Joos Horsten was a Belgian

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 businessman. He founded Xian Janssen Pharmaceutical, the Sino-Belgian joint venture of Janssen Pharmaceutica

Janssen Pharmaceutica

Janssen Pharmaceutica is pharmaceutical company, established in Belgium in 1953 by Paul Janssen. Its headquarters are located in Beerse, in the Campine region of the province of Antwerp, Belgium. It was created not as a subsidiary of a chemical factory but solely with the aim of conducting...

, a Flemish pharmaceutical company in Belgium.

Career

For almost 25 years he was responsible for chemical manufacturing and international production at Janssen Pharmaceutica

Janssen Pharmaceutica

Janssen Pharmaceutica is pharmaceutical company, established in Belgium in 1953 by Paul Janssen. Its headquarters are located in Beerse, in the Campine region of the province of Antwerp, Belgium. It was created not as a subsidiary of a chemical factory but solely with the aim of conducting...

, and together with Chinese partners he established Xian Janssen Pharmaceutical. After the opening of China in 1978, their first factory was set up by Joos Horsten in Hanzhong

Hanzhong

Hanzhong is a municipality in southwest Shaanxi Province, China, occupying a historically significant valley in the mountains between the Xi'an area, home to many Chinese capitals, and the fertile but isolated Sichuan Basin...

, after which the second and larger factory followed in Xi'an

Xi'an

Xi'an is the capital of the Shaanxi province, and a sub-provincial city in the People's Republic of China. One of the oldest cities in China, with more than 3,100 years of history, the city was known as Chang'an before the Ming Dynasty...

.

From 1992 to 1997, he continued his career at Solvay Pharmaceuticals

Solvay (company)

Solvay S.A. is a Belgian chemical company with its head office in Ixelles, Brussels, Belgium. It was founded in 1863 by Ernest Solvay to produce sodium carbonate by the solvay process. Since then the company has diversified to two major sectors of activity: chemicals and plastics...

, a Belgian chemical and pharmaceutical multinational, as Vice-President Technical Affairs, and in 1997 established his own company, as a consultant to Chinese pharmaceutical companies. His contacts led to other companies doing business in China: Xian Thiebaut Pharmaceutical Packaging Co, and Xian Flanders Innovation Services (XFIS).

In 2002, he became chairman for the soccer club K.V. Turnhout

K.V. Turnhout

K.V. Turnhout is a Belgian football club, from the municipality of Turnhout.-History:K.V. Turnhout was founded as Turnhout Sport in 1912 with matricule n°148. After World War I, the club was refounded as F.C. Turnhout with the same matriculation...

, restoring it to financial stability, renegotiating debts, from the construction of a new sports stadium.

On 21 June 2008, he died in China of an apparent heart attack. He left a wife and four sons.

Awards

• "Friendship Award" following the 40th anniversary of the liberation of China
  China
  Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
  
  , by then Prime Minister Li Peng
  Li Peng
  Li Peng served as the fourth Premier of the People's Republic of China, between 1987 and 1998, and the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislative body, from 1998 to 2003. For much of the 1990s Li was ranked second in the Communist Party of China ...
  
  on 1 October 1989.

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