(Source: "First Financial Daily" 2024-04-10)
According to the website of the Ministry of Commerce, on April 8, Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao held talks with French Minister of Economy and Finance Le Maire in Paris, France. The two sides conducted candid exchanges on issues related to China-France economic and w88 cooperation.
On the same day, the Ministry of Commerce held two "Invest in China" roundtable meetings for French enterprises in Paris, France. 25 French companies including BNP Paribas, Sanofi, Veolia, Air Liquide, Valeo, Michelin, Pernod Ricard, Arkema, EDF, Total, Suez, and business associations such as the French Vision and Innovation Foundation and the Europe-China Investment Association participated in the conference, and Jiangsu Province and Sichuan Province conducted investment promotions.
At the roundtable, China stated that China's economy is recovering and its long-term trend of improvement has not changed. It is still the largest engine of global development and has a very large market with rapid release of huge demand. Emerging fields such as intelligent manufacturing, green energy, and digital economy are full of business opportunities and vitality. China remains a hot spot for global investment.
Previously, in early April, French Foreign Minister Séjournay visited China and stated that France adheres to independence and opposes confrontation and "decoupling and breaking of links" between the camps.
Zhao Yongsheng, director of the French Economic Research Center at the w88 casino and researcher at the Institute of Global Innovation and GovernanceIn an interview with China Business News, he said: “In addition to traditional Sino-French cooperation areas such as aerospace and nuclear energy, the emerging fields such as ‘intelligent manufacturing, green energy, and digital economy’ mentioned by China this time, such as new energy vehicles (trambuses) and hydrogen energy vehicles, On the other hand, China and France are highly complementary and can strengthen cooperation. Specific methods can include China’s greenfield investment in France in new energy vehicles. At the same time, France’s infrastructure currently needs large-scale renewal and maintenance, and capital investment is needed. These aspects can also become potential directions for cooperation between China and France.”
China remains a hot spot for global investment
On the 8th, Wang Wentao said in his meeting with Le Maire that this year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France. Under the strategic guidance of the diplomacy between the two heads of state, China-France economic and w88 relations have continued to deepen, and cooperation has broad prospects.
Wang Wentao said that in 2023, bilateral w88 will reach US$78.9 billion, China's imports from France will increase by 5.5%, the bilateral w88 balance will be further improved, and two-way investment and cooperation in emerging fields will flourish.
He said that China is willing to work with France to implement the relevant economic and w88 consensus reached by leaders of both sides, promote the achievement of more economic and w88 results, and promote the resolution of each other's major economic and w88 concerns.
Le Maire said that France attaches great importance to its economic and w88 relations with China and appreciates the measures China has taken to expand imports from France. We are willing to strengthen dialogue and communication with China, promote the achievement of more economic and w88 results, and properly resolve relevant differences.
On the same day, Wang Wentao held talks with Liszt, the foreign w88 ministerial representative of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Wang Wentao said that currently, China is promoting high-quality development, accelerating the development of new productive forces, and actively creating a fair competitive environment for domestic and foreign-funded enterprises, which will provide greater market opportunities for European enterprises, including France. China is willing to work with France to give full play to the role of existing economic and w88 mechanisms, manage differences through dialogue and cooperation, and promote the resolution of each other's major and reasonable concerns.
Liszt said that France supports free w88, is willing to listen to the demands of Chinese-funded enterprises in France, and is committed to creating a fair competitive environment for enterprises. France appreciates China's measures to optimize the business environment and expand imports from France. It is hoped that both sides will work together to properly resolve relevant differences in the economic and w88 fields.
At the "Invest in China" French Enterprises Roundtable held in Paris, France, China also emphasized again that China's door is opening wider and wider, and will actively promote the implementation of 24 foreign investment regulations, optimize the business environment, and welcome French enterprises to actively invest in China and share China's development opportunities.
During the meeting, the responsible comrades of the Foreign Investment Department of the Ministry of Commerce answered questions and demands on China's business environment and market access to French companies one by one.
The participating French companies said that through this roundtable meeting, they can further understand China's business environment and policies and measures to attract foreign investment, strengthen their confidence in investment and development in China, and are willing to continue to understand China, seize opportunities, invest in China, and seek more development opportunities in China.
