Lithuanian Media Publish a Signed Article by Ambassador Shen Zhifei Entitled Looking Forward to the New Spring for China-EU Cooperation
驻立陶宛大使申知非在立主流媒体发表署名文章《期待中欧合作新的春天》
20 March 2018
2018年3月20日
On March 20th, 2018, the Lithuania Tribune, published a signed article by H. E. Mr. Shen Zhifei, Chinese Ambassador to the Republic of Lithuania, entitled Looking Forward to the New Spring for China-EU Cooperation. The full text is as follows:
2018年3月20日，立陶宛主流媒体《立陶宛论坛报》网站刊发驻立陶宛大使申知非的署名文章《期待中欧合作新的春天》。全文如下：
With the development of China and the continuous deepening of reform and opening up, the business community in both China and Europe are looking forward to a new spring of the two-way investment and economic and trade relations between China and the EU. However, at this time, some people in the EU have put forward a proposal to establish a strict screening for investment from non-EU countries such as China. Lithuanian media call it “the EU is building a Chinese wall”. This motive, just like the “late spring cold” that Europe has encountered recently, cast a layer of frost on the upcoming spring.
随着中国的发展和改革开放的不断深化，中欧企业界都在期待中欧双向投资和经贸关系将会迎来新的春天。然而，欧盟中一些人在此时提出对来自中国等非欧盟国家的投资设立严格审查制度，立陶宛学者称之为“欧盟正在筑起中国墙”。这一消息恰如近日欧洲遭遇的“倒春寒”，又给即将到来的春天蒙上一层冰霜。
Those politicians who proposed to strictly examine China’s investment in Europe argue that China’s investment may threaten the EU’s security and public order. I can only interpret this argument as ill-timed thinking, politicizing economic and trade relations, and reversing the trend of economic globalization and liberalization of trade and investment.
那些提议严审中国对欧投资的政客认为，中国投资可能威胁到欧盟的安全和公共秩序，我只能将这种论调解读为不合时宜的思维，是将经贸关系政治化，是逆全球化潮流而动的。
People who have wisdom and vision will surely understand that restricting China’s investment will bring limit to the development of the EU enterprises. China-EU economic and trade cooperation is mutually beneficial and win-win. China is the second largest trade partner, the largest source of imports, and the second largest export market of the EU. Since the international financial crisis, China’s exports to the EU have grown by an average of 1.8% per year, and 5.8% conversely. Bilateral trade volume exceeds 1 million U.S. dollars per minute, with more than 600 flights per week between China and the EU, and up to 150 China-EU Railways per month. The funds, technology and managerial experience from Europe have helped China’s industrialization process. The generous returns from investment in China have also become an important support for the development of European enterprises. China’s vast market has brought huge profits to 16,000 European enterprises investing in China. In the foreign investment that China attracts, Germany and France are among the top 15 countries. Total investment of Germany and France in China was 28.18 billion U.S. dollars and 15.73 billion U.S. Dollars by 2016. From Danone yogurt to Volkswagen, their products have been deeply loved by the Chinese people.
智者一定会明白限制中国投资给欧盟企业的发展带来制约。中欧经贸合作是互利双赢的。中国是欧盟第二大贸易伙伴、第一大进口来源地、第二大出口市场。国际金融危机以来，中国对欧盟出口年均增长1.8%，欧盟对华出口年均增长5.8%。每分钟双边贸易额超过100万美元，每周有600多个航班往返于中欧之间，每月中欧班列运行多达150列。来自欧洲的资金、技术和管理经验，助力中国工业化进程，对华投资带来的丰厚回报也成为欧洲企业发展的重要支撑。中国广阔的市场为1.6万家欧洲在华投资企业带来了丰厚利润。在中国吸引的外商投资中，德国、法国都是名列前15的国家，截至2016年，德国和法国对华投资总量分别为281.8亿美元和157.3亿美元，从大众汽车到达能酸奶，早已深受中国人民的喜爱。
China’s investment in Europe has created a large number of jobs for European countries and has also brought about technological innovation in China. China-EU cooperation is the inevitable result of complementary advantages, with both peoples benefiting from it. China has set up 2,700 enterprises in the EU and employed 133,700 local employees by 2016. China’s investment in the EU is mainly concentrated in countries such as Netherlands, Luxembourg, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France now. The total investment in Germany and France is 7.8 billion U.S. dollars and 5.1 billion U.S. dollars. China’s investment in other EU countries also shows a rapid growth trend.
