HE Ambassador Zhang Ming, Mission of PRC to the EU, Hosts Webinar with European Chamber on COVID-19’s Impact on European Business in China
2020-02-28 | All chapters
At 4pm on 28th February (Beijing time), a webinar, jointly organised by the Mission of People’s Republic of China (PRC) to the European Union and the European Chamber, took place – an unprecedented event in the history of relations between the two sides. HE Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Zhang Ming and Minister Xia Xiang, Economic and Business Department, hosted the webinar and listened to the challenges currently being faced by European business during the COVID-19 outbreak period.
European Chamber President Jörg Wuttke, several Advisory Council members and two local chapter chairs participated in the webinar. President Wuttke expressed appreciation to the Chinese government on a series of measures that had been taken to tackle the situation. He then introduced the results of a recent survey by the European Chamber on the general impact of the epidemic on European business in China.
Representatives of the Chamber shared their specific concerns on the difficulties of production resumption, cut-off of supply chains, difficult inland logistics and transportation, inconsistent policy implementation by the government at different levels, the lack of labour due to self-quarantine policies and the interrupted flow of people from region to region (both domestically and overseas), and financial challenges, among others. Many topics relating to European Union (EU) and China relations were also touched upon, such as the EU China Comprehensive Agreement of Investment negotiation, the EU-China Summit and other high-level political exchanges.
President Wuttke and several delegates had met with HE Ambassador Zhang Ming in Brussels during the Chamber’s annual EU Tour at the beginning of February. The Chamber has also had regular exchanges with the Mission in recent years. The webinar was considered as a useful and informative exercise by both sides. The Mission is going to share insights gained with relevant units of the Chinese central government. HE Ambassador Zhang Ming stated at the meeting that European business in China is an important part of the Chinese economy, and he strongly believed that, despite the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, “we will win the battle with solidarity”.