8th EU-China Business Summit

Economic relations between the EU and China are one of the most significant in the world. While the EU is seeking economic growth outside its internal market, China is interested in EU technologies and innovations. These are good reasons for deepening economic cooperation.

But only fair conditions for companies from both sides will create a win-win situation, which is often not the case for EU businesses willing to enter Chinese market. The most obvious obstacles are preferential conditions for local companies and heavy administrative burden. The high representatives of both sides José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, Herman van Rompuy, President of the European Council, and Wen Jiabao, Chinese Prime Minister, agreed it was absolutely essential to avoid rising protectionist measures. PM Wen Jiabao expressed his continuous intention to support the EU in times of crises, either in form of buying bonds or supporting European Stability mechanism. Although it may not seem so at first sight, both China and EU have to deal with declining economic growth. However, China still maintains its annual growth rate close to 8 percent, about which the EU can only dream of.

As representatives of European business community mentioned, it is crucial to understand business environment in China and realize that the same approach used in Europe will probably not work the same way in the East. Although it is not easy to enter Chinese market, it is definitely not impossible and the image companies often receive from media is slightly distorted. As well as in case of many other countries, patience and endurance are the keys to success.

Nevertheless, there are several measures Chinese government could introduce to facilitate access to its market. The most important one would be investment protection agreement that would show willingness to create trustworthy and stabile business environment.