中国企业对欧投资为欧洲各国创造了大量就业岗位，同时也带来了中国技术创新。中欧合作是优势互补的必然结果，双方人民都从中受益。截至2016年，中国在欧盟共设立企业2700家，雇用本地员工13.37万人，中国在欧盟的投资目前主要集中在荷兰、卢森堡、英国、德国和法国等国家，其中在德国和法国的投资总额分别为78亿美元和51亿美元。中国对其他欧盟国家的投资也呈现了快速增长的趋势。
China has never set unreasonable restrictions on investment from Europe. I wonder how the most active EU countries in the two-way investment will feel about “the EU building a Chinese wall”. If this wall is really set up, the medium and small-sized European countries that are desperately in need of foreign investment will suffer most. Indeed, China’s investment in the EU has increased in recent years, but the investment has never endangered the so-called national security. In 2016, 37% of China’s investment in the EU flowed to manufacturing, 16% to wholesale and retail, and 14% to business services. The so-called “state-owned background” or “security risks” are actually the lack of understanding of Chinese enterprises. Many Chinese state-owned enterprises are listed, with similar operations standards to those European and American multinationals, and have open as well as transparent performance. In our view, the pattern of mutually complementary and beneficial cooperation between China and the EU has not changed, and the only change is the way of cooperation. On the basis of the “European Investment & Made in China” cooperation, we have now added “China’s Investment & Made in Europe”, “Trilateral Cooperation”, etc. “Made in China 2025” has carried out synergy of development strategies with “German Industry 4.0” “New Industry France” “Made in UK 2050” and other industries of European countries, respectively. Both parties have more intersections of interest and higher interdependence.
中国对来自欧洲的投资从未设立不合理的限制。不知中欧双向投资中最活跃的欧盟国家对“欧盟建造中国墙”做何感想。如果这堵墙真的设立，受损最大的却是那些迫切需要外资的欧洲中小国家。的确，近年来中国在欧盟的投资有所增加，但投资领域从未涉及国家安全领域。2016年，中国在欧盟的投资37%流向制造业，16%流向批发零售业，14% 流向商业服务业。所谓“国有”背景或安全隐患，实际上是对中国企业的不了解，很多中国国企都是上市企业，经营标准与欧美跨国企业相仿，业绩公开透明。在我们看来，中欧互补互利的合作格局没有改变，改变的只是合作的方式。在“欧洲投资+中国制造”合作基础上，现在又增加了“中国投资+欧洲制造”、“三方合作”等方式，“中国制造2025”分别与“德国工业4.0”、“新工业法国”、“英国制造2050”以及其他欧洲国家的产业发展战略实现对接，双方利益交汇点更多、相互依存度更高。
Let us look at China’s investment in Lithuania as an example. Data from Statistics Lithuania shows that, by the end of 2016, the volume of China’s direct investment was only 3.88 Million Euros. How can you call it a threat to Lithuania’s industries? In Lithuania, there are altogether about 50 Chinese enterprises, which have made active contributions to the export, employment and tax revenue of Lithuania. The Chinese enterprises have brought not only capital, but also advanced technologies and management. Let’s take Huawei Company for instance. Huawei cellphones have enjoyed great popularity in Lithuania, while attracting a lot of Lithuanian ICT elite. Furthermore, Huawei Company is willing to share advanced technologies, invites Lithuanian university students to attend training at its headquarters in China through its “Seeds for the future” initiative and now Huawei has become one of the top 50 taxpayers in Lithuania. Undoubtedly one main reason why Chinese companies chose Lithuania as an investment destination is its geographical advantages, by which such Chinese companies in Lithuania as ETI, Elgama, Scandun have succeeded in expanding business in neighboring countries, with more than 80% products and services sold to other countries, leading the growth of Lithuania’s export. Lithuanian talents of high caliber are warmly welcomed by Chinese companies, most of which follow the policy of localization with over 90% of employees from Lithuania. Moreover, Chinese investment has played an active role in merging with the development strategy of Lithuania. Under the background of Lithuania’s implementing its aim to become a FinTech center in the Nordic-Baltic region, several Chinese FinTech companies have opened offices in Vilnius. Lithuanian companies are also encouraged to invest in China and expand Chinese market, without any unjustifiable obstacles and limits.
