EU business group asks China to push reforms Go back »

2009-09-03 | Beijing, Shanghai, Southwest China, Nanjing, Shenyang, Tianjin, South China

EU business group asks China to push reforms
Wang Yanlin, Shanghai Daily, 3rd September 2009

CHINA needs to open up more and carry out fundamental reforms to maintain its attractiveness as an investment destination for European countries, the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China said yesterday.

The group suggested that China should do more to improve market access, legal transparency and protection of intellectual property rights.

"European businesses believe that the current economic crisis provides a prime opportunity for China to restructure the economy and build a transparent and fair business environment for all companies, both domestic and foreign," said the 584-page "European Business in China Position Paper," an annual report that offers recommendations from EU businesses in China.

The chamber said the 1,400 firms it represents remained optimistic about China and their own prospects.

However, "Over the past year, the European Chamber has noted a gradual slowdown - and in some cases a partial reversal - in the economic opening-up process," Joerg Wuttke, president of the chamber, told reporters in Beijing.

"However, China's experience in the last three decades has clearly proved that it is precisely in periods of crisis that increased opening and reform has bred the greatest success."

The European chamber welcomed China's positive steps, including allowing foreign banks to trade yuan-backed corporate bonds and the passage of laws on insurance, food safety and postal delivery, which it said helped clear up uncertainty about the market.

Wuttke expects China's economy to grow between 6 percent and 8 percent in the coming years and said the country was an increasingly important market for European business and trade, and vice versa.

"But without further and bolder steps and without a fundamental reform of China's economy, this can't continue. The high-cost stimulus measures alone can't sustain growth," the report said.

"European businesses remain convinced that the key driver of long-term economic development is the creation and promotion of freer and fairer market conditions for all companies in China."

Source: http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2009/200909/20090903/article_412637.htm