EU-China SME Policy Dialogue

2016-09-12 | All chapters

EU-China SME Policy Dialogue

On 12 September, European Chamber Deputy Head of Government Affairs and EU SME Senior Policy Advisor Xavier Sans Powell participated in the 7th EU-China SME Policy Dialogue in Brussels.  The SME Policy Dialogue is an annual high-level dialogue between EU and China, mainly focused on SME policy development, major challenges and opportunities for SMEs, international cooperation and SME internationalisation.

Mr Sans Powell explained the major progress that has been made and challenges being faced in China by European SMEs, along with the Inter-Chamber SME Position Paper. The dialogue was attended by Deputy Director General Antti Peltomaki of DG Grow, Vice Minister Xin Guobin of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and Director Miao Changxin of the China Centre for Promotion of SME Development. During the meeting, Mr. Xin Guobin introduced the supply-side structural reform in China and the 13th Five Year Guideline for the Development of SME. Ms. Kristin Schreiber, Director for SME Policy and COSME, introduced the progress of the implementation of the Small and Medium Business Act and the Better Regulation Agenda, which involves conducting SME Test and regulatory fitness checks for EU legislative initiatives. Later, the 2 sides held discussions regarding the challenges confronting SMEs, such as access to finance and late payments, and the policy initiatives that aim to address them. Both sides expressed the continuous commitment to this cooperative mechanism.