让我们来看看中国在立陶宛的投资实例。根据立陶宛统计局数据，截至2016年，中国在立投资只有微不足道的388万欧元，对立陶宛的产业威胁无从谈起。在立陶宛的中资企业总共50余家，为立陶宛出口、就业和税收做出积极贡献。中国企业在立陶宛投资，不仅带来资本，也带来了先进的技术和管理，例如华为公司在手机受到立陶宛民众喜爱的同时，也成为了立陶宛通讯人才向往进入的企业，华为积极分享先进技术，邀请立陶宛大学生到总部参加培训，并成为立陶宛前五十纳税大户。立陶宛的区位优势是吸引中资企业在立投资的重要原因，大多数中资企业已经成功拓展周边市场，ETI、Elgama、Scandun等公司80%的产品或服务销往其他国家，带动了立陶宛出口。立陶宛的高素质人才深受中资企业欢迎，大多数公司实行本地化管理，不少企业90%都是立陶宛雇员。此外，中国投资与立陶宛的发展战略积极对接，在立陶宛努力发展金融科技的背景下，多家中国金融科技公司已经落户维尔纽斯。立陶宛企业也在不断进行对华投资，开拓中国市场。他们从未受到来自中方的无理阻挠和限制。
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) put forwarded by China follows the principle of “broad consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits”. Numerous cooperation projects under the framework of BRI have brought tangible benefits the relative countries. There are full consultation and communication between China and investment destination countries, without any political condition added. It was pointed out in the report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China that China’s foreign policies in the new era seek to forge a new form of international relations featuring mutual respect, fairness, justice, and win-win cooperation and to build a community with a shared future for mankind. During the ongoing China’s NPC meeting, Chinese premier Li Keqiang stated that China will continue to its opening up and enlarge the mutual investment.
中国提出的“一带一路”倡议秉持“共商共建共享”原则，相关项目的落地为沿线国家带来了实实在在的成果，受到沿线国人民的欢迎。中国和投资目的地国是经过充分的协商沟通的，也从不附加任何政治条件。中共十九大上明确提出了新时代的外交政策，就是要构建相互尊重、公平正义、合作共赢的新型国际关系，构建人类命运共同体。刚刚召开的全国人大，中国总理在政府工作报告中也明确提出继续扩大开放，促进双向投资的目标。
This year marks the 40th anniversary of China’s reform and opening-up. China’s door will not close to the world but open even wider. China will not impose “imparity clause” upon others or profit at others’ expense. Instead, we are ready to share the benefits with other countries and welcome them aboard the fast train of China’s development. Chinese companies are here for cooperation and win-win results. The European Politicians should not see China’s investment through colored glasses.
2018年是中国改革开放40周年，中国开放的大门不会关闭，只会越开越大。中国不搞“霸王条款”，不占别人便宜，欢迎各国人民搭乘中国发展的“顺风车”。中国企业来到欧洲，为的是寻求合作，寻求共赢。请欧洲不要戴“有色眼”看待来自中国的投资。
It’s a natural law that the spring will certainly come. No such “cold wave” can stop it. We are looking forward to the early arrival of a new spring for China-EU cooperation.
春天一定会到来，这是自然规律，是任何“寒潮”不能阻止的。我们期待中欧合作新的春天早日到来。