Zhao Yongsheng said that China and France also have cooperation prospects in traditional economic fields. For example, France's infrastructure in high-speed rail and bridges is old and in urgent need of large-scale renewal and maintenance. It requires capital and good infrastructure construction capabilities.
He explained that from the data, bilateral w88 will reach US$78.9 billion in 2023. If China and France can carry out some large-scale infrastructure projects, such as renovation projects or reconstruction projects, the scale of economic and w88 volume between China and France can increase immediately.
France’s actual investment in China increased by 585.8% from January to February this year
Data from the Ministry of Commerce shows that the actual amount of foreign capital used from January to February 2024 was 215.09 billion yuan. The person in charge of the Foreign Investment Department of the Ministry of Commerce said that from a structural perspective, from January to February, 1,865 new foreign-invested enterprises were established in the high-tech industry, a year-on-year increase of 32.2%, and the actual use of foreign investment was 71.44 billion yuan, accounting for 33.2% of the country's actual use of foreign investment, which was 1.2 percentage points higher than the proportion in the same period in 2023 (32%). Among them, the actual use of foreign investment in high-tech manufacturing was 28.27 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10.1%. This fully proves that as we continue to promote high-quality economic development, foreign investment in China is also constantly transforming and upgrading.
Judging from the source, investment in China from some developed economies has grown rapidly. From January to February, actual investment in China from France, Spain, Australia, and Germany increased by 585.8%, 399.3%, 144.5%, and 19.8% respectively. Although some countries are promoting the repatriation of industries and capital and introducing investment restrictions related to China, which have interfered with normal cross-border investment decisions, many multinational companies still choose to invest in China.
Zhao Yongsheng believes that cooperation between China and France in traditional fuel vehicles may be limited because France cannot compete with Germany. However, in the field of new energy, there are currently investment cooperation opportunities between China and France.
Zhao Yongsheng recently test-drove several French hydrogen energy vehicles in France. He personally feels that France still has a comparative advantage in this regard. "In terms of hydrogen vehicles, France, Germany, Japan and South Korea all have technological advantages, and France can be regarded as a strong country in hydrogen energy. If China and France strengthen cooperation in this area, on the one hand, China and France will be highly complementary, and on the other hand, the amount of capital investment in this field will be large, which can also effectively alleviate some of the current economic and w88 differences between China and France." Zhao Yongsheng said.
According to France’s National Hydrogen Strategy, France plans to build 6.5GW of low-carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030, which may increase to 10GW by 2035. Capacity will come from France's low-carbon electricity mix, nuclear and renewable energy sources, subject to each plant's supply options, consistent with the principle of technology neutrality between renewable and low-carbon hydrogen.
From the perspective of new energy electric vehicles, which China has a comparative advantage in, France’s current attitude is rather entangled.
At the end of 2023, France announced a list of models that meet the standards for electric vehicle subsidies, in which some Chinese-made electric vehicle models were excluded.
At the regular press conference of the Ministry of Commerce on December 21, 2023, Ministry of Commerce spokesperson Shu Jueting said in response to relevant questions that at the end of September this year, the French government launched new regulations for electric vehicle subsidies, and recently introduced a further list of models that meet the subsidy standards. China expressed serious concern about this and believed that the relevant measures constituted discrimination against electric vehicles produced outside the EU and harmed the interests of all parties, including French consumers.
Shu Jueting said that she hopes France will abide by WTO rules, proceed from the overall situation of maintaining the stability of the global production and supply chain and the healthy and stable development of green and low-carbon industries, and provide a fair, non-discriminatory and predictable market environment for enterprises from all over the world, including Chinese enterprises.
Zhao Yongsheng told China Business News: "France is currently adopting a defensive approach in this regard. Other southern European countries also hold similar views on this point. Unlike Germany and Eastern European countries, which can conduct in-depth cooperation with China, such as setting up factories, etc." He said that France is opposed to the export of complete vehicles to France or simple assembly in France, and it has no objection to Chinese companies setting up factories in France.
Zhao Yongsheng believes that in the future, if Chinese companies invest in France and directly set up factories, one factory can usually provide local employment for 3,000-5,000 people, and France will be more receptive. In short, when it comes to electric vehicle cooperation, "greenfield investment is the first choice."
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