[Central News Agency] Representatives of the European business community said at a symposium today that relations with China are being restarted, but the situation of doing business in China "cannot go back".

Participants mentioned that China is eager to return to the international community recently, but whether it can act in accordance with international rules is the biggest problem.

The European Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Business Europe) invited representatives of different industries from the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China to share their views on how the European business community should face "China after 2022" in Brussels today.

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At a time when China is gradually relaxing international exchanges after the three-year COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) lockdown, the symposium was filled with an atmosphere of "both anticipation and fear of being hurt".

In particular, the U.S. is actively asking countries such as Japan and the Netherlands to cooperate with the U.S. on restrictions on the import of semiconductor equipment into China. Therefore, Luisa Santos, deputy secretary-general of the European Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the moderator of the panel, first said how to calibrate Europe’s policies toward China with the U.S. It's the biggest challenge right now.

She believes that another challenge for European companies is the management of outbound FDI in the EU's research.

This issue has been discussed within the EU for some time. One of the motives is to prevent key technologies from boosting strategic competitors through overseas investment, and the main target obviously includes China.

Joerg Wuttke, chairman of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, pointed out that in September last year, the Chamber of Commerce issued a white paper, which included more than 400 pages of suggestions for improvement by the Chinese government. It is hoped that after the opening up, the number of pages to be released next year can be reduced.

He mentioned that China has a good record of "not wasting a crisis" in the past, that is, it can learn and grow from crises. For example, after the Asian financial turmoil in 1997 and the global financial tsunami in 2008, China's economy has further opened up. Can "retrieve the DNA of the past" from the epidemic crisis.

But he changed his subject to talk about the great impact of ideology on the economy, and China in the past few years has become "less predictable, less reliable, and therefore less efficient."

He also mentioned the phenomenon of China's support of state-owned enterprises to suppress private enterprises. For example, Jack Ma's Alibaba Group was purged by the Chinese government, which made European companies doubt their place in the Chinese market.

Since the unblocking in early January, China is experiencing a round of outbreaks of Omicron virus variants that have been circulating in many places around the world. Woodker believes that there may be a second wave and a third wave. He suggests that the Chinese government learn from other countries how to deal with it, "especially That's how New Zealand and Taiwan came out of their zero-tolerance policy."

Although the economic and political costs of China as a manufacturing base are rising, leading multinational companies to spread their presence in other markets, China's productivity and consumer markets are still very attractive.

Kurt Vandeputte, vice-chairman of the EU-China Business Association (EUCBA), compared the relationship between the EU and China to a "reboot moment." However, there are too many changes, companies have to worry about many unknowns, and doing business has become more complicated, but his members still value the opportunities in the Chinese market.

At the same time, China is re-entering the world.

Xu Zhonghua, chairman of the Energy Working Group of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China and working for the French Total Group, revealed that many Chinese officials have contacted him in the past two weeks, wanting to send representatives to Europe to rebuild relations. "They really want to return to the international market." .

But in his view, the biggest question is whether China is "internationalized" enough?

Do you know enough about international rules?

China needs more international behavior patterns.

In this discussion, the word "re-" appeared the most, including restarting, reconnecting, and reconnecting, but many participants also said, "We will no longer have the same China as before", "Everything It's all changed."

(Editor: Chen Yanjun) 1120113