By Antti Kuosmanen
At the time when Finland has taken over the EU Presidency as of
July 1, EU-China relations have grown very important for both
sides. The relationship is described as a "strategic partnership."
Why is that?
First of all, we trade a lot with each other. China is the EU's
second biggest and the EU China's biggest trading partner.
According to European statistics, Chinese exports to the EU in 2005
were some € 158 billion (US$199 billion), while EU exports to China
were worth some € 52 billion (US$65.5 billion). These figures
reveal a lot about the amount of trade and its structure.
Second, European companies are a major investor group in China.
A large part of foreign investments in China, around € 118
billion(US$148.7 billion) by 2004, comes from European companies.
As with trade, these figures say a lot about the importance of
China as a part of the world economy, and also about its
integration into it.
Third, human exchanges between the two have become very active.
Over 50,000 EU citizens reside in China, and almost 3 million trips
were made in 2005 from the EU to China. The number of Chinese trips
to the EU in 2005 was about 674,000. Perhaps more significantly,
some 170,000 Chinese students studied in the EU.
Formal relations between the EU and China date back to 1975,
when diplomatic relations were established, and the treaty basis is
from 1985 when a bilateral trade and investment agreement was
concluded. Since then an extensive network of sectoral agreements
and different dialogue arrangements has arisen, comprising
political issues such as human rights and some 20 economic, trade,
investment and technology-related fields.
The figures are impressive in themselves, but their real
significance is in what they reflect. Indeed, they reflect the
spectacular growth of China's economy and the transformation of its
society. At the same time, new and very serious challenges have
also emerged the need to secure energy supplies and prevent the
degradation of the environment, redress deepening social
disparities, and deal with all the challenges and responsibilities
resulting from an unprecedented exposure to the outside world.
So, based on this strategic partnership, what can we expect in
terms of EU-China relations during the Finnish EU Presidency in the
latter part of this year? In terms of events, the ninth EU-China
Summit will be held on September 9 in Helsinki. In this same
context, we will organize a high-level Business Summit bringing
together top business leaders from the EU and China. The
Europe-Asia Meeting (ASEM) and a business dialogue, celebrating the
10th anniversary of this institution, will also be organized. Add
to that the expected high-level participation from the Chinese
side, and Finland will have a massive concentration of high-level
events concerning China in September.
Happy as we are to receive these high-level guests, it is the
substance that should determine success. We hope to bring the
partnership forward in various fields. Indeed, the scope of our
co-operation does not fit well any more within the scope of the
1985 Agreement, so we are willing, as the Chinese side originally
proposed, to expand it to conclude a wide-ranging horizontal
Framework Agreement. After preparatory work, we hope to announce
the launching of official negotiations on such an agreement.
In addition to this, we hope to be able to see progress in
various fields such as sustainable development related to clean
energy, environmental issues such as climate change, development
policy issues, fighting illegal immigration, civil aviation, and
many others. There are also various issues in the field of
international relations in which our dialogue should continue and
intensify, or where we negotiate with each other. The former
comprises issues like East Asian security in general, the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and Iran. The latter relates
first and foremost to the World Trade Organization, since China's
contribution to the conclusion of the Doha round is essential.
We know that there are a couple of issues that are high on the
agenda in China and the EU's views on these are of special interest
to the Chinese. One of them is Taiwan. There is no change in the
EU's one-China policy, but as part of that policy, we continue to
emphasize that no party should aggravate the situation by
unilaterally changing the status quo.
Another issue is the EU's arms embargo towards China. We believe
that the embargo is out of date and should be repealed and replaced
by the EU's own Code of Conduct for arms sales. However, it seems
that it is difficult to reach a solution on lifting the arms
embargo very quickly.
The last issue I want to discuss is the so-called market economy
status. There are some technical criteria to meet, and the fact is
that China does not meet them all, although it has made progress to
that effect. There is also a larger issue of market access related
to this, and we hope that we can find a mutually acceptable
solution to the market economy status issue in negotiations between
the European Commission and the Chinese Government as soon as
possible if not during our presidency, then after it.
All in all, the EU and China have become important partners in
the last decades and should be even more so when Finland passes the
presidency to Germany at the end of this year.
The author is Finland's ambassador to China.
(China Daily July 18, 2006)
