European Chamber representatives meet with Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis

2023-09-25 | All chapters

On 25th September, a group of European Chamber industry representatives led by President Jens Eskelund met European Commission Executive Vice-President for an Economy that Works for the People Valdis Dombrovskis and his team ahead of the latter's exchange with Vice-Premier He Lifeng in the context of the EU-China High-Level Economic and Trade Dialogue.

The European Chamber group was composed of C-level representatives from various different industries, including financial services, energy, automotive, ICT, pharmaceuticals and machinery. President Eskelund provided an overview of the current political, policy and economic environment in China as experienced by European businesses. He highlighted the challenges experienced by European businesses stemming both from China's economic slowdown, the clash between an increased focus on expansive security legislation and the rhetoric by Chinese leadership encouraging foreign investment in China, as well as the overall politicisation of business. Participants shared the experiences of the European business community in their respective indusrries, stressing cross-sectoral challenges such as data localisation and cross-border data transfer and access to public procurement.