Unlike the United States, the European Union does not think the revaluation of yuan, China's currency, could resolve trade imbalances with China, said visiting vice president of the European Commission Joaquin Almunia in Beijing.
Both the European Union and the United States have huge deficits in their trade with China. Some U.S. officials and Senators have repeatedly called for actions against China if China refuses to strengthen its exchange rate against the U.S. dollar.
The European Union has been China's largest trading partner for six years, and this year China has replaced the United States to become the European Union s top trading partner. China s trade surplus with the European Union for the first 11 months of 2010 stands at 131 billion U.S. dollars.
The euro has been hit hard by a debt crisis among some E.U. members, including Greece, Ireland, Portugal and even Spain. The Office for National Statistics of Britain declared a monthly record high of pubic borrowing in November, and the public sector net debt was 65.2 per cent of the GDP at the end of November 2010 compared with 59.5 percent at end of November 2009.
At least theoretically, a weak euro is good for the European Union's exports. However, a large amount of the China-E.U. trade is settled in U.S. dollars, which is getting stronger as investors are seeking safe havens. This has made the situation complicated, Almunia said,.
He said it is difficult to link the trade and the value of currencies directly in practice. In addition, the European financial market remains volatile these days.
The European Union, however, tends to approach the issue of its trade deficit another way. E.U. companies have 13.9 billion euros of investments in China, which Almunia says is tiny. They want more investment opportunities.
Now it seems that they have made progress in that regard. Investment is high on the agenda of the annual highest economic and trade dialogue, which has concluded in Beijing on Tuesday. A joint task force has made positive conclusion on the feasibility of a bilateral investment negotiations. And Alumia disclosed that China has agreed to open talks on market access, which has been one of the major concerns of European enterprises.
Investment cooperation agreements are normally signed between two countries. The Lisbon Treaty, which was put into effect in December 2009, made it possible for such an agreement between China and the European Union as a bloc of economic entities.
By Li Jia, People s Daily Online
Both the European Union and the United States have huge deficits in their trade with China. Some U.S. officials and Senators have repeatedly called for actions against China if China refuses to strengthen its exchange rate against the U.S. dollar.
The European Union has been China's largest trading partner for six years, and this year China has replaced the United States to become the European Union s top trading partner. China s trade surplus with the European Union for the first 11 months of 2010 stands at 131 billion U.S. dollars.
The euro has been hit hard by a debt crisis among some E.U. members, including Greece, Ireland, Portugal and even Spain. The Office for National Statistics of Britain declared a monthly record high of pubic borrowing in November, and the public sector net debt was 65.2 per cent of the GDP at the end of November 2010 compared with 59.5 percent at end of November 2009.
At least theoretically, a weak euro is good for the European Union's exports. However, a large amount of the China-E.U. trade is settled in U.S. dollars, which is getting stronger as investors are seeking safe havens. This has made the situation complicated, Almunia said,.
He said it is difficult to link the trade and the value of currencies directly in practice. In addition, the European financial market remains volatile these days.
The European Union, however, tends to approach the issue of its trade deficit another way. E.U. companies have 13.9 billion euros of investments in China, which Almunia says is tiny. They want more investment opportunities.
Now it seems that they have made progress in that regard. Investment is high on the agenda of the annual highest economic and trade dialogue, which has concluded in Beijing on Tuesday. A joint task force has made positive conclusion on the feasibility of a bilateral investment negotiations. And Alumia disclosed that China has agreed to open talks on market access, which has been one of the major concerns of European enterprises.
Investment cooperation agreements are normally signed between two countries. The Lisbon Treaty, which was put into effect in December 2009, made it possible for such an agreement between China and the European Union as a bloc of economic entities.
By Li Jia, People s Daily Online