Signing Several Agreements To Explore New Opportunities And Further Warming Sino EU Economic And Trade Cooperation

In the second international cooperation summit held recently (hereinafter referred to as the second "one belt and one road summit"), European countries participated actively and signed several cooperation agreements with China. Among the 283 achievements reached by the summit, the European Union includes the memorandum of understanding between the Chinese government and the governments of 3 EU Member States, including Luxemburg, Italy and Cyprus. China and Hungary signed bilateral action plans for cooperation on the "digital silk road"; China and Austria and Switzerland signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the third party market; China and the EU issued a joint statement on the study of the comprehensive transport corridor based on railways in China and Europe; the three year cooperation plan signed between China and Greece (2020 -2022).

"The business community welcomes President Xi's speech at the second summit of the" one belt and one road "summit, especially his firm determination to participate freely in the" one belt and one way "cooperation and share the opportunity of" one belt and one road ". We hope to see more concrete mechanisms to make this happen. " Meng Haowen, President of China France Chamber of Commerce and industry (Javier Gimeno), told reporters on twenty-first Century economic report April 28th.

By the end of April this year, China and 16 EU Member States signed a memorandum of understanding on "one belt and one road" cooperation, and signed third party market cooperation documents with France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Belgium and Holland. Yao Ling, deputy director of the international trade and Economic Cooperation Research Institute of the Ministry of Commerce, pointed out in April 30th that the EU's cooperation in the "one belt and one way" cooperation showed more initiative. EU enterprises attached importance to the "one belt and one way", especially the opportunities brought by the new round of opening up in China.

Italy strengthens investment promotion in China

In March this year, Italy became the first G7 member to join the "one belt" road. Conte, Prime Minister of Italy, took part in the second "one belt and one road" summit in Beijing, saying that Italy's participation in the "one belt and one road" attitude is firm and believes that "one belt and one road" is a good opportunity for the world, and more countries will join in the co construction. It is a comprehensive strategic partner and welcomes Chinese enterprises to invest in Italy and will not adopt discriminatory policies against them.

"Thanks to the efforts of both sides, we have witnessed significant growth in bilateral trade over the past few years." Amedeo Scarpa, chief representative of the Beijing Office of the Italy Foreign Trade Commission and China's general coordination case, recently interviewed by the economic news reporter in twenty-first Century, said that from 2016 to 2018, the total volume of intermediate trade increased by 12.17%, and 2018 set a new record of $54 billion 430 million. Italy's exports to China increased by 12.84%, reaching a record $21 billion 150 million in 2018.

"This is a good starting point and there is still greater potential for better performance. In fact, at present, Italy's exports to China account for only 3% of our total exports, while China's imports of Italy products account for only about 1% of China's total imports. The two economies are highly complementary, and efforts should be made to enhance bilateral trade and achieve mutual benefit and win-win results. Si Kaipei said that "one belt and one road" can promote bilateral trade and business cooperation and promote free and fair trade.

He said that the Italy Foreign Trade Commission will strengthen its investment promotion and concern in China and work with the Task Force China (hereinafter referred to as the "working group") of the Ministry of economic development of Italy. The objective of the working group is to establish a systematic approach to China's cooperation, extending from trade and investment to cooperation in science, infrastructure, culture, tourism and transportation. At present, Italy has signed a memorandum of understanding on "third party market cooperation" with China, and the Ministry of economic affairs of Italy has signed a number of cooperation agreements with Sichuan. "We expect that bilateral economic and trade opportunities will benefit from the new strategic cooperation atmosphere."

Greece: Chinese companies have not taken the opportunity to lower prices

Greece has been very popular with investment from China after heavy debt crisis. It has also become one of China's most important investment destinations in Europe. In August 2018, China and Greece formally signed a memorandum of understanding on "one belt and one road" cooperation.

According to the Greek news agency, the Greek Prime Minister Tsipras said at the second "one way and one" summit held in April 26th that the goal of the "one belt" initiative is consistent with the regional economic goals set by the Greek government, and can help Greece get rid of the crisis and rely on creditors. He said he hoped that the southeastern Mediterranean and the Balkan Peninsula would not only be a bridge linking East and West, but also an international centre of transport, energy and trade. COSCO's investment in comparison with the port of Reyes (hereinafter referred to as "than Hong Kong") has played an important role, and is becoming the gateway to China and Asia's exports through the Suez canal into Europe.

