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EU leaders: China must handle trade surplus, open markets
Beijing (AFP) Nov 27, 2007 Top European leaders said Tuesday that China must deal with its ballooning trade surplus, protect intellectual property and open its markets a day ahead of an EU-China summit. "The considerable and growing trade deficit is adding to EU citizens' anxiety about globalisation, and is growing in political importance," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said in a speech. "Indeed, there is a risk that the economic emergence of China is seen by Europeans as a threat." The EU ran a trade deficit of 128 billion euros (175 billion dollars) with China last year -- which is likely to balloon to 170 billion euros in 2007, according to EU statistics. In a speech at the exclusive Communist Party School, Barroso said China's growth model was driven too much by savings and overinvestment, and relied far too much on exports instead of internal consumption. "We see your unsustainable levels of trade surplus and monetary reserves, excessive liquidity in your system which encourages stock market or real estate speculation," he said. "The current situation is not sustainable. We need to work together, in a spirit of reciprocity, to eliminate obstacles preventing the access, in many sectors, of European goods and services to the Chinese market." EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson also denounced China's closed markets and the fact the government does not adequately protect the intellectual property rights of European companies. "Re-balancing the trade relationship is not a question of reducing Chinese exports to Europe," Mandelson said in a speech at the China-EU Business Summit. "It is a question of improving the terms on which European companies trade here, about levelling the playing field and combating discrimination against foreign companies in the working of the economy." While praising China's fast-paced economic growth and bustling EU-China trade -- likely to break the 300 billion euro mark this year -- Mandelson said Europe hopes Beijing will quicken the pace of appreciation of the Chinese yuan. "Even on a highly sensitive issue like exchange rates, we should be focusing on our joint interests," Mandelson said. "A stronger yuan would stabilise the Chinese economy by boosting domestic demand and reducing dependence on export-led growth." Related Links Global Trade News
BHP-Rio merger could create monopoly: Chinese body
Beijing (AFP) Nov 19, 2007Resource-hungry China fears a proposed merger between Australian mining giant BHP Billiton and British-based Rio Tinto would create an iron-ore monopoly, the China Iron and Steel Association said Monday. |
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