On November 30, 2009, the 5th EU-China Business Summit was held in Nanjing, Jiangsu province. Premier of the State Council Wen Jiabao, Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt whose country holds the rotating EU presidency and President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso who attended the 12th EU-China Summit addressed the Business Summit (see another text for Wen Jiabao’s speech).
Wen said that with the joint efforts of China and EU, the bilateral economic and trade relations have grown stably and increasingly mature and become a major engine of China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership over 34 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two sides. EU is the biggest economy while China is the largest developing country in the world. At the critical moment of handling the international financial crisis, to further strengthen China-EU economic and trade cooperation will not only help both sides advance economic development but also promote the stable recovery and balanced growth of world economy.
He stressed that the development of China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership should be based on economic and trade cooperation, led by new and high technologies and focus on green economy and the two sides should strengthen mutual trust, bear in mind the long-term interest and strive for mutually beneficial results. He proposed the following suggestions:
First, deepen cooperation on energy efficiency and environmental protection and cope with climate change together. Businesses of both sides should fully tap and use the trade and investment opportunities emerging in the process of handling climate change and conduct technological cooperation and exchanges extensively.
Second, further open market and oppose protectionism in whatever form. Both sides should promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation and promise not to take protectionism measure against each other.
Third, boost trade in service and new and high-tech products. EU is expected to ease control on the export of new and high-tech products to China and expand IPR cooperation with China.
Fourth, broaden cooperation of SMEs to which greater support in financing, participating in trade fairs, investment and trade facilitation should be offered.
He expressed hope that Chinese and EU entrepreneurs can grasp the opportunities with an open mind, face the future in a spirit of cooperation and explore new prospects of China-EU economic and trade cooperation.
Reinfeldt and Barroso noted in their speeches that trade and investment cooperation is a major component of EU-China strategic partnership. EU highly appreciates China’s positive achievements of coping with the international financial crisis. The stable and relatively fast growth of Chinese economy is beneficial to EU and the world at large. EU hopes the two sides further make use of their complementary advantages and take the opportunity of handling climate change to reinforce cooperation in the fields of new and high-tech and clean energy and promote the development of green economy. EU encourages businesses of both sides to enhance cooperation, opposes trade and investment protectionism and is willing to continue to open market to China.
The 5th Business Summit was jointly hosted by the Ministry of Commerce of China, European Commission, Swedish Government and Jiangsu Provincial People’s Government, organized by China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and China-EU Chamber of Commerce and co-organized by Nanjing Municipal People’s Government. Government officials as well as more than 600 entrepreneurs from the Chinese and EU sides attended the summit.