The port area is a demonstration project of "one belt and one road". This year, the container throughput of the port surged to thirty-second from ninety-third in 2010, directly employing 3000 local employees, and indirectly creating more than 10 thousand jobs for the local area, making great contributions to the economic recovery of Greece.

At the second "one way and one" summit, China and Greece signed an important three year cooperation plan (-2022 2020) covering transportation, energy and finance. On the eve of the summit, Greece joined the mechanism of cooperation between China and the central and Eastern European countries as a full member. Tsipras said that the balanced growth of the new global economy needs more participation from China. Under the framework of the development of China EU relations, China and Greece will have good prospects for cooperation under the "comprehensive strategic partnership" between China and Greece and the recently added "16+1" framework.

At present, China's investment in Greece is mainly concentrated in the fields of shipping, telecommunications and photovoltaic. A particularly eye-catching investment is that in 2017, China's State Grid acquired 24% of the Greek National Power Grid Corp with 320 million euros. The State Grid Company has also invested in the Portuguese national energy network and the Italy energy network deposit and loan company.

"The terms offered by Chinese companies are very decent for Greece, even though Greece is a debt ridden country. The Greek people are very satisfied with this result. In April 26th, Iason Rousopoulos, deputy chief financial officer of the Greek National Power Grid Corp (ADMIE), told reporters on twenty-first Century economic report that transactions were fair and mutually beneficial. Chinese companies did not take the opportunity to lower prices. They respected the need for consultation and respected local communities. In his view, Chinese companies are not only the same attitude towards Greece, but also the same attitude towards Portugal, Italy and other countries. "So I don't think it is reasonable for some countries to accuse Chinese companies of raising other countries' debts."

During the summit, the Greek National Power Grid Corp (ADMIE) signed a memorandum of understanding with the Bank of China, which will provide funds for submarine cable projects from Athens to the Greek Islands. Iason Rousopoulos said that as a beneficiary of the "one belt and one way", Greece welcomes more investment in China, especially in the energy sector. Chinese companies can help Greece build wind farms on islands, provide green energy for the European continent, and provide better prices and competitiveness for Chinese companies in warehousing and electric vehicles.

China and Britain can speed up medical cooperation

"Two years ago, at the first" one belt and one way "International Cooperation Summit Forum, I talked about the fact that Britain is a natural partner of" one belt and one road ". It quotes the complementarity between China and the UK. The deep capital market in London has the potential to support the future financing needs of the" one belt and one road "initiative. The British law, professional and technical services industry has the strength to support the design, development, contracting and delivery of the" one belt and one road "initiative. Since then, I have been trying to turn the vision of cooperation into reality. Philip Hammond, the British Chancellor of the exchequer, said at the second "one belt and one road" summit.

Hammond said that the key to Britain's post EU era is to cooperate with partners around the world to promote domestic employment, business and prosperity. He recently told the media that perhaps China and Britain could discuss the possibility of signing a memorandum of understanding on the "one belt and one road" memorandum during the new round of Sino British economic and financial dialogue held in June this year, and Britain did not rule out this possibility.

"As Britain has expertise in financial management and project design, we have been very active in the field of physical infrastructure (transportation, energy and water), and human infrastructure (health, education, nutrition) will be another interesting area of cooperation." Kevin Holland, chief counsellor of the British Ministry of international trade and director of life sciences and medical technology in the UK Department of international trade, told the twenty-first Century economic report in April 24th.

Since March 2013, the Sino British health policy dialogue has been held in China and Britain to explore global cooperation in health care. He Jianzhong pointed out that China and Britain have close cooperation in the medical field, for example, the two countries jointly fight against the Ebola epidemic in North Africa. The "one belt and one way" will speed up the Sino British medical cooperation. Many countries' medical systems along the "along the way" are in an early or medium stage of development. The experience and expertise of future Chinese and British in this area can help them establish a medical system.

In 2018, trade between China and Britain broke through the $80 billion mark for the first time, and bilateral investment continued to grow. "We have found some trend changes in the trade between the two countries, such as the volume of trade in automobiles is decreasing, while the volume of trade in pharmaceuticals, equipment and technology products is increasing." He Jianzhong said that the new policies and measures adopted by the Chinese government to promote health care reform and promote the development of the medical market, such as the zero tariff on drugs such as anticancer drugs, can further promote the trade and cooperation between China and Britain in the field of medical treatment.