Eurocommissaris De Gucht: Handelsrelatie tussen EU en China levert voor beide partijen voordeel op (en)

Ladies and gentlemen,

World trade is undergoing profound changes with tectonic shifts in global trading patterns. In a remarkably short timeframe, China and the EU have integrated economically to a point where it is difficult to imagine one without the other. European companies are greatly contributing to China's success. And Chinese production is a key part of European companies’ value-chain, as well as helping to lower prices in Europe.

The EU-China trade relationship generates significant benefits for both partners. China has become the fastest growing market for our exports of goods and important destination for EU investment.

The EU is also China’s biggest market. We remain the biggest buyer of Chinese exports. Bilateral trade reached record levels in 2010, and is steaming further ahead this year. EU exports to China over the first half of 2011 are up by 22%, while imports from China have also increased by 12%. These facts speak for themselves. The EU is open to doing business with China.

The economic development of Modern China is a success story unmatched in economic history and one of the most significant geo-political developments of the recent past. Gerard Lyons, chief economist of Standard Chartered Bank, says the three most important words in the past decade were not "war on terror" but "made in China".

2011 marks the ten year anniversary of China's membership of the WTO. China used the WTO preparations in the nineties to pursue ambitious economic reforms. And it has used its time as a WTO member to establish itself as a major international economy. This would not have been possible without Europe- and others - opening their markets to China.

China has clearly benefited very much from global trading system. Its share of world trade in goods has more than doubled over the decade: from 4.8% in 2000 to 12.4% in 2010.

As China's economic weight increases, its stake in that system is set to rise. There are benefits to all from having a global trading system with a clear set of rules and enforcement mechanisms.

China's interests continue to be best served by an open trade regime, by creating a more secure economic climate and by a good working relationship with its main trading partners. An economy like China can only achieve sustainable growth on the long term if it invests in the rules and disciplines of the global system.

The EU and China are already closely integrated economically - your businesses here today are living evidence of that. Nevertheless, there are still a large number of trade and investment irritants.

Moving ahead, we would like to cooperate with China to address the imbalance of business opportunities through equal openness in China.

I am conscious of some of the more immediate trade challenges that are building up in our relationship and I will take this opportunity to address a couple of them.

Investment: While Chinese investment into Europe is increasing important sectors in China remain closed or restricted to EU investors. This is a significant impediment to the realisation of economic gains on both sides. The fundamental imbalance between our openness and China's restrictiveness plays into the hands of those in Europe who see Chinese investments as a threat and argue that we should selectively screen Chinese investments into the EU. In this context, China's new national security screening mechanism was a retrograde step which risks further aggravating the detrimental effect on our bilateral trade.

Nevertheless, I believe that Europe’s open investment regime remains our strongest argument for others to grant us similar access. As the debate grows stronger, it is absolutely essential that China engages constructively with us. For the EU to engage further and consider a bilateral investment agreement we need to be firmly convinced that this will produce real added value for EU companies, both in terms of access to the Chinese market and the way their investments are treated in China.

Intellectual Property Rights: Numerous infringements undermine not only European investments and technology transfer to China, but just as much China's ambitions to become innovative economy. China’s laws and official language point in one direction, and a still very dire situation on the ground points in another. We should redouble our efforts to find ways forward on the IPR situation in China.

Procurement: the reality is that there is very little access to the market in China. Problem is not so much what is foreseen in Chinese regulations, but that foreign actors are simply not winning contracts unless it is in China’s interest. This situation has been a driver of our calls to China to shift our relationship towards greater reciprocity.

Subsidies and State Owned Enterprises. These are increasingly important issues, which go to the core of the Chinese economic model. They illustrate the fundamental differences between our economies, and I believe that they need to be addressed in order to ever achieve a level playing field with Chinese companies, not only in our own markets, but also in third countries. Since these issues are the cornerstone for China's economic success so far, there is little chance of any quick fix - rather it seems that our dialogue needs to be firm, sustained, and built on convincing arguments. We may also need to take increasingly measures to address the imbalances created by them, an issue that is very sensitive for China.

Ladies and gentlemen,

There has been a lot of talk in recent years about redressing global trade disequilibria. Doing so requires concerted action that goes well beyond the traditional trade-sphere. For example financing, transparency in regulatory frameworks and government, currency-related issues and domestic consumption all impinge significantly on trade and investment flows.

As Europe will remain go through a period of subdued domestic demand, our future growth will depend to a significant extent on closer relations with the fast growing emerging markets of the world such as China. By 2015, 90% of world growth will be generated outside the EU, one third of it in China alone.

Our engagement with China is therefore key. It is essential for Europe's economic interests that we facilitate strong economic integration on equal terms. It is also important that our stakeholders share their experiences with us, to help us in this task. I have read the summary of the Position paper launched here today with great interest, and very much appreciate our exchanges with the business organisations present here today.

I thank you for your attention.