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Friendship still strong, envoy says [China Daily: Europe Weekly](China Daily: Europe Weekly Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Ambassador issues reassuring message over anti-monopoly cases Although German car companies face stiff penalties over antitrust violations, that will have no impact on economic ties between China and Germany, according to the country's Ambassador to China, Michael Clauss. Referring to recent media coverage of foreign companies accused of abusing their market power in China, Clauss says the reaction in some quarters in his country has been rational, given that neither the German government nor the businesses subject to anti-monopoly allegations have publicly complained about their cases. Anti-monopoly laws are normal in market economies, he says, but enforcement of them needs to be transparent and subject to scrutiny by an independent judiciary. Li Pumin, a spokesman for the National Development and Reform Commission, says two separate antitrust investigations into Daimler and Audi have found that they pursued monopolistic practices, and they face penalties. Apart from German automakers, Japanese and US carmakers have also been investigated. However, Premier Li Keqiang told a question and answer session with foreign corporate leaders in Tianjin in September that the investigations did not specifically target foreign companies. Only 10 percent of companies that Chinese antitrust authorities investigate are foreign, he said. The impression some people may have that foreign companies are no longer welcome in China is wrong, Clauss says. On the contrary, German cars are so welcomed in the country that it is the largest overseas market for those companies. And the profits in China will continue after the two countries agreed to extend their collaboration in the car industry when Li was in Germany for the third China-Germany intergovernmental consultation last month. During the visit, the Shanghai-based car manufacturer SAIC Motor and Volkswagen pledged to invest 100 million euros to build a motor vehicle testing center in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region to develop new cars. The German company also agreed with another company in the Chinese car industry, China FAW Group Corp, to extend to 2041 their joint venture deal that dates back to the 1990s. Apart from partnerships in the car industry, collaboration is flourishing in other fields, Clauss says, citing the ties between the two countries in innovation as one highlight of government-to-government consultation. "The Chinese leadership has chosen a comprehensive approach to reform the economy. One of the main challenges is moving from investment-driven growth to innovation-driven growth. That's where German companies can contribute." This is particularly so because German companies are at the forefront in high-tech industries such as green energy and high-end manufacturing, he says. During the annual meetings of the country's legislature and political advisory body in March, the leaders reiterated the importance of continuing such reform and upgrading industries as the country becomes more energy efficient. Clauss says the speed of reform is slower than many might have expected and "German companies will be more interested in investing in China when the policies of reform are fully implemented." "German companies are asking for better market access, and they want to be treated the same as their Chinese counterparts." Germany is Europe's largest investor in China, with investment growing 43 percent last year. Chinese investment in Germany was worth $830 million (661 million euros) last year, an increase of 29 percent on 2012. Germany is China's biggest trading and technology partner in the European Union. Bilateral trade was worth nearly $162 billion, 580 times what it was in 1972, when China and what was then West Germany established diplomatic relations. Sino-German trade, which is equal to China's combined trade with Britain, France and Italy, accounts for nearly a third of total trade between China and Europe. China is Germany's largest trading partner in Asia. Bilateral trade is expected to continue to grow, partly because the People's Bank of China has approved direct trading between the yuan and the euro from Sept 30, Clauss says. The China Foreign Exchange Trading System already offers yuan trade against the euro but only through the US dollar as an intermediary. Direct yuan-euro trade is anticipated to reduce exchange costs and encourage direct trading. "That will make bilateral trade easier and cheaper," Clauss says. "Especially for the real economy, the companies that are doing business in China, it is a big improvement." This year there has been an unusually high number of high-level visits by top leaders from both sides, which Clauss calls unprecedented. Before Li's visit, German Chancellor Angela Merkel paid her seventh visit to China, in July. In March, President Xi Jinping visited Germany. People-to-people exchanges are highly important, Clauss says. In October of last year, 25 Chinese nurses began working in Germany after an eight-month language training program. Through the program, the nurses learned more about German society and culture. More than 30,000 students from China are studying in Germany, and about 5,400 students from Germany are studying in China. Every week, there are more than 60 direct flights between the two countries, and the number of Chinese tourists traveling to Germany has been increasing by 10 percent to 20 percent a year, Clauss says. "In 2012 we had 2 million overnight stays. We can feel it in the embassy because we have to enlarge our visa section every year." [email protected] (China Daily European Weekly 11/07/2014 page28) (c) 2014 China Daily Information Company. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info). |