Economic observation: Further interaction between China and Germany, China and France, promising prospects for China Europe economic and trade cooperation, environmental protection | Green | China Germany
Chinese Premier Li Qiang has returned to Beijing from his visit to Germany and France. As previously expected, the high-frequency interaction between China and Germany and China and France has injected new impetus into the close economic and trade cooperation between China and Europe.
Strengthen cooperation in green environmental protection
Green environmental protection is a major area of the China-EU "hit it off. In the seventh round of Sino-German government consultations, the two sides agreed to establish a dialogue and cooperation mechanism on climate change and green transformation, and signed a number of bilateral cooperation documents in areas such as climate change.
In addition, when Chinese leaders met with French President Macron, Prime Minister Borné and European Council President Michel, cooperation in the field of green or environmental protection was also a high-frequency word. Macron made it clear that Chinese companies are welcome to invest in France and expand cooperation in emerging fields such as green environmental protection and new energy.
China and the EU have a good basis for strengthening cooperation in green environmental protection. Xiao Xinjian, director of the Second Research Department of the Xi Jinping Economic Thought Research Center, said that in recent years, China has actively promoted green and low-carbon development and made positive contributions to the global response to climate change. According to the data, China contributed about 48% of the new global renewable energy capacity in 2022. In that year, China provided 2/3 of the world's new hydropower capacity, 45% of the new solar capacity and half of the new wind power capacity.
Liu Zuokui, deputy director of the Institute of European Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that Europe is currently undergoing an energy transition. Although this transition has a bright future, it faces many challenges. China has made great progress in the field of green energy, and has also attracted many European energy companies to invest in China. "As long as the two sides base on each other's needs and carry out pragmatic cooperation, China-EU relations will have good prospects."
Analysts pointed out that China and Europe are both mainstays of global climate governance and leaders in global green development. The two sides deepen cooperation in the field of green environmental protection, which will help jointly resolve the transformation problems, contribute practical solutions to the global low-carbon transformation, and inject more certainty into global climate governance.
Opposition to "decoupling and chain breaking"
Since November last year, the leaders of major European countries have gradually formed a consensus on opposing the "new cold war" and "decoupling and breaking the chain. With China's economic rebound at the forefront of the world, Chinese leaders have received more positive responses on "anti-decoupling" during their trip to Europe.
German Chancellor Schultz made it clear that Germany opposes any form of decoupling and that de-risking is not "de-sinicization". Borne said that the EU adheres to strategic autonomy and does not support "decoupling and chain cutting". Michel also said that China's development is beneficial to the EU and the world, and the EU has no intention to hinder China's development and oppose the "new cold war" and the selection of sides.
A series of large economic and trade orders have become a vivid footnote to "anti-decoupling. During the visit of Chinese leaders, China and Germany signed a number of bilateral cooperation documents in the fields of climate change, innovation, advanced manufacturing and vocational education, while China and France reached a number of cooperation in aviation, space research, nuclear energy and other fields.
The reason why China and Europe have a "common language" in opposing decoupling and chain cutting is that it is in the common interests of both sides to ensure the stability of the industrial chain and supply chain.
As far as Europe is concerned, after the Ukraine crisis, European inflation has intensified and investment and consumption have been sluggish. Ensuring the stability of the industrial chain and supply chain with China has become a rational option for it to alleviate its own economic pressure and respond to the challenges of regional and global recession; for China, Europe is an important trade and investment partner, and good China-EU economic and trade relations are also of great significance to the stable and healthy development of China's economy.
Since the beginning of this year, a large number of European executives with global influence have repeatedly set off a "coming to China fever" and expressed their willingness to continue to develop in China, which shows that "decoupling" from China is impractical and unpopular. Analysts believe that as China and the EU reach more consensus on "anti decoupling", bilateral economic and trade cooperation is expected to move to a higher level.