Mutual trust key to China, EU ties

China and the European Union should deepen mutual trust and meet each other halfway to expand economic and trade cooperation in advanced manufacturing and new energy despite rising uncertainties, market watchers and experts said.

They called for China and the EU to build innovative dialogue mechanisms, jointly support multilateralism and free trade, and uphold fair, transparent and nondiscriminatory rules to better navigate the EU's increasingly challenging business environment.

They made the remarks against the backdrop of the EU rolling out a series of protectionist measures and imposing discriminatory restrictions on Chinese enterprises in sectors such as semiconductors, 5G and electric vehicles. The Dutch government's unilateral action against a Chinese-owned semiconductor firm has become the latest prominent example of this trend.

A recent report also highlighted rising concerns among Chinese enterprises operating in Europe.

Some 81 percent of respondents said the EU business environment has become more unpredictable, and many noted that the politicization of commercial issues has shown little sign of easing, according to a report released last week by the China Chamber of Commerce to the EU (CCCEU) and Roland Berger, a global consultancy.

The report noted that Chinese enterprises in Europe are urging China and the EU to jointly unlock the substantial cooperation potential brought on by China's new quality productive forces, while cautioning the EU against stretching the notion of "economic security" in ways that could weaken the foundations of bilateral cooperation.

Zhou Mi, a senior researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, said China and the EU enjoy a solid foundation for mutually beneficial economic cooperation, built on distinct resource endowments and complementary industrial structures that naturally lend themselves to trade.

Zhou added that China and the EU also have strong industrial-chain synergies in sectors such as automobiles and manufacturing. "Together, these factors indicate ample room for China and EU economic and trade ties to grow, with cooperation picking up in new energy and the wider green economy," he said.

That view is consistent with the latest foreign trade data, with China's trade with the EU reaching 4.88 trillion yuan ($680 billion), up 4.9 percent year-on-year and accounting for 13.1 percent of China's total foreign trade in the first 10 months of the year, according to data from the General Administration of Customs.

Liu Jiandong, chairman of the CCCEU, said that Chinese enterprises have remained committed to the European market, continuing to invest and expand there despite a more challenging business environment.

"China and the EU are expected to move from complementary interdependence to a more strategic relationship in which they shape each other's development," Liu said.

In a regular news conference held last week, Lin Jian, Foreign Ministry spokesman, said the Recommendations of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China for Formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development have called for higher level opening-up over the coming five years, which will create more opportunities for China and the EU cooperation.

Zhang Chenxu contributed to this story.