China and the EU will stick to their policy of cooperation and consultation to solve problems and difficulties in bilateral trade. That effort at the government level of the two sides should be complemented by more active efforts of EU member states and companies on promoting their products in the Chinese market which has a big appetite for European brands.

Mr. Yu Yuantang, director in charge of the EU and Benelux affairs of the Ministry of Commerce of China, commented that in a video interview with People's Daily last Friday, a few days after the China-EU High Level Economic and Trade Dialogue was held in Beijing on April 25.

Given the strategic importance of the China-EU economic and trade relations with an international implication, it is "definitely necessary, desirable and extremely important" to take the cooperative attitude to solve the problems that can arise from time to time between the two major players in the global economic and trade field. China also appreciated the EU's willingness --- expressed by its trade commissioner Peter Mandelson --- of keeping its commitment on cooperation and consultation to address disputes and problems.

Yu recognized that the European Commission was facing mounting pressure from some of the EU member states and industries calling for protectionist measures toward Chinese imports. However, he did not think that pressure should lead to a tougher tone toward China. The EC has initiated 9 anti-dumping investigations on Chinese products worth 3.7 billion USD within half a year since September 2007, the most intensive period of EC's anti-dumping actions against Chinese products since 1979 when first such case took place.

Yu repeated the Chinese government's stance that China does not pursue surplus and does expect expansion and a rough balance in the bilateral trade. In his response to the EU's accusation that China's commitment on a balanced trade was so far something no more than a lip service, he described such complaint as "not fair", stressing that China has been trying to expand import and offering trade promotion opportunities for European businesses.

An important fact is that European imports into China have been rising remarkably. The 30 billion USD imports from the EU over the first three months of this year stand for a 25.6 percent rise. As Peter Mandelson, the European trade commissioner confirmed, exports to China have had the highest growth as compared to the EU's other trading partners.

But the government alone cannot solve all the problems. Companies should play the major role when it comes to business. China is a full market economy and companies have to find buyers by themselves. However, the European side did not respond positively enough to China's proposal for trade promotion activities. The European Commission thinks that trade promotion is something to be done by companies in member states, whereas some member states argue it is the responsibility of the European Commission to urge China to open its market wider. "Don't sit at home and wait for the market to be opened by someone else," said Yu.

And there are massive opportunities for European products. "You don't have to travel afar to find EU brand names in big shopping centers here, " said Yu, "and if you go to the auto show held a few days ago in Beijing, you will find the demand for European brands is huge."

People's Daily Online

11:45, May 09, 2008

Source: english.people.com.cn