Towards the end of this month, the Chinese government is planning to send a business delegation to Europe for purchasing goods which would mainly comprise of advanced technological products and environmental equipment. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOC) stated the trip was aimed at strengthening trade ties with the European countries and also to collectively counter the effects of global recession.
MOC spokesman Yao Jian said that the team would tour across Europe including Switzerland, Germany, the UK and Spain to buy goods. The list of things for shopping would be decided by the contingent later. Jian further added that China wanted to open its market and boost ties with their trade partners to jointly address the problems of the crisis to revive the global economy.
During the final lap of the European tour by the Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao last month, which coincided with the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2009 in Davos, he had expressed that he would be sending “procurement teams” to buy goods and services from Europe. At that time, the officials of both sides had signed nine co-operation deals including combating illegal logging and intensifying the use of renewable energy sources. He had also urged advanced technological equipment manufacturers to increase their exports to China for meeting the market demands, and thereby to overcome the issues occurred in the absence of those.
China had earlier confirmed that they had no intention of imposing any policies that would prescribe ‘buy China’ as a remedy to the current dwindling country’s exports. For the past few months, especially after their exports declined, they have expedited the process of bilateral talks with various countries rather than embarking on protectionist ideas. The forthcoming trip is in concordance with China’s open market policy which is suggested as a cure to the current crisis.
The recent revocation of anti-dumping investigation against Chinese zinc coating plate firms by the EU is seen as a sign of strengthening of trade ties with China. The EU is the largest consumer of the Chinese products and on the other hand, China is an important market for the EU goods. Therefore, the upcoming shopping tour is likely to generate interest among the European traders to engage with China in these difficult times.
Toboc Trade News