Seminar: Europe and China’s New Silk Road – 7 February 2017 – Brussels
Jan-30-2017 By : fcccadmin
The Elcano Royal Institute, the Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael, the Mercator Institute for China Studies MERICS and the French Institute for International Relations Ifri are organizing a seminar on Europe and China’s New Silk Road on February 7, 2017 from 12:30 to 14:00 at the Brussels office of the Elcano Royal Institute / Ifri, rue Marie-Thèrése 21, 1000 Brussels.
As China celebrates on the design of its “Belt and Road Initiative” (OBOR), the place of Europe within this project is slowly but surely taking shape. From rail projects in Poland and Germany to port projects in Greece and Latvia, Europe is a converging point for both the overland and maritime dimensions of China’s grand project. But while it offers a number of opportunities for investment and economic development, OBOR does not present the same across Europe and is even viewed with scepticism in some capitals.
This seminar will present and discuss the findings of the latest report by the European Think-tank Network on China (ETNC) that seeks to flesh out some of these varying perspectives. Based on a case study analysis of fourteen countries within the EU, the report takes a “bottom-up” approach, examining the development of the OBOR project within each country, as well as the EU institutional level. During the seminar, some of the report’s authors will discuss China’s approach to Europe and European responses within the context of OBOR.
Presenters:
Frans Paul van der Putten, Senior Research Fellow, Netherlands Institute of International Relations (Clingendael), The Hague, and lead coordinator of the report
Mario Esteban, Senior Analyst, Elcano Royal Institute, Madrid
Mikko Huotari, Head of the Chinese Foreign Relations Program, Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS), Berlin
John Seaman, Research Fellow, Center for Asian Studies, French Institute of International Relations (Ifri), Paris
Discussant:
Daniel Guyader, Senior Advisor for Asia and the Pacific, European External Action Service (EEAS).
To register, please contact elledo@rielcano.org
A light lunch will be served. The debate will be held in English and under Chatham House Rule.
The ‘Europe and China’s New Silk Roads’ report is available here
For more information on the European Think-tank Network on China(ETNC) click here
Expats worry about air quality in China
By : fcccadmin
China’s problems with air pollution are undermining government efforts to make the country more attractive to overseas talents. 55% of 2,000 foreign employees that Spring Professional polled last year – who had each lived in China for at least five years – said they had concerns about air quality, up from 23% in 2012. Air pollution has hurt recruitment for the past two years, said Ma Erman, head of overseas recruitment for language training company EF English in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province. “Hebei doesn’t have many advantages to compete with coastal provinces, which have better economies and offer higher salaries, and air pollution is making recruitment even more difficult,” she said. The average daily concentration of PM2.5 in the country’s 31 provincial level regions was 47 micrograms per cubic meter last year, down by 6% from 2015 levels. He Kebin, Dean of Tsinghua University’s School of Environment, predicted it could take 10 to 15 years for most of the heavily polluted Chinese cities to meet the national air quality standard.
Foreign firms face no restrictions in profit transfers
By : fcccadmin
There are no restrictions on foreign firms’ cross-border profit transfers, Pan Gongsheng, Director of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), told Joerg Wuttke, President of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China. Authorities will maintain the continuity and consistency of forex policies, make foreign trade and investment more convenient, and support Chinese companies’ outbound investment as long as it is authentic and compliant, he added. With its economy growing 6.7% in 2016, China has the conditions to ensure a balance of international payments, Pan said. He vowed that China will create an orderly environment for investment and a more transparent and regulated market. Weighed on by a weak yuan against the U.S. dollar, regulators have cracked down on illegal cross-border capital flows in the past few months, while reiterating that normal business will not be affected and foreign investment is still welcome.
U.S. Commerce Dept. says China dumped tires on U.S. market
By : fcccadmin
The U.S. authorities have made a final ruling that tires from China were dumped and subsidized. If high tariffs strip Chinese tire manufactures of their ability to export their products to the U.S. affordably, the average tire prices in the market might rise and U.S. consumers could have limited choices, said Pu Lingchen, Partner of Zhong Lun Law Firm. According to the U.S. Commerce Department, Chinese tire manufacturers, such as Prinx Chengshan (Shandong) Tire Co, Double Coin Holdings and Guizhou Tire Co, are facing high anti-dumping and anti-subsidy rates. The final anti-dumping margins range from 9% to 22.57%, and anti-subsidy rates are from 38.61% to 65.46%. The case is still under review by the U.S. International Trade Commission, which makes determinations in proceedings involving imports claimed to injure a U.S. domestic industry. It is scheduled to release its conclusion in March. The China Rubber Industry Association says its main tire maker members’ output increased 4% year-on-year between January and August 2016, while their export volume and value, respectively, declined 0.84% and 7.99% from a year earlier. In 2016, China faced 119 trade remedy investigations, a historic high, and the value involved increased by 76% year-on-year to USD14.34 billion, the China Daily reports.
European Commission imposes anti-dumping duties on steel products from China and Taiwan
By : fcccadmin
The Commission decided on January 27 to impose definitive anti-dumping measures on two steel products originating in China and Taiwan. The Commission’s investigation confirmed that Chinese and Taiwanese stainless steel tube and pipe butt-welding fittings had been sold in Europe at dumped prices.
Chinese exports will now be taxed with anti-dumping duties ranging from 30.7% to 64.9%. Taiwanese exports will face anti-dumping duties ranging from 5.1% to 12.1%. These products are used to join pipes and tubes of stainless steel, and are commonly used in various industries such as petro-chemical, food processing, and shipbuilding as well as energy generation and construction. The EU currently has an unprecedented number of trade defense measures in place targeting unfair imports of steel products, with a total of 39 anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures, 17 of which are on products originating from China. The Commission has been using the available toolbox of trade defense instruments to the full extent possible, while seeking the approval of Member States and the European Parliament for its proposals to make the toolbox better suited to the current reality of international trade. In addition to that, the EU is tackling the root causes of overcapacity in the global steel industry through active involvement in the Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity launched last December.
More information is available in the EU official journal
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