Issue No. 6

24 November, 2008

On November 11,Ambassador Song Zhe, Head of the Mission of the People's Republic of China to the European Communities met with President Martens of the European People's Party. Ambassador Song expressed appreciation to President Martens for his contribution to the development of relations between China and the EU. He pointed out that in the current situation, China and the EU should strengthen exchanges and cooperation in three areas: first, to further strengthen economic and trade cooperation, second, strengthen political dialogue and dialogue on the rule of law, thirdly, strengthen cooperation in international affairs. Martens said that he was impressed by China's tremendous changes and hopes to further strengthen communication and coordination with the Chinese side to promote bilateral relations between China and the EU as well as the inter-party exchanges.

On November 13, Ambassador Song Zhe met with EU Environment Commissioner Dimas. Ambassador Song said that China-EU relations went through a series of major events this year. The leaders of the two sides met several times and had frequent exchange of visits, which not only enhanced the China-EU political mutual trust, deepened strategic partnership, but also promoted their cooperation on environment and climate change. The two sides will maintain the current good momentum of development of co-operation, further strengthen cooperation to jointly cope with the financial crisis, climate change and other global challenges. Dimas said that he European Union attaches great importance to its relations with China, cooperation between the two sides on environment and climate change is fruitful. China has achieved encouraging progress to deal with climate change in particular on the energy efficiency and emission reduction.

On November 20, Ambassador Song Zhe met with the new EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton. Ambassador Song said that in the context of the current complex and volatile international financial and economic situation, cooperation between China and the EU is all the more important than ever before. From January to October this year, China-EU trade volume reached 359.4 billion dollars, up by 25% than the same period last year. China's imports from the European Union totaled 112.7 billion dollars, up 26.2%, higher than the growth rate of Chinese exports to the EU. In the future, China and the EU should work together to achieve sustainable, stable and quite fast development of economic and trade relations, and jointly promote the Doha Round negotiations to achieve positive progress as soon as possible. Commissioner Ashton said that China's development is in line with the interests of the European Union. EU-China economic and trade relations have developed rapidly and Chinese products have benefited European consumers. The European Commission is willing to work together with China in terms of coordinating responses to the global financial crisis, ensuring open markets to each other, and preventing protectionism in trade and investment.

On November 20, Ambassador Song Zhe met with President Sepi of the European Economic and Social Commission. The two sides exchanged views on the China-EU relations, cooperation between the Economic and Social Council of China and the European Economic and Social Committee and the international financial crisis.

China, the European Union and the United States convened their first trilateral summit on product safety on November 17 in Brussels, vowing close cooperation on the issue. The meeting was attended by EU Consumer Affairs Commissioner Meglena Kuneva, chairperson of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Nancy Nord and the vice minister of China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), Wei Chuanzhong. The three parties signed a joint statement and agreed on priority action areas, which include product traceability, cooperation on toy safety standards, expertise exchange and joint enforcement actions. Discussion among the three parties also focused on action to strengthen information exchange on alerts and recalls - which will allow more open information exchange on product recalls and dangerous products.

The European Commission and China on November 17 signed a renewed and extended Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen cooperation on product safety controls. The document was signed in Brussels by EU Consumer Affairs Commissioner Meglena Kuneva, Health Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou, and Wei Chuanzhong, vice minister of Chinese General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ). The document, first inked in 2006, upgrades the existing RAPEX-China system (Rapid Alert System for dangerous goods) including clear obligations for quarterly reporting on enforcement actions to track down dangerous goods. The upgraded MoU will provide China for the first time with immediate access to the EU's Rapid Alert System for Feed and Food, and in particular, to the system's notifications that concern China.

On November 13 China settled a dispute with the United States, the European Union and Canada over the regulation of financial information services. China reached "mutually satisfactory solutions" with the EU, the U.S. and Canada and signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the issue in Geneva with the three parties respectively, said the Chinese mission to the WTO. The EU and the U.S. filed a complaint against China at the WTO in March, claiming that foreign information suppliers such as Thomson Reuters, Bloomberg and Dow Jones suffered unfair treatment in China. Canada joined the case in June, with the same complaints. Joint efforts aimed at solving the dispute through consultations had continued since April.

Chinese President Hu Jintao and other leaders from the Group of 20 (G20) members attended G20 summit with issues of financial markets and global economy topping the agenda. President Hu attended the Economic Leaders' Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in the Peruvian capital of Lima on Nov. 22-23, and pay state visits to Costa Rica, Cuba, Peru and Greece. For more information, please go to http://chinaview.cn/hjt1113/

Chinese President Hu Jintao concluded his state visit to Cuba on November 19. In Havana, President Hu held talks with Raul Castro, president of the Council of the State of Cuba, on expanding friendly and cooperative bilateral relations. The two countries also signed documents of cooperation in the economic and educational sectors in a ceremony witnessed by both President Hu and Castro. In recent years, the two countries have maintained frequent high-level visits, deepened mutual trust and expanded trade and economic cooperation. China is one of Cuba's major trading partners with two-way trade totaling 2.2 billion U.S. dollars in 2007. For more information, please go to http://chinaview.cn/hjt1113/

China and Peru concluded their talks on a free trade agreement (FTA) and upgraded bilateral ties to a strategic partnership on November 19. Chinese President Hu Jintao and Peruvian President Alan Garcia announced the news after their official talks in Lima, Peru. President Hu said the move symbolized that bilateral ties are entering a new era of rapid development. On the future of bilateral cooperation, President Hu said China and Peru should give full play to each other's advantages in resources, technology, capital and market. President Garcia said China is a reliable friend of Peru and Peru supports China's development. Peru expects more Chinese mining enterprises to invest in Peru and is ready to create sound investment conditions and environment for Chinese corporations. On the same day, China and Peru signed 11 cooperative documents in economy, technology, health, customs, poverty relief, finance, mining, agriculture and other areas. For more information, please go to http://chinaview.cn/hjt1113/

Leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member economies promised on November 22 to take further actions to deal with the global financial crisis. In a statement issued in Peru's capital Lima, the leaders said they discussed the impact of the financial crisis and the actions APEC members are taking, individually and collectively, to restore confidence in their economies and maintain the region on a path of long-term growth.The leaders pledged support for efforts by export credit agencies, international financial institutions and private banks to ensure that adequate finance is available to business, including small and medium-sized enterprises, and to keep trade and investment flowing in the region. They also welcomed continued development and innovation in the financial sector and called for more effective regulatory and supervisory tools as financial systems deepen and become more complex. For more information, please go to http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-11/23/content_10397912.htm

Chinese President Hu Jintao put forward proposals for dealing with major issues in international economic and social development and tackling the ongoing global financial crisis at the 16th APEC economic leaders' meeting. For more information, please go to http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-11/23/content_10397927.htm

Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming called on November 19 for APEC member economies to reject unilateralism and trade protectionism in order to tackle the international financial crisis. Mr. Chen made the call while addressing the 20th ministerial meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in the Peruvian capital. He said APEC members should adopt an approach of fair and just multilateralism in trade and regionalism characterized by openness and tolerance. He called for the developed members in the bloc to shoulder more responsibilities. He also appealed for headway in the stalled Doha Round talks of the World Trade Organization (WTO), noting the current priority is to turn the political will into practice. He said China will stick to its policy of opening up, abide by the WTO rules and fulfill its obligations as a WTO member. China will make concerted efforts with other APEC member economies to keep the Asia-Pacific region as one of the most open, confident and energetic places in the world. China supports the regional integration process in various forms within the APEC framework to facilitate the promotion of convenience for trade and investment, the creation of favorable trade environment, trade increase and economic development in the region.