Mandelson discusses opportunities, barriers in China with EU Business Go back »

2008-09-19 | All chapters

Brussels, 17 September 2008
EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson has today met in Brussels with representatives of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China. The delegation, led by the President of the European Chamber Joerg Wuttke, presented the Commissioner with its European Business in China Position Paper for 2008/2009. Wuttke and representatives from a number of companies and business sectors active in China presented their views and concerns regarding the current business environment in China.
They highlighted a number of administrative and legal hurdles that prevent European companies from competing on an equal footing with their Chinese competitors. Commissioner Mandelson will travel to China next week for talks with his Chinese counterparts, including Vice Premier Wang Qishan and Minister of Commerce Chen Deming.

Following the meeting with the European Chamber, Commissioner Mandelson said: "It is clear from this Position Paper that doing business in China remains attractive. However, it is equally clear that much work needs to be done to create a level playing field for European companies, concerning market access, transparency and protection of intellectual property."

Commissioner Mandelson has consistently argued that although EU-China trade continues to grow, there is still an imbalance in the relationship. The EU is still facing a sizeable trade deficit with China – about EUR160 billion in 2007. The weakness of the dollar against the yuan means that the bulk of China's export growth is now being absorbed by the EU. While this has benefits for European consumers and for businesses looking for better value inputs the Chinese market is still relatively closed to the goods Europe seeks to export in return. China may have lowered its tariffs substantially since 2001, but barriers 'behind the border' in the Chinese market are costing European businesses more than EUR20 billion every year in lost exports, according to the EUCCC.

To deal with these issues, the High Level Economic and Trade Mechanism was launched in Beijing in April 2008. The Mechanism, proposed by the Chinese side, will strengthen dialogue between the European Commission and the State Council of China, at Vice-Premier level. It will deal with both issues of strategic importance of in the EU-China trade relations, investment and economic cooperation. This Mechanism will provide a new tool to address issues of mutual concern especially in the areas of investment, market access and intellectual property rights protection and other strategic issues related to trade.

Background
China is the single most important challenge for EU trade policy. China has re-emerged as the world's fourth economy and third exporter, but also an increasingly important political power. EU-China trade has increased dramatically in recent years and now totals over EUR 300 billion. China is now the EU's 2nd trading partner behind the USA and the biggest source of imports. The EU is China's biggest trading partner.
For more on the EU-China trade relationship see http://ec.europa.eu/trade/issues/bilateral/countries/china/index_en.htm
For more information on EU trade policy see http://ec.europa.eu/trade or contact Peter Power +32 498980348 or Michael Jennings +32 498986880

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Xinhe Fan