General

China EU economic and trade relations have maintained a healthy and stable development trend for a long time. The bilateral cooperation is highly complementary and has huge potential. In the spirit of practical cooperation, a sound pattern of mutually beneficial and win-win development has been formed. Even under the adverse situation of geopolitical impact, epidemic superimposition and global economic downturn, economic and trade cooperation has maintained a steady growth momentum, showing strong resilience and continuing to play an important role in the "ballast" of bilateral relations, Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation reported.

Recently, the Vice President of the European Commission Don Brofskis and German Prime Minister Schultz both said that "decoupling" from China was not an option for Europe and Germany.   These pragmatic statements have provided important support for China EU future economic and trade cooperation.

China EU economic and trade cooperation enjoys a solid foundation and a steady growth momentum

China EU economic and trade relations have maintained a healthy and stable development trend for a long time. The bilateral cooperation is highly complementary and has huge potential. In the spirit of practical cooperation, a sound pattern of mutually beneficial and win-win development has been formed. Even under the adverse situation of geopolitical impact, epidemic superimposition and global economic downturn, economic and trade cooperation has maintained a steady growth momentum, showing strong resilience and continuing to play an important role as the "ballast" of bilateral relations.

The demand for bilateral trade was strong and kept growing against the trend during the COVID-19. In 2021, China EU trade volume will exceed 800 billion US dollars for the first time, and two-way investment will exceed 270 billion US dollars. According to the Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation Report, from January to August this year, the total trade between China and Europe reached 575.22 billion US dollars, up 8.8% year on year. In 2020 and 2021, the bilateral trade volume between China and Germany reached new highs, and China has maintained Germany's largest trade partner status for six consecutive years. In 2021, China Europe Express will run 15000 trains in 2021, delivering 1.46 million TEUs of goods with a value of 74.9 billion US dollars, achieving a significant growth against the trend.

European enterprises are optimistic about the prospects of the Chinese market and remain enthusiastic about investing in China. From January to August this year, the EU invested 7.45 billion dollars in China, a year-on-year increase of 121.5%. At the beginning of the year, a survey by the German Chamber of Commerce in China showed that 72% of German enterprises interviewed planned to expand their investment in China. Subsequently, the data released by the National Bureau of Statistics of China also showed that the growth rate of German investment in China from January to August reached 30.3%, which was far higher than the growth rate of German foreign investment of about 8% in the same period, a record high. Huacheng's import and export data observation report.

As an important economic and trade partner of China, the EU has benefited greatly from its investment in China. The potential of the Chinese market in the future is still a huge opportunity for EU enterprises. At the same time, European enterprises have laid a solid foundation, gained competitiveness and won a good reputation through long-term cultivation in China. These are intangible assets of enterprises and will continue to play their role in creating value. Finally, under the impact of the global COVID-19 epidemic, supply chain bottlenecks, and energy crisis, China's sound industrial system, complete supply chain, and rich human resources are still important guarantees for European enterprises' normal production and operation, providing strong support for their stable and long-term development. To this end, the European economic community has also constantly expressed its willingness to maintain and strengthen cooperation with China, and called on the government to face up to the importance of economic and trade cooperation with China and take into account the actual needs of the EU economy.

Both sides have strengthened common interests and need to cooperate to meet challenges

According to the observation report of Huacheng's import and export data, in recent years, the global pattern has accelerated its evolution, and political and economic challenges have been rising. As major economies in the world, China and the EU enjoy broad common interests in playing the role of responsible stakeholders, maintaining the stability of the international economic system and reforming the model of global governance. In particular, in the field of economy and trade, the two sides have a greater demand for cooperation in maintaining the orderly development of globalization, accelerating the transformation of economic models, and promoting post epidemic economic recovery.

Both sides recognize the need to safeguard globalization and cooperation. Schultz said that the top priority of German policy is not "decoupling", but wise political and economic diversification, and will continue to defend globalization. Mao Ning, spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, also pointed out that China supports globalization. Against the backdrop of the current downturn in the world economy, adhering to open cooperation and strengthening economic and trade ties will not only benefit China and the EU, but also help the world economic recovery. Both sides have broad consensus on macroeconomic policy coordination, industrial chain supply chain cooperation, World Trade Organization reform, expanding market opening, etc.

Accelerating green and digital transformation will open up broad space for bilateral cooperation. The EU has put forward the "Green Deal", which is consistent with China's goal of building a socialist ecological civilization. The two sides have great potential for cooperation in energy conservation and emission reduction, new energy development and green transformation of manufacturing. "Digital transformation" provides opportunities for the two sides to enhance the national digital level, participate in the formulation of international digital rules and standards, and expand cooperation in artificial intelligence, big data and other fields.

Dealing with the current risk of global economic recession and jointly promoting post epidemic recovery is a realistic starting point for bilateral cooperation. The global economic recession caused by such uncertain factors as the energy crisis and rising inflation will harm the interests of both sides. How to coordinate the economic policies of all countries, formulate joint crisis prevention and management countermeasures, and form a consensus on the future economic recovery on this basis are the common challenges of both sides. While China and the EU work together to cope with the instability of the world economy with the stability of bilateral relations, which is an inevitable choice in line with the interests of all parties, Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation reported.