General

In 2022, the trade volume between China and the European Union reached 847.3 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 2.4%, which means that the average international trade volume between China and the EU exceeds 1.6 million US dollars per minute. "At a press conference held by the National Development Office on May 5th, Vice Minister of Commerce Li Fei stated that the potential for future cooperation between China and the EU is enormous, and the two sides will deepen practical cooperation in areas such as digital, green, and new energy.

Under the leadership of the head of state's diplomacy, in recent years, China Europe international trade and economic cooperation has overcome various difficulties and achieved fruitful results, effectively promoting the economic development of both sides. The fruitful results are mainly reflected in areas such as trade, investment, and cooperation.

Firstly, the bilateral trade volume has reached a new historical high. China and Europe are each other's second largest international trading partners, with a more optimized trade structure. The trade in green products such as lithium batteries, new energy vehicles, and photovoltaic modules is growing rapidly.

The second is the continuous expansion of two-way investment. As of the end of last year, the stock of two-way investment between China and Europe had exceeded 230 billion US dollars. Last year, Europe invested 12.1 billion US dollars in China, a significant increase of 70%, and the automotive industry continued to become the largest investment hotspot. During the same period, China's investment in Europe reached 11.1 billion US dollars, an increase of 21%.

The third is the continuous expansion of cooperation areas. Both sides have completed the second batch of list publicity of the China Europe Geographical Indication Agreement, and added 350 mutual recognition and mutual protection of landmark products. China and Europe have taken the lead in formulating and updating the "Common Classification Catalogue of Sustainable Finance", and China Construction Bank and Deutsche Bank have successively issued green bonds.

Fourthly, the enthusiasm for enterprise cooperation is high. Recently, multiple European corporate executives have come to China to personally promote cooperation projects with China, demonstrating their firm confidence in investment and development in China. Li Fei revealed that European companies actively participate in important exhibitions held by China, such as the China International Import and Export Fair, Consumer Expo, and Service Trade Fair. France has confirmed its position as the guest of honor for the 2024 Service Trade Fair and China International Import and Export Fair.

Li Fei said that the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China clearly proposed to comprehensively promote the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation with Chinese path to modernization, and China EU economic and trade cooperation will be comprehensively improved to welcome new opportunities. China is willing to work with the European side to jointly implement a series of important consensus reached by the leaders of both sides, firmly grasp the general direction and main tone of China EU international trade and economic relations from a strategic perspective, strengthen complementary advantages, and share the huge development opportunities brought by Chinese path to modernization.

In the next stage, both sides will deepen practical cooperation in fields such as digital, green, and new energy, jointly maintain a rule-based and WTO centered multilateral trading system, maintain global industrial and supply chain security and stability, and work together to contribute to world economic growth, "Li Fei said.