In Memoriam Christian Morel

On 26 May 2025 Mr. Christian Morel passed away at the age of 79. Mr. Morel was a true pioneer in fostering business relations between Belgium and China. As one of the early visionaries to see the potential of China’s economic opening, he played a pivotal role in building bridges between Belgium and China. He travelled to China for the first time in 1977, representing his company Bell Telephone from Antwerp. A few years later this led to the setting up of Shanghai Bell, the 6^th Sino-foreign joint venture in China and the first joint venture in telecommunications, now called Alcatel-Lucent Shanghai Bell.

1978, visit to PTIC factory in Luoyang, with Christian Morel in the middle

For his contributions to Belgian-Chinese business, Mr. Morel received many awards, such as the honorary citizenship of Shanghai and Beijing and honorary vice-presidency of Shanghai Bell. The most important one, according to Mr. Morel, is the Friendship Award offered by Chinese prime minister Zhu Rongji in the People’s Hall in Beijing on 1 October 1998.

On 31 May 2025 the Belgian newspaper Gazet van Antwerpen published an article about Mr. Morel. You can find a copy of the article hereunder (in Dutch only). This is an abstract of the article in which Bart Horsten was asked about his memories of Chris Morel:

According to Bart Horsten, who has been active as a China advisor for 25 years, Chris Morel played a crucial role in starting up trade between Belgium and China. “When Chris travelled to China for Alcatel, my father, Joos Horsten, took on a similar role for Janssen Pharmaceutica. Together they were two China pioneers in the province of Antwerp”, says Bart. “Until Mao Zedong died, China was cut off from the West. It took two days just to get there. China wasn’t even a member of the World Trade Organization at the time. Economically, it was still a developing country. In terms of contracts or intellectual property protection, the country wasn’t familiar with Western standards, let alone how to deal with foreigners. For foreign companies, it was quite an adventure to explore that huge sales market. On the other hand, the Chinese were curious about foreign products and technology. For a businessman like Chris, it must have been an incredible experience to see what he could achieve in such an immense nation as China.”

His enduring contributions to Sino-Belgian relations have left a lasting legacy. Horsten International extends its heartfelt condolences to his family, friends, and colleagues.

The story about Joos Horsten in China since the late seventies, can be consulted through this link.