This article is from February 2005 issue of EURObiz.
The seventh EU-China Business Summit, with the central theme of “Translating Co-operation into Mutual Benefit,” was held on 9th December 2004, directly after the EU-China Political Summit.
EU-China bilateral trade is expected to hit €198 billion (US$180 billion) in 2004, compared with €138 billion in 2003. With the enlargement earlier in 2004, which saw the addition of 10 new member states, the EU has now replaced Japan as China’s largest trading partner.
The EU-China Business Summit was held in The Hague, under the Netherlands presidency of the European Union (which has since been handed over to Luxembourg). The event saw influential political and business leaders from both China and the EU gathering to discuss key issues related to business.
Keynote speakers included China’s Prime Minister, Wen Jiabao; Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Jan-Peter Balkenende; President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso; and Trade Commissioner of the European Union, Peter Mandelson.
On his arrival to the Netherlands, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao said that since the last summit the previous year, relations between China and the EU have entered a “mature and stable” period.
During the morning session of the EU-China business summit, Serge Janssens de Varebeke, President of the European Chamber, was a member of the panel discussion on industrial co-operation, corporate governance, market access and intellectual property rights (IPR).
The afternoon program was arranged into three parallel panel discussions: business to consumer (B2C), business to business (B2B), and Industrial and Financial Services. Serge Janssens de Varebeke, in his capacity as the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China’s President, chaired the B2B session on Industrial Co-operation. The issues discussed included industrial policy, innovation, IPR, standardisation, certification and technical regulation.
The Chamber was heavily involved in this particular session as Jean-Claude Germain, Vice President of the Chamber was also a speaker; as was Jari Vaario, the Chairman of the IT&T Working Group.
Sound bites
Excerpts from the speeches made at the EU-China summit
“China-EU relations have never been as dynamic and fruitful as they are today…China-EU cooperation is wider in scope and better in content and the relationship has come into a new phase of maturity and sound and steady development.”
Wen Jiabao, Chinese Premier
“China and the EU have shared interests in wide areas and there are no conflicts of fundamental interest between them…China-EU cooperation, which is based on shared interest, is most solid and enduring.”
“It was the business communities that led the way in the earliest exchanges between Chinn and Europe…Today, the business communities remain an important player of China-Europe relations.”
“The new European Commission recognises the economic importance of China and will place it firmly and centrally on its radar screen. We must review and lift our relations with China to a new and higher, more intense level.”
Peter Mandelson, EU Commissioner for Trade
“China is the great change of our time…Once one of the most inward-looking countries China has become the world’s largest consumer of steel, copper and cement, and an export powerhouse as well.”
“China’s leaders have pursued intelligent, step by step economic reforms, in which each change is built on the confidence earned from a successful earlier change.”
“Europeans and Chinese share similar work ethics and an attachment to a solid social fabric.”
“I believe that our response to future social and environmental and even geopolitical challenges is likely to be comparable. Our interests in many areas, like global warming, in the long run coincide. In our foreign policy, we both privilege the use of soft power instruments.”
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