Xinhua Review: Mutually beneficial cooperation is currently the most correct choice for China and Europe

The 10th China Europe Economic and Trade High Level Dialogue was recently held in Beijing. The two sides had frank and pragmatic communication and exchange on topics such as macroeconomics, trade and investment, industrial chain supply chain, and financial cooperation, and reached a series of mutually beneficial and win-win results and consensus. The world is currently undergoing profound historical changes, with insufficient momentum for global economic recovery. In this context, China and Europe adhere to dialogue and cooperation, promoting common development and prosperity, which has special significance and sends a positive signal of mutual benefit and win-win situation to the world.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Europe. In the past 20 years, the trade volume between China and Europe has increased nearly 9-fold, the EU's investment in China has increased nearly 3-fold, and China's investment in the EU has grown from zero to hundreds of billions of dollars. China and Europe have formed a strong economic symbiotic relationship. Last year, against the backdrop of slow global economic recovery, China Europe economic and trade cooperation faced difficulties. However, the bilateral trade volume still reached a new historical high of 847.3 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 2.4%, which means that the average trade volume between China and Europe exceeds 1.6 million US dollars per minute. As an important achievement of China Europe cooperation, the China Europe train has operated a total of 77000 trains over the past 10 years, reaching 217 cities in 25 countries and regions in Europe. It has become a "stabilizer" and "accelerator" for smooth trade between China and Europe, creating a new pattern of international transportation in Asia and Europe, and building a new platform for economic and trade cooperation along the route. The President of the European Union China Trade Association, Hakmar, believes that the accumulated achievements in trade and investment between Europe and China over the years make both sides interdependent and should maintain good relations. French international expert Bruno Gigg said that China and Europe are interdependent in their economies and have built a relationship of prosperity and loss for all. China and Europe can fully cooperate in areas where each has their own strengths and can achieve mutual success, achieving win-win results.

Currently, factors such as high inflation and weak demand are dragging down the pace of global economic recovery, and Europe is also deeply affected. The European Commission recently released a summer economic outlook report for 2023, which lowered the EU's economic growth forecast for 2023 from 1.0% predicted in the spring outlook report to 0.8%, and the economic growth forecast for 2024 from 1.7% to 1.4%. In this context, many European companies have increased their investment layout in China. Since the beginning of this year, Volkswagen Germany has announced the investment of 1 billion euros in China to build a research and development, innovation, and component procurement center for pure electric intelligent connected vehicles; Spanish machine tool manufacturer Danobat Group has established its sixth largest global experience center in Shanghai, accelerating its localization strategy in China; Bosch Group, a German automotive supplier, announced an investment of approximately 1 billion euros in Suzhou to build a new energy vehicle core component and autonomous driving research and manufacturing base, mainly serving the Chinese market. Christopher Schrenp, Chairman of the Tianjin Branch of the European Chamber of Commerce in China, said that as the door to China's opening up continues to widen and the business environment in the Chinese market continues to optimize, more and more EU companies are "voting with their feet" to open up new areas of cooperation and innovate new forms of cooperation in China. The European Commission on External Relations, a think tank, conducted a survey of 16000 people in 11 EU countries this year, and the results showed that 43% of respondents believed that China was a "necessary strategic partner" of the EU.

In recent times, the rhetoric of "de risk" towards China and the launch of anti subsidy investigations against Chinese electric vehicles have had a negative impact on China Europe cooperation, causing concerns among many European insightful individuals and enterprises. Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Economy, Siyardo Peter, said that decoupling from China would have a heavy impact on the European economy. The so-called "de risk" is precisely where the risk lies, and "the risk is precisely that the world will once again be blocked". Agat de Mare, Senior Policy Researcher in Geoeconomics at the European Commission on Foreign Relations, pointed out in an article that in terms of "de risk" towards China, the EU has suffered greater losses than the United States. Spanish economist Juan Roman Raleigh pointed out in an article that the EU's announcement of a countervailing investigation into Chinese electric vehicles is trade protectionism, and Europe will pay a high price for it in the coming decades.
China and Europe share broad common interests and a solid foundation for cooperation. Focusing on mutually beneficial cooperation is the aspiration of the people and the hope of enterprises. Both sides should uphold the principles of mutual respect and equal treatment to jointly expand the cooperation cake. As the two major forces, markets, and civilizations of the world, China and Europe bear a historical responsibility. Choosing mutually beneficial cooperation will not only bring benefits to both peoples, but also promote global stability and prosperity.