EU seeks new opportunities in western China

CHENGDU, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- In the first eight months of the year, the trade volume between China and the European Union (EU) increased by 32.4 percent year on year. The annual trade volume is likely to set a new record to exceed 700 billion U.S. dollars, an official with the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said at the 16th EU-China Business and Technology Cooperation Fair Friday.

The number of China-Europe freight trains ran over 10,000 during the same period, up 32 percent year on year. In the first seven months of this year, China's investment in the EU and EU investment in China increased by 86.1 percent and 10.9 percent, respectively, year on year, said Zhai Qian, an official with the MOC.

"The economies of China and the EU are highly complementary. In recent years, bilateral economic and trade exchanges have expanded in breadth and depth, and the stability and resilience of industrial and supply chains have increased," Zhai said.

Since the pandemic outbreak, the global economy and international trade have faced severe challenges. China-EU trade and investment, however, have shown strong resilience and maintained stable and strong development, said Zhang Ming, head of the Chinese Mission to the EU.

The Business Confidence Survey 2021, published by the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China in June, showed that since the outbreak of COVID-19, the Chinese market has become the most important haven for European enterprises. Most European enterprises in China are willing to continue to stay and are full of confidence and expectations for their development prospects in China.

More than 2,000 Chinese and foreign guests attended the fair online and offline, focusing on investment, scientific and technological innovation, and carbon neutrality, among others.

Eighty-seven enterprises from 14 EU member states, seven non-EU countries, and China held more than 120 project-matching meetings in biomedicine, ICT, environmental protection, new energy, agriculture, education, and cultural creation, among others.

Zhang said the western region is becoming a new frontier for China's opening-up and a new highland for economic and technological exchanges and cooperation between China and Europe.

Zhang hoped that European enterprises would take advantage of the fast economic development in western China to create more business opportunities for mutual benefits.