Herman van Rompuy, president of the European Council, and José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, travelled to Beijing last month for the 16th China-EU summit. They exchanged views with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang on matters of mutual benefits, including the economy, trade and investment relations, bilateral cooperation, international and global issues and the future of the strategic partnership.
The fruitful summit ended with the launching of negotiations on a China-EU Investment Agreement and the adoption of the China-EU 2020 Strategic Agenda for Cooperation, setting out a road map for the comprehensive strategic partnership over the coming years.
In the past, bilateral cooperation was significantly deepened and broadened with the creation of the EU-China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2003, though diplomatic ties between the European Union and China had connected the two sides since 1975.
In the last decade, EU-China relations advanced as trade contacts increased at an unprecedented pace. According to statistics released by the European Commission, the total value traded between the EU and China in 2012 reached €433.7 billion, three times the figure of 10 years ago.
As China’s largest trading partner, the EU has greatly benefited from the nation’s economic development, in turn becoming the EU’s second biggest trading partner in the world. The successes of the European and Chinese economies are, therefore, inextricably linked.
EU-China relations advanced as trade contacts increased at an unprecedented pace
For the next decade, EU leaders have decided to open up new frontiers of cooperation by tapping into the great potential of a more robust investment relationship. Currently, the flows of investment between the two sides are not proportional to the existing economic exchanges, especially trade contacts between the EU and China.
Of all the European investment going abroad, only two per cent goes to China, the second largest economy in the world. In the reverse direction, the figure lowers to merely 0.5 per cent. This is why the two world players are determined to develop an investment relationship, which will become a major source of wealth, jobs, development and innovation for both sides.
By mutually committing to enhance further the trade and investment relationship towards 2020, the two strategic partners will make more coordinated efforts to promote open, transparent markets and a level playing field, all of which are essential to the long-term prosperity of both economies and the success of the EU-China strategic partnership in a new era.
In addition, leaders on both sides have pledged to make another new initiative, aiming to achieve innovative, inclusive and sustainable development.
A well-coordinated partnership in the field of green development between the EU and China would significantly contribute to the existing actions to address climate change, protect the environment and facilitate resource-efficient, socially-inclusive and low-carbon development policies.
China’s miraculous pace of economic development in the past 30 years comes at the price of the environment, the sustainability of the economy and the well-being of its population involved in a massive and rapid urbanisation process. With the experience in managing sustainable growth and urbanisation, as well as the new and energy-efficient technologies, the EU will work jointly with China in these fields and, therefore, benefit from China’s economic growth at another level.
The development plan put forward at the China-EU summit last month not only depicts a bright future of the EU-China strategic partnership over the coming years but also points to a tremendous potential of growth and prosperity in the EU.
I particularly welcome the attention paid to improving opportunities for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and non-governmental exchanges related to SMEs. With such a focus, the joint initiatives would significantly aid the recovery in the European job market, lead to more dynamic local economies in Europe and unite the people in Europe and China on the path towards prosperity in an open world.
David Casa is a Nationalist MEP.