Meeting with Vice Minister of Sweden on the 19th Party Congress.

2017-11-19 | Beijing

Secretary General Adam Dunnett met with Vice Minister of Sweden Oscar Stenström.

This is Vice Minister Stenstrom’s 3^rd visit to China this year. He is visiting Hangzhou for commercial support to Swedish companies. The meeting focused on the 19^th Party Congress. Adam shared the findings of the Chamber’s 19^th Party Congress analysis. There was a debate on whether Xi JinPing’s consolidation of power would lead to more reform. The challenges of the contradictions, the continued corruption clamp-down, the Belt and Road Initiative, poverty alleviation efforts, gender imbalance and other social issues such as access to healthcare and education were discussed.

Adam stressed that we expected continued marginal opening, such as financial services sector opening from the previous week, but that China lagged far beyond the level of openness that Xi JinPing had portrayed to world and that should be commensurate with the size and impact of its economy today.

Adam noted 3 sources of potential leverage:  the importance of objective and relevant media focusing on China issues (apparently Swedish media is more focused on Trump than China); the active voice of the business/ commission/ member state communities including Sweden, and reviewing and reminding China of the access it currently has to the European Union (and could safeguard through the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment). Although Sweden is not supporting the investment mechanism proposal, Adam expressed the view of European Chamber of Commerce in China that further transparency and communication with regard to foreign investments should be welcome. This was recognized by Sweden as a good element but that it should be able to assess investment decisions on its own.

Adam also recognized China’s achievements over the past 5 years, but noted that many contradictions in the 19^th Party Congress, and encouraged participants to continue to push for more opening.