Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin (L1) visits Kerry Group in Shanghai, China, on January 7, 2026. Photo: Courtesy of the Irish Embassy in China

Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin on Wednesday continued his official visit to China with a packed business and tourism agenda in Shanghai, visiting companies including Trip.com Group and Kerry Group. 

A Chinese expert noted that the visit underscores the sustained attractiveness of the Chinese market for Ireland, as China and many European countries share strong and deeply complementary economic interests that are rooted in market demand.

Martin began his five-day visit to China on Sunday. During his Shanghai stop on Wednesday, he toured several local and Irish enterprises and shared updates on his X account. "Great to engage with Trip.com and Tourism Ireland in Shanghai today. Good discussion on the potential of this market and attracting more Chinese tourists to Ireland," Martin wrote.

"The visit by our Taoiseach to China is extremely important because it shows that this engagement has the highest level of approval. It reflects the degree of focus we place on China and our long-term commitment to this relationship and the Chinese market," Tadhg O'Callaghan, China Director, Enterprise Ireland, who is also the Commercial Counselor, told the Global Times.

Following Martin's Wednesday meeting in Shanghai with Trip.com and Tourism Ireland, the two sides signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to grow the island of Ireland's share of international visitors, according to a document provided by Tourism Ireland to the Global Times.

During this week's China visit, Martin has also met with Hainan Airlines, which operates direct flights from Beijing to Dublin. He is scheduled to attend a Tourism Ireland business luncheon event in Shanghai on Thursday, where he will address key Chinese travel professionals and media, the document said. "I'm delighted to welcome Taoiseach Micheal Martin to the signing of our new MoU with Trip.com Group," Alice Mansergh, Chief Executive of Tourism Ireland, said on Wednesday, according to the document.

Cui Hongjian, a professor at the Academy of Regional and Global Governance at Beijing Foreign Studies University, told the Global Times on Wednesday that a number of European countries, including Ireland, continue to view the Chinese market positively. He noted that over the past two years some European countries had misjudged China's consumption capacity, but are gradually recognizing that China remains a vast market with strong purchasing power.

"As living standards in China continue to rise, consumers increasingly want to eat well and live well. Ireland's distinctive agricultural products and its tourism offerings are therefore attractive to Chinese consumers," Cui said.

Martin also highlighted Irish corporate success in China through posts on X. "Pleased to visit the Kerry Group in Shanghai. 18 years ago, they had three people working here. Now, there are 1400. A real Irish success story on the world stage," he wrote. In another post, he said, "Today we were with the Kerry Group - a good illustration of how successful an Irish company can be in China. Later meeting WuXi Biologics, who employ about 700 people in Dundalk, and Trip.com, as this market could be very strong for Irish tourism into the future."

"The attractiveness of the Chinese market and business environment, and the very strong mutual demand between China and Europe in trade and economic cooperation, is not something that can be changed by political maneuvering," Cui said.

Cui added that as Ireland will serve as a rotating EU presidency holder in the second half of 2026, giving it the opportunity to elevate some national concerns to the EU level. This could further enhance China-EU complementarities and contribute positively to China-EU relations, he said.