Business leaders want better Sino-EU ties

Chinese and European Union business leaders have urged China and the EU to work more closely together as political leaders from both sides work on a 5-10 year plan to improve relations.

"Against the background of globalization, business leaders from both sides are meeting to look at the long-term picture," said Wan Jifei, chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, during the 9th China-EU Business Summit in Beijing on Nov 21.

"Any problems should be resolved in an open, pragmatic and flexible way to transform the way we work together."

The 16th China-EU summit was held in Beijing the same day, and Premier Li Keqiang met key EU leaders.

"China and the EU are important trading partners, but the full potential of two-way investment has yet to be realized," says Jiang Yafei, vice-president of Huawei Technologies.

"The two have a lot to gain in working together on technology. We hope Chinese and EU governments and businesses can improve the way they work together in areas such as mobile Internet, cloud computing and big data."

Markus Borchert, president of Nokia Solutions and Networks Greater China, says China is moving away from a country marked by low costs to one marked by innovation.

"We regard ourselves as a foreign invested local company rather than a foreign company We have invested in China for China and for the world."

David Frey, a management consulting partner with KPMG, says: "Foreign investment is a crucial driver for improving societal welfare, while China's reform path can eventually trigger a new wave of global investment. European companies' investment and technology plays a key role in the most critical era of China's economic transformation."

China plans to increase its returns on investment in society by focusing economic development on seven strategic industries: biotechnology; clean-energy vehicles; energy conservation and environmental protection; high-end equipment manufacturing; new energy; new materials; and next-generation IT.

European companies are well equipped to help China in these areas given their reputation in green technology and environmental sustainability, Frey says.

In the first 10 months of this year, China's non-financial foreign direct investment from the EU was worth $6.4 billion, 22.26 percent higher than for the corresponding period last year, the Ministry of Commerce said. Last year, FDI from the bloc rose 1.6 percent year-on-year to $5.35 billion. By the end of October, the EU's total spending in China stood at $90.29 billion.

Between January and October, China's non-financial outward direct investment in the EU was worth $3.04 billion, 92.4 percent higher than in the corresponding period last year.

The EU is also an important source of China's technology imports. In the first nine months of this year China's technology imports from the EU had a contract value of $10.78 billion.

Bi Hua, CEO and executive director of Greatview Aseptic Packaging Co Ltd, says: "We have responded to calls from European customers to help them by last year moving to build a factory in Germany.

"That has brought down the monopoly suppliers' prices in Europe by 2 to 4 percent Investing in Europe represents Greatview's first attempt to break up the monopoly globally.

"Cooperation and competition between Europe and China are still in their infancy and will continue to intensify and thrive over the coming years. There will be unlimited opportunities for both sides."

Commerce Ministry spokesman, Shen Danyang said on Nov 19 that economic ties between China and the EU are in good shape despite some friction on trade matters.

The two sides have had initial talks on setting up a mechanism to avoid, reduce or eliminate such friction, he said.

The EU is China's largest trading partner, and China is the bloc's second largest trading partner. Bilateral trade in the first 10 months of this year was worth $456.1 billion, 0.5 percent higher than in the corresponding period last year, and reversed a slide last year, the Ministry of Commerce said. China's exports to the bloc fell 0.7 percent to $275.9 billion, and its imports rose 2.4 percent to $180.2 billion, leaving a trade surplus of $95.7 billion.

lijiabao@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily Africa Weekly 11/22/2013 page16)