Trade partners keen to achieve balance

From an almost-zero base 30 years ago, the European Union is now China's largest trading partner,

according to figures from the Ministry of Commerce.

Last year, the total value of trade reached $272.29 billion.

China's trade surplus with the EU last year was $91.7 billion. In the first 10 months of this year, the figure rose to $102.8 billion.

Although some European officials have expressed their concern over the trade imbalance, Wang Xinpei, a spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce, said that the value of sales by European companies with bases in China had helped offset the disparity in the figures.

Last year, the value of sales by EU companies with investments in China was $206.6 billion, he said.

And according to the latest survey by the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, a number of EU-invested businesses are keen to expand their operations in the country. Many companies expressed an interest in investing in China's research and development (R&D) centers.

Thirty-one percent of companies with more than 100 employees said they had established R&D centers in China, while 32 percent said they wanted to open or enlarge their R&D facilities in two years.

(China Daily 11/28/2007 page6)