General

China Europe trade cooperation maintains a good momentum of development! In recent years, frequent high-level interactions between China and Europe have pointed the way for trade cooperation between China and Europe, injecting new momentum. According to the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at the invitation of German Chancellor Schultz and the French government, Chinese Premier Li Qiang paid an official visit to Germany from June 18th to 23rd, held the seventh round of China German government consultations, paid an official visit to France, and attended the New Global Financing Compact Summit.

China Europe trade is an important partner for mutual cooperation

Experts generally say that since the beginning of this year, China Europe exchanges have pressed the "accelerator button", including bilateral talks between China, Germany, China and France, trilateral meetings between China, France, and Europe, as well as close interaction between China and EU institutions. Through this series of intensive interactions, the momentum accumulated in China Europe cooperation in recent years has been fully unleashed, and China Europe trade cooperation has maintained a good momentum of development.

According to data released by the General Administration of Customs, in the first five months, the EU was China's second largest trading partner, with a total trade value of 2.28 trillion yuan between China and the EU, an increase of 3.6%, accounting for 13.6%. Among them, exports to the European Union reached 1.48 trillion yuan, an increase of 2.4%; Imports from the European Union reached 80.04 billion yuan, an increase of 5.8%; The trade surplus with the European Union reached 679.09 billion yuan, narrowing by 1.3%.

Since the opening of Trans-Eurasia Logistics, the number has risen rapidly. From 80 trains opened in 2013 to 16000 trains in 2022, the cumulative number of trains has exceeded 65000 in the past 10 years, playing a positive supporting role in promoting economic and trade exchanges between China and European countries and maintaining the stability of the industrial chain supply chain.

In terms of two-way investment, China and Europe also have great potential. In 2022, the EU's investment in China reached $10 billion, a year-on-year increase of 96.6%, mainly concentrated in industries such as automobiles, biopharmaceutical technology, chemicals, and consumer goods manufacturing. Since the beginning of this year, executives from multiple European companies have come to China to personally promote cooperation projects with China, demonstrating their firm confidence in investment and development in China.

Greenfield investment is currently becoming a key focus of China's investment in Europe. The 2022 China to Europe Direct Investment Report released by global information agency Rongding Group shows that China's green space investment in Europe increased by 53% to 4.5 billion euros in 2022, accounting for 57% of China's total direct investment in Europe, surpassing mergers and acquisitions for the first time since 2008. Experts say that compared to mergers and acquisitions, Greenfield Investment does not require major renovations to existing factories or manufacturing bases, and foreign mergers and acquisitions are also prone to issues such as antitrust, compliance approval, and resistance from local trade unions.

Pragmatic Promotion of Sino German and Sino French Cooperation

Ye Jiang said that Germany and France are the axes, locomotives and engines of the Economy of the European Union economy. Strengthening China Germany and China–France relations relations will help drive the development of the overall relationship between China and the EU.

Wang Wenbin, spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, said that in recent years, China Germany all-round strategic partnership has maintained a high level of operation, the leaders of the two countries have maintained close exchanges, and practical cooperation in various fields has been deepening, showing strong resilience and vitality. The first stop of Premier Li Qiang's first visit after taking office was in Germany, which fully reflects the great importance China attaches to China–Germany relations. The consultation mechanism between the Chinese and German governments, jointly chaired by the two prime ministers, is the "super engine" of Sino German cooperation. Premier Li Qiang led a delegation to participate in the seventh round of China Germany government consultations, comprehensively reviewing and promoting practical cooperation in various fields between the two sides.

China has been Germany's largest trading partner for 7 consecutive years, and Germany is China's largest trading partner in the European region, the largest source of foreign investment, and an important investment destination. According to the data of the Federal Statistical Office of Germany, the bilateral trade volume between China and Germany will reach 298 billion euros in 2022, an increase of 21% year on year. Among them, Germany imported 191 billion euros from China, an increase of one-third compared to the same period last year, mainly consisting of electronic, electrical, textile, mechanical, and chemical products; Exports to China increased by 3.1% to approximately 107 billion euros. In terms of investment, Germany invested 2.57 billion US dollars in China in 2022, a year-on-year increase of 52.8%.

Liu Mingli, deputy director of the European Institute of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told reporters that Germany is the largest economy in the EU, with strong industrial competitiveness, and maintains a global leading position in the chemical industry, equipment and machinery manufacturing, automotive industry, optical industry, environmental protection technology industry and other fields. Chinese enterprises can learn technology and management experience of some German enterprises when they go to Germany to cooperate with local enterprises.

Next year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France. The French ambassador to China, Bai Yutang, explained the vitality and close cooperation in Sino French trade from three aspects: first, the luxury goods exported by France to China have doubled in the past three years. These products mainly include perfume, cosmetics, fashion accessories, leather products, jewelry, wine and spirits. Secondly, for two consecutive years, France has maintained its position as the largest supplier of imported wine and spirits to China. Nearly 30% of imported wine in the Chinese market comes from France. Thirdly, since 2021, China has become the main market for global exports of French cosmetics.

Regarding future trade cooperation between China and the EU, Ye Jiang stated that China and the EU share a common position on global goals such as climate change and energy. Both sides can further strengthen dialogue and cooperation in areas such as new energy, energy conservation and emission reduction, photovoltaics, carbon markets, green finance, and create new highlights of cooperation. Liu Mingli stated that China is committed to achieving "carbon neutrality" by 2060, and the European Union plans to legislate to achieve "carbon neutrality" by 2050. Taking Germany as an example, it has made significant contributions to global environmental protection and climate change. From the perspective of energy, research and innovation, and other technological aspects, addressing climate change and developing a green economy are areas of cooperation with great growth potential between China and Germany.