The CHEERS (Chinese European Emission Reduction Solution) H2020 project No 764697 is an international consortium aiming at semi-industrial demonstration of the Chemical Looping Combustion (CLC) technology at 3 MWth scale using solid fuels, such as petcoke and lignite. The nine partners of the project are SINTEF Energy AS, TotalEnergies, IFP Energies Nouvelles, Bellona, SINTEF AS, Silesian University and Dongfang Boiler Group Co (DBC), Tsinghua University, Zhejiang University. The demonstration plant was built in DBC site in Deyang China in 2022. Commissioning and start-up took place in summer 2023. This paper presents the main outcomes of the last phases of the project: construction, commissioning, start-up, and operational test in CLC mode. The focus of the commissioning phase was on individual testing of the main equipment, to provide utilities to the unit, and the conditions to engage the start-up phase. For the start-up phase, it was found that there was a need for including a supplemental phase consisting of pre-oxidizing the ilmenite used as oxygen carrier. Finally, a stable continuous operation was achieved, demonstrating the reliability of the developed CLC process. Feedstock gasification and combustion were clearly observed. The main performance indicators of the unit will be presented. In addition, some learnings about the successful collaboration and communication between European and Chinese partners will be shared. The CHEERS demonstration is the last step before full industrial deployment of this technology in an integrated CCU/CCS chain.