. Eimskip continues to leverage its experience as a world-leader in reefer (refrigerated container) forwarding logistics services and is strengthening its business in China.

Eimskip’s Chinese activities are located in, Qingdao, Dalian, Xiamen and Shenzen. The company recently signed a joint venture agreement with Qingdao Port Authority to operate a 55,000-ton cold storage facility. As the seventh largest container port in the world, Qingdaois an important destination for the import and export of fruit, vegetables, meat and seafood.

“The agreement further strengthens our presence in China and builds on our existing operations throughout Asia”, says Gylfi Sigfússon, President and CEO of Eimskip. “Considering the importance of Qingdao, the agreement is also in-line with our strategy to reinforce our reefer forwarding services in Asia. With Qingdao’s population of 8.7 million, the city is also a huge market opportunity for Eimskip.”

Following the recently signed Iceland-China Free Trade Agreement (FTA), Eimskip’s new Chinese-built specialized container vessel, ‘Lagarfoss’ docked at Qingdao Port on July 1st, 2014 – the day the FTA was put into force. Two hundred new reefer containers of Chinese goods were loaded onto the vessel to be transported under the new FTA terms.

“While we anticipate the FTA will play a huge role in the growth of our business, we have already been significantly increasing our reefer forwarding services to and from China and within the Asian region”, says Bragi Thor Marinosson, Executive Vice President of Eimskip.“A decade ago when, we entered the Chinese market, most of our business involved exports from China. Today, given the growth of China as a consumer market, we are focusing our efforts on both imports and exports.”

“China is an important market for us and continues to be our stepping stone into the Asian region”, Sigfússon concludes. “We are keen to work more closely with our customers across the region. We are confident in our ability to provide our clients and partners with the best possible global transportation services.”

As part of China National BlueStar (Group) Co, Ltd., Elkem Iceland has become a leading manufacturer of Ferrosilicon for the steel industry. The company exemplifies the numerous investment and manufacturing opportunities Chinese investors can discover in Iceland.

Elkem offsets the high energy costs involved in manufacturing ferrosilicon by utilizing Iceland’s cost competitive and environmentally friendly energy market; derived from renewable geothermal and hydro energy resources.

“Iceland’s abundance of ‘green energy’ harnessed from renewable sources and the country’s skilled workforce create a very attractive offering for Chinese investors interested in the country’s manufacturing sector”, says Petursson.

Strict environmental standards complimented with structured monitoring programs ensure minimization of the environmental footprint. “We are very proud of the country’s environmental initiatives and we work according to a zero-landfill policy”, explains Petursson. “We are taking firm steps towards one hundred percent recycling of all our by products in an economically sustainable manner”.

As the only company in Iceland with a Chinese parent company, Petursson recognizes the importance of the Sino-Icelandic partnership:

“Iceland has been given an opportunity that others have not and it will be interesting to see how we will rise to the occasion. We have received a tremendous amount of respect from one of the world’s most important economies and Iceland is in a strong position to build on its already strong relationship with China.”