On 2 June, BusinessEurope and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) hosted the 12th EU-China Business Summit in Brussels, Belgium in cooperation with the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China (EUCCC), the EU-China Business Association (EUCBA) and with the support of the Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce.

The EUCBA and FCCC were represented at the Summit by Mr Jochum Haakma, Chairman EUCBA; Mr Philippe Van der Donckt, Vice-Chairman EUCBA and FCCC; Mr Bart De Smet, CEO, AGEAS and Vice-Chairman FCCC; Ms Gwenn Sonck, Executive Director EUCBA and FCCC; Mr Philip Eyskens, Senior Vice President Legal, IT and M&A, Bekaert and Board Member FCCC; and Mr Christian Leysen, Executive Chairman Ahlers and Board Member FCCC.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang giving a keynote speech at the Business Summit

This one-day event brought together around 500 business leaders from Europe and China and is the highest level platform for policy discussions between business leaders from both sides. EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang each made a keynote address in which they outlined their views on how to address the challenges and seize the opportunities in our economic relationship.

China will take steps to make it even more attractive to foreign investors, and administrative procedures will be simplified to guarantee that foreign and domestic investors are treated equally, Li said. China and the EU are continuing to negotiate the China-EU Bilateral Investment Treaty. Li Keqiang told the Business Summit that capable Chinese enterprises are being encouraged to invest in Europe. He also defended the benefits of globalization. Free trade leads to the opening of doors, fair competition, and more options for consumers worldwide, the Chinese Premier said. But he added that it is difficult for any two countries to have completely balanced trade at all times, and attempting to make that happen could affect the process of free trade. Countries need to maintain a cool head when discussing how to evaluate free trade and how to implement fair trade. The Premier said China has been upholding the principle of multilateralism and thus living up to the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

In his keynote speech, Premier Li said both sides believe they should go with the tide of globalization and work to make globalization fairer and more inclusive. Globalization has brought tremendous benefits to China, the EU and the world, Li said, and it should not be blamed for the negative influence emerging along it. But he cautioned that China and the EU should take action to tackle the problems brought by economic globalization. The current pressing task is to uphold the principles of fairness and free trade and revive the two engines of trade and investment, he added. China always attaches great importance to fairness and sustainability while promoting free trade with the EU, Li said.

Under the overall theme of “Strengthening the Pillars of Global Trade and Investment”, CEOs and high level business leaders from European and Chinese companies presented their views on how to move forward in trade and investment; the digital economy; climate and energy; and EU-China connectivity.