Chinese School - Investment climate in China 'attractive but complex'

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BIZCHINA / Center

Investment climate in China 'attractive but complex'

(CRI English)
Updated: 2007-09-12 11:31

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Joerg Wuttke, President of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in
China, speaks at the press conference for the launch of its seventh
annual European Business in China Position Paper on Tuesday. [CRI
English]?

"With the continued strong growth of China's economy, the business
environment remains attractive for European companies. But investment
climate is becoming more complex and challenging for foreign businesses
operating in China," Joerg Wuttke, President of the European Union
Chamber of Commerce in China (EUCCC), said this Tuesday at the press
conference for the launch of its seventh annual European Business in
China Position Paper.

Also the first such paper issued by the EU Chamber of Commerce after
China completed its five-year World Trade Organization (WTO) accession
period, the European Business in China Position Paper 2007/2008 lauds
China's great progress in further opening up its economy and markets, as
well as the significant increase of trade volume during the period.

According to statistics offered in the paper, the two-way trade between
EU and China exceeded 250 billion euros in 2006, an increase of about 22
percent over 2005.

Based on comprehensive and analytical overviews of horizontal issues, and
trade in goods and services, the 330-page and four-part bilingual
Position Paper provides an up-to-date European industry analysis of the
current business environment in China and offers more than 100
recommendations for improvements in various fields.

Meanwhile, the Paper also urges China to work on creating a more proper
framework for further market opening and integration into the global
economy.

"We strongly support China's policies of continuing its economic reform,
development of domestic markets, improved energy efficiency, having more
effective environmental protection and action to reduce social
inequality. We believe that European companies can and do contribute
positively to all these goals," Michael O'Sullivan, Secretary General of
EUCCC adds, "And so we encourage China to continue to open its markets
and provide a level playing field for domestic and foreign companies."

With transparency and intellectual property rights protection remaining
major concerns, the Paper also finds the lack of coordination between
authorities and technical barriers, such as unnecessary or overlapped
standards.

Although expressing welcome to new laws and regulations including the
Property Rights Law, Labor Contract Law and New accounting rules, EUCCC
notes that a more systematic approach is still needed to enhance the
implementation of these new legislations.

The European Business in China Position Paper has been submitted to
Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi and will be presented to Chinese and European
governments, according to Michael O'Sullivan.

The EU Chamber of Commerce in China was founded in October 2000 by 51
European member companies as the voice of European businesses in China.
So far, the chamber has got more than 1,100 members.

(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)

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