The EU-China Business Association (EUCBA) and the China Chamber of Commerce to the EU (CCCEU) organized an exclusive webinar with His Excellency Peng Gang, Minister in charge of economy and trade at the Chinese Mission to the EU on April 26.
Ms Gwenn Sonck, Executive Director, EU-China Business Association, welcomed the participants to the webinar. This is the third joint event with the Chinese Chamber of Commerce to the EU. Ms Sonck also thanked the Chinese Mission to the EU for their support to the EUCBA. In 2021 the EU and China were the largest trading partners in goods, accounting for €9 billion a day. The EU exported €223 billion and imported €472 billion. In 2020 the EU exported €47 billion in services to China, while China exported €31 billion to the EU. China and the EU both need each other more than ever. China's market offers long-term business opportunities for our companies and many if not most of our companies are in China for China. Business leaders need to be able to meet face to face, not being able to do this is an important issue. Despite this, European companies remain committed to the Chinese market. Recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic remains a shared priority, Ms Sonck said.
Mr Xu Haifeng, Chairman, China Chamber of Commerce to the EU, said the dialogue and this webinar would promote exchanges between China and the EU. The China-EU summit on April 1 took place at a critical juncture. China and the EU agreed to continue high-level talks. The business community is trying to deal with multiple crises. Covid-19 is still rising and economic recovery remains sluggish. The war in Ukraine has added to difficulties and uncertainties. For businesses, the spillovers, such as price hikes, are apparent. Peace is in the interest of all parties. The China Chamber of Commerce to the EU has kept a close eye on the development of Chinese enterprises in the EU. They bucked the trend and grew modestly in the past two years during the pandemic. They contributed to the EU's economic recovery and remain optimistic about the long-term development of China-EU economic, trade and business ties. The significance of the EU market for Chinese businesses has kept growing. The Chamber will launch this year's survey in the coming weeks. China-EU trade will stay resilient. In the first quarter trade grew by more than 10%, Mr Xu said.
HE Minister Peng Gang gave an update on the economic and trade relations between China and the EU. In the current situation, all circles in China and the EU need more chances to enhance mutual understanding and strengthen confidence in our cooperation. On April 1, Chinese President Xi Jinping had a video meeting with the President of the European Council Charles Michel and the President of the European Commission Ursula Von der Leyen. Premier Li Keqiang also co-chaired the 23rd EU-China Summit. This has attracted much attention. A senior EU official likened the summit to a “dialogue of the deaf”, this is one-sided and extreme. We can classify it as disinformation. Positive results have been achieved at the summit.
The summit has laid a solid foundation for the further development of China-EU relations. Leaders of both sides agreed that China-EU relations have long been based on mutual benefit and win-win results, which is not only beneficial to each other but crucial to world peace, stability and development. China and the EU should maintain regular strategic communication. The statements made by the leaders of the EU and China show that cooperation is stable, channels of communication are still open, and the future development prospects are still bright.
The summit injected new impetus into China-EU cooperation in various fields. It was agreed to hold five high-level dialogues on strategy, economy and trade, environment and climate change, digital, and people-to-people to promote the implementation of bilateral consensus. China and the EU will continue to jointly fight against the pandemic and help the sustainable recovery of the world economy. They will also expand cooperation in digital innovation, agriculture, technology, emergency management and other new areas.
The summit provided an important platform to discuss international issues, including the Ukraine crisis. China and the EU are in favor of de-escalation, striving for a political settlement and maintaining the tranquility and stability of the world. Based on the principle of mutual respect, the two sides will continue to hold communications, realize more consensus and jointly promote the solution of international problems. China-EU relations are one of the most important bilateral ties in the world. We cannot resort to one summit to eliminate all differences and disputes between the two sides. President Xi Jinping made clear that China sponsoring the partnership for peace, growth, reform and civilization has never been changed. We see continued strengthening of communications, coordination and cooperation to promote the long-term development of relations and provide more stability to a turbulent world.
