BEIJING: Strengthening China-European Union economic cooperation has become crucial for worldwide economic growth, as the United States’ tariff hikes against its key trading partners have cast a shadow over the global economy, said senior trade experts and EU business executives.
They emphasized that amid growing global trade protectionism, the Chinese and EU economies’ structural complementarity and the two sides’ upholding of free trade provide a solid basis for deeper bilateral economic and trade collaboration. They also said the US tariff increases are likely to backfire.
Zhang Yansheng, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Macroeconomic Research, said the EU economy has advantages in high-end manufacturing, green technology and services trade, while China excels in digital infrastructure, smart manufacturing, application scenarios and a vast market.
“China and the EU could consider establishing an industrial chain security dialogue mechanism to form a ‘cooperation list’ in key areas such as semiconductors and pharmaceuticals,” Zhang said. By creating platforms like industrial cooperation parks and joint innovation funds, the two sides’ strategic consensus can be transformed into concrete projects, in order to shape a practical and feasible road map for them to build a new, future-oriented type of economic and trade partnership, he said.
“With the transformation and upgrading of China’s manufacturing industry, the competition between China and the EU in economic and trade development has intensified a bit,” Zhang said. “However, as they both face external challenges like rising protectionism and geopolitical uncertainties, the two economies are expected to forge closer economic ties based on complementary competition, thereby achieving a win-win situation,” Zhang added.
Zhou Mi, a senior researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, said the potential for collaboration between China and the EU is enhanced by their market complementarity and need for resource optimization.
He said he expects more cooperation mechanisms between the two sides to boost collaboration by enterprises, drive innovation and improve the allocation of market resources. “By doing such things, China and the EU could generate significant economic and social benefits, boost employment and enhance supply chain security for both,” said Zhou, whose academy is affiliated with China’s Ministry of Commerce.
China remains the EU’s largest import source and third-largest export destination, according to European statistics. Moreover, China’s outbound direct investment inflows to the EU grew from 6.27 billion euros ($6.43 billion) in 2020 to 8.06 billion euros in 2023, with greenfield investment reaching 5.3 billion euros in 2023 — an increase of 48 percent compared with 2022. –The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
