According to speakers who spoke at a Sino-European forum on September 7, China and the European Union have huge opportunities for cooperation in green development in broad areas, including carbon neutrality, governance environment, energy transition and green technology innovation, stressing that China and the European Union cherish the same goals, make a green transition to the future and develop close bilateral economic relations.
Jointly organized by the China-Europe International Business School (CEIBS) and the European Union-China Business Association, the 8th European Forum was held simultaneously in Brussels and Shanghai, and focused on the theme of Sino-European cooperation in decarbonization.
“China and the European Union share a common goal of transformation towards a green future, which offers great prospects for bilateral collaboration”, declared on this occasion in his speech delivered in Brussels Wang Hongjian, senior diplomat at the Chinese mission to of the European Union, adding that the high-level dialogue on environment and climate between China and the European Union has already been held three times, and that this platform should be used by the two parties to lead multi-level green cooperation.
For her part, Wang Hong, president and professor of management at CEIBS, noted that China and Europe are important economic and trade partners and major economies, and that their carbon neutrality goals offer a huge margin of maneuver for cooperation and the promotion of mutual interests.
China and the European Union, she noted, have huge budgets to achieve their carbon neutrality goals, also recalling that “China is committed to peak carbon emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. In recent years, China has made tremendous progress towards the goal of carbon neutrality, and it is estimated that the country’s investment in low-carbon development will be more than 100 trillion yuan (14.225 billion euros) over the next 30 years”. In addition, she pointed out, the “Next Generation EU” project, a historic recovery plan for 2021-2027, worth 1,800 billion euros in 2018, has reserved at least 37% of the fund. stimulus package for the green transition.
Jochum Haakma, chairman of the European Union-China Trade Association, said China has overtaken the United States to become the bloc’s largest trading partner in 2020, and bilateral trade and collaboration will not experienced no major setbacks due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Thus, he noted, despite the contagion, the value of trade between China and the European Union reached 588 billion euros in 2020 and exceeded 600 billion euros in 2021, testifying to a strong bilateral trade demand.
At the same time, he continued, investments have also increased. China’s direct investments in the European Union notably increased from 6.5 billion euros in 2020 to 9 billion euros in 2021, specifying that most Chinese investments were made in sectors such as energy, infrastructure, consumer products and automotive, which have also contributed to the development of the bloc’s low-carbon sector.
With common goals of promoting green development and a greater role in climate change, the European Union and China need each other, as both sides are major trading partners and can fight climate change together. climate change, said Gwenn Sonck, executive director of the European Union-China Business Association and the Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce.
According to Ms Sonck, European companies in China have already taken cooperative steps, as a report by the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China revealed in May, which said that 67% of European companies operating in China are already pursuing carbon neutrality and only 40% have set up China-focused decarbonization teams.
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