Despite the Covid-19 pandemic and some political incidents, China-EU economic and trade relations have achieved strong growth. China has become the EU's largest trading partner for the past two years. In the first quarter the trade volume reached USD205.9 billion, maintaining double-digit growth. In 2021 China-EU bilateral investment exceeded the threshold of USD200 billion, reaching USD212 billion. This is a powerful response to the rhetoric of decoupling and the slandering of China-EU collaboration. The achievements prove that collaboration has a solid foundation, but also enjoys strong resilience.
Our bilateral cooperation also faces some obstacles. In recent years the EU has continuously strengthened and expanded economic and trade toolboxes. Many businesspeople are worried about the direction of the EU's policy. According to a survey by the China Chamber of Commerce to the EU (CCCEU), the overall rating of the EU business environment by Chinese companies declined for the second consecutive year. More regrettably, the EU launched economic sanctions against China in March last year. Ratification of the CAI was frozen by the European parliament. H.E. Peng Gang said he deeply felt the eager aspiration for the CAI and emphasized with the disappointment over the setback in the ratification process. We do not want to see these problems occur in China-EU cooperation. Our two sides have different values and political systems, but these differences should not become obstacles in our cooperation. The international situation is under dramatic turbulence. The combination of the pandemic and the Ukraine crisis have caused huge negative impacts on the world. Economic globalization has encountered unprecedented difficulties. At this critical moment, China and the EU should join hands and make the right choice between opening and closing doors and between cooperation and decoupling.
Economic and trade cooperation has always been the ballast and stabilizer of China-EU relations. Chinese and EU enterprises are the main force in promoting the bilateral economic and trade collaboration. Under the current situation it is even more necessary for the entrepreneurs of both sides to play an active role in the face of difficulties, forging ahead, and contributing to the steady development of China-EU cooperation. We must have faith in our further cooperation.
China and the EU will witness the 47th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties. Looking back to the past 47 years, China-EU relations have gone through ups and downs and maintained the momentum of sound development. Our financial cooperation has also been growing from a trickle of water into a broad river. Heavy storms may raise waves on the surface, but cannot prevent the river from rushing forward. According to the 2021 report of the EUCCC, 60% of EU companies plan to expand their business in China. The number of companies considering moving out reached a record low. The report also showed that Chinese companies still have confidence in the EU market. Around 44% of Chinese companies intend to increase their investment into the EU and 67% plan to expand their local operations. These encouraging numbers prove that our businesses have strong passion in further cooperation. We must maintain our perseverance in the prospect of bilateral cooperation. China is the largest developing country in the world with a huge market of 1.4 billion people and unlimited opportunities. The EU is the largest union of developed countries with a solid economic foundation, prosperous people and a wealthy society. China-EU economic and trade cooperation still has huge potential and the close connection between the two sides remains steady. Enterprises of both sides should persevere, deepen cooperation in the development of the times, and try to cultivate more fruitful collaboration in our two major markets.
China always attaches great importance to providing a better business environment for foreign companies in China. Leaders of the Chinese government have held several forums on investment by foreign enterprises, emphasizing the need to create a market-oriented, legalized and internationalized business environment in China and support foreign enterprises to better invest in the Chinese market. Not long ago, China's Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao also had a meeting with EUCCC Chairman Wuttke and representatives of European enterprises, listening to their opinions and suggestions on developments in China. On January 1, the new version of China's national negative list for foreign investment market access was officially implemented and the number of items has been greatly reduced from 190 to 31. China's efforts to improve the business environment have been widely recognized by the world. In 2021 FDI to China increased by one-third to a record high of USD324 billion. The OECD predicted that in 2021 China might absorb as much as one-fifth of the world's total FDI flows. The WTO said that global trade grew by 10.8% in the same year, but China's foreign trade increased by nearly 30%. Companies pay more and more attention to the super-large Chinese market and businesses have full confidence in China's economic development.
We hope the EU will demonstrate real confidence, curb the impulse of protectionism and resist the temptation of unilateralism. It is in the common interests that the EU institutions listen to the voices and demands of enterprises, continuously adhere to the principles of openness and defend multilateralism based on WTO rules. China hopes to work side by side with the EU to inject more dynamism into the struggling global economy and better serve the cooperation and development of both Chinese and European companies in the long run.
A Q&A session concluded the webinar.
