Li Fei introduced at a press conference held by the State Council Information Office on the same day that under the guidance of the head of state’s diplomacy, in recent years, China-EU economic and trade cooperation has overcome various difficulties, achieved fruitful results, and effectively promoted the economic development of both sides.
The volume of bilateral trade reached a record high. China and Europe are each other’s second largest trading partners, the trade structure is more optimized, and the trade in green products such as lithium batteries, new energy vehicles, and photovoltaic modules is growing rapidly.
Two-way investment is expanding. By the end of 2022, the stock of two-way investment between China and Europe has exceeded US$230 billion; In 2022, European investment in China will be US$12.1 billion, a significant increase of 70% year-on-year, and the automotive sector will continue to be the biggest hot spot. During the same period, China’s investment in Europe was US$11.1 billion, a year-on-year increase of 21%, with new investment concentrated in new energy, automobiles, machinery and equipment.
The scope of cooperation continues to expand. The two sides have completed the publication of the second batch of lists of the China-EU Agreement on Geographical Indications, adding mutual recognition and mutual guarantee of 350 landmark products; China and the EU have taken the lead in developing and updating the Common Taxonomy on Sustainable Finance, and China Construction Bank and Deutsche Bank have issued green bonds.
Enterprise cooperation enthusiasm is high. Recently, a number of European executives have come to China to personally promote cooperation projects with China, showing their firm confidence in investment and development in China. European companies actively participate in important exhibitions such as CIIE, Consumer Expo, and CIFTIS held by China, and France has been confirmed as the guest of honor at CIFTIS and CIIE 2024.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and the EU. Li Fei said that he is willing to work with the European side to jointly implement a series of important consensus reached by the leaders of the two sides, firmly grasp China-EU economic and trade relations from a strategic height, strengthen complementary advantages, and share the huge development opportunities of Chinese-style modernization.
In the next stage, the two sides will deepen pragmatic cooperation in the fields of digital and new energy, jointly safeguard the rules-based multilateral trading system with the WTO as the core, maintain the security and stability of the global industrial chain and supply chain, and work together to contribute to world economic growth.
Post time: May-06-2023
