Meeting between International Companies & Industry Associations based in China and MOFCOM

2010-03-02 | All chapters

Secretary General Dirk Moens of the European Chamber attended a meeting between MOFCOM and international Companies and Industry Associations based in China. In the meeting a number of companies were given the opportunity to voice their opinions about the Chinese business climate. IBM mentioned the RMB/Rupee exchange rate and lack of national policy as a problem when it comes to competitiveness and fairness in the outsourcing business area. Sony argued that the internet content is too censored for Foreign Invested Enterprises and Nokia mentioned counterfeiting of handsets as a major problem. Indigenous Innovation and IPR protection was mentioned by several companies as a big issue and these were the two problems voiced by most attendees.

Minister Chen answered to the requests that this meeting can be repeated and that dialogue is promoted at all levels of MOFCOM. He also said that NPC and the upcoming state council were currently working on policies that will address a lot of the issues mentioned by the industry. Minister Chen also gave his view on the world economy in relation to China and noted that recovery was fragile and that China were closely watching the development in Europe, specifically Greece, and the United States. In answer to the points raised by international players Minister Chen said that he noted the common concern on indigenous innovation and he will report on it. Minister Chen further agreed that IPR implementation and enforcement needed improvements. He added that the state council currently were working on the following points: policies for technology driven companies, lower tariffs for import of high tech equipment and what he called “go west-incentives”.

As final remarks Minister Chen said that international environment is difficult and he is not optimistic when it comes to an international exit from stimulus measures. He further emphasized that US needs to be more open and that the bilateral relation needs to improve