National News
Analysts View: Chinese Communist Party unveils new leadership
China's ruling Communist Party unveiled its new seven-man Politburo Standing Committee on Thursday, confirming Xi Jinping's elevation to the no. 1 spot in the line-up and the end of Hu Jintao's 10 years as party boss.
China must allow more competition
As the Chinese Communist Party is choosing its new leaders for the next decade, the president of the European Chamber of Commerce in China (ECCC) calls on Beijing to open further the country’s market to foreign companies. Davide Cucino’s tells Europolitics why the Asian giant must open up its market if it wants to achieve sustainable long-term growth. The ECCC’s head is also cautious regarding a possible EU-China free trade agreement (FTA).
The State Advances-The State's Grip on the Economy Has Been Tightening. Could Foreign Pressure Persuade the New Leadership to Reverse Course?
DURING one recent weekend in Shanghai, an enthusiastic crowd of several hundred entrepreneurs gathered in a trendy loft space near the city’s Fudan University. The music was blaring, the lampposts were festooned and a giant banner declared cryptically, in English: “Right here, right now!”
Read moreEuropean Chamber urges China's new leaders to open up markets
A once-in-a-decade leadership change in Beijing offers a chance to make much needed market access reforms, a European business lobby said on Thursday, warning that China's failure to do so could put at risk sustained growth of its state-led economy.
Read moreEU-China Business Summit
In parallel to the EU-China Political Summit, the EU-China Business Summit will take place on 20th September 2012 in Brussels. It is the highest-level platform for exchanges between EU and Chinese business and political leaders.
Read moreEU Business in China
The European Union Chamber of Commerce in China will present its annual Position Paper at a special lunch seminar, to be held in Brussels on 18th September, 2012.
Read moreInvestment needs a level playing field
At a time when foreign direct investment in China continues to decline, the need for it and its importance are being called into question. However, as the global economic crisis is far from over, this is a time when, if anything, FDI should continue and increase, not the other way around.
Read moreForeign Businesses In China Are Increasingly Concerned About The Future
For a country that has successfully attracted major investments over the years from multinationals as diverse as Starbucks, Intel, Disney and GM, the message from the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China in May was relatively downbeat. Regulatory restrictions hurt business at half of companies that participated in a recent chamber survey; some 22% of the respondents said they may move their projects elsewhere as a result. That comes on top of consecutive year-on-year declines in foreign investment in each of the five months to April, and long-standing concerns about piracy and unfair competition.
Change of direction
It was billed as one of the biggest foreign investment deals in China in recent times. But little did those who had gathered in Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi province, on a bright and sunny day in April know the real impact of the $7-billion (5.5 billion euros) Samsung Electronics deal vis-a-vis FDI in China (see page 16-17).
Close on the heels of the South Korean investment came the news that German auto major Volkswagen AG was planning to invest $210 million in an automobile unit in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.