Secretary General Wei Jianguo Meets with Chief Economist of Directorate-General for Trade of European Commission

On the morning of May 20, 2011, Secretary General of CCIEE Mr. Wei Jianguo met with Mr. Lucain Cernat, Chief Economist of Directorate-General for Trade of European Commission, Kay Parplies, Senior Economist of Directorate- General for Trade, Mr. Paul Bunsell, First Secretary of Trade and Investment Section in European Union, and Mr. Li Zhongzhou, Chief Expert of EU-China Trade Project (II).

Mr. Wei introduced the foreign investment policies stipulated in the 12th Five-Year Plan of China. China is going to transfer its economic development mode, and thus needs a large number of high-tech in the fields of new energy, new material, and new techniques. China welcomes European enterprises to invest in China. Mr. Wei pointed out that Chinese enterprises have had some problems with their investment in Europe; he suggested EU adopting certain measures to help Chinese enterprises better understand Europe and conduct more investment there.

Mr. Cernat was pleased to note that China embraces more foreign direct investment in its 12th Five-Year Plan. He pointed out, it shows that Chinese government is more open with its market. He expressed his appreciation to Mr. Wei for his suggestions, and said that EU’s current investment strength in China is far less than its real potential. To facilitate EU-China cooperation in the fields of economy and trade, strengthen mutual understanding and eliminate trade barriers, it is indispensible for the two sides to conduct such Track II communications and interactions as today’ meeting.

Both sides agreed to keep close contact and explore possible academic exchanges and cooperation.