e-magazine
The Hot Zone
China's newly announced air defense identification zone over the East China Sea aims to shore up national security
Current Issue
· Table of Contents
· Editor's Desk
· Previous Issues
· Subscribe to Mag
Subscribe Now >>
Expert's View
World
Nation
Business
Finance
Market Watch
Legal-Ease
North American Report
Forum
Government Documents
Expat's Eye
Health
Science/Technology
Lifestyle
Books
Movies
Backgrounders
Special
Photo Gallery
Blogs
Reader's Service
Learning with
'Beijing Review'
E-mail us
RSS Feeds
PDF Edition
Web-magazine
Reader's Letters
Make Beijing Review your homepage
Hot Links

cheap eyeglasses
Market Avenue
eBeijing

Top Story
Top Story
UPDATED: November 13, 2007 Web Exclusive
China-EU Summit to Discuss Energy, Environment and Trade
The annual China-EU summit will be held in Beijing on November 27-28
By YAN WEI
Share

Europe has found new areas of cooperation with China as the country adjusts its development strategy. It can contribute to China's ongoing effort to implement the Scientific Outlook on Development, said Ambassador Serge Abou, Head of the Delegation of the European Commission to China.

The Scientific Outlook on Development, a concept highlighted at the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in mid-October, emphasizes comprehensive, balanced and sustainable development.

In light of this concept, the EU sees many areas where it can make contributions, Abou told reporters at a recent news briefing on the upcoming China-EU Summit. The annual summit will be held in Beijing on November 27-28. This year's summit, the 10th since it was launched in 1998, will be chaired on the European side by Portuguese Prime Minister José Sócrates, whose country currently holds the EU presidency, and President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso.

The EU has developed a regional policy to balance the rich and poor regions of Europe, as well as a social policy to deliver social security benefits to the Europeans for health care, unemployment and retirement pensions, Abou said. It has technologies, standards and legislation to protect the environment and save energy, he said. EU states are among the most energy-efficient nations in the world, he added. Also, the EU has set objectives for tackling climate change, and European governments and companies are trying to put them into practice, he said.

"In all the sectors, which form the concept of Scientific Outlook on Development, Europe has something to offer," Abou said.

Hotly contested issues

Apart from each other's strategic needs, other topics for the China-EU Summit include the international political situation, climate change, energy, the trade imbalance between China and the EU and their Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA), Abou said. The PCA is a new framework that will govern China-EU relations over the next decades. Negotiations on the PCA, which began early this year, have been progressing steadily, and there could be an "early harvest" at the summit, he said.

Chinese and European leaders also will talk about implementing the Kyoto Protocol and finding a successor for the protocol to prepare next month at the global-warming conference in Bali, Indonesia, Abou said. Government ministers will gather for the annual meeting of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change to discuss proposals on mitigating global warming, further developing the global carbon market and financing responses to climate change after the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.

"Energy saving, environment protection and developing alternative sources of energy in China are sectors with high growth potential," Abou said. "Protecting the environment and saving energy are not in contradiction with high growth. They could lead to very fast growth and serve the general interests of China and the Chinese people."

Regarding the trade imbalance, Abou said there are no philosophical disagreements between China and the EU on this issue, because China is convinced that huge trade surplus is not healthy for its own interests. But the problem will not to be solved easily or immediately, he said. The summit is expected to give it an impetus at the leadership level, he added.

Along with the China-EU Summit, there will be a business summit that focuses on dialogue between Chinese and European companies. Intellectual property rights and product safety will be high on its agenda, Abou said.

"We cannot compromise the safety of our consumers, but we do not like to use this to justify the protectionist stand against China," he said.

The EU will increase its cooperation with China to improve the safety of Chinese products in foreign markets and the Chinese market as well, he said.

At the same time, Abou complained that some Chinese companies receive patents too easily. They then take this opportunity to sue their European competitors from whom they copied the patents, he said.

Despite these concerns, European leaders will come to China with confidence and optimism given the achievements of the past decade, Abou said. "The partnership between China and Europe has developed harmoniously and effectively," he said. "We can be proud of what we have achieved."

The EU is China's largest trading partner, whereas China is the EU's largest supplier. The EU is also China's largest partner in the field of science and technology. Some 120,000 Chinese students are studying at European universities today. Cooperation in tourism is rapidly expanding, as evidenced by the 1.23 million visas that EU member states issued to Chinese visitors last year.

"If we look at the needs of China in the next 10 years and the direction China is going in, we consider we have a lot [to offer] in cooperating with the country," he said.



 
Top Story
-Protecting Ocean Rights
-Partners in Defense
-Fighting HIV+'s Stigma
-HIV: Privacy VS. Protection
-Setting the Tone
Related Stories
-Going European
-Europe's Sweet Talk
 
Most Popular
 
About BEIJINGREVIEW | About beijingreview.com | Rss Feeds | Contact us | Advertising | Subscribe & Service | Make Beijing Review your homepage
Copyright Beijing Review All right reserved