On December 12, 2023, the day after the conclusion of the Doha Forum in Qatar, Wang Huiyao, Chairman of the Center for Globalization (CCG), returned to Beijing to attend the annual meeting of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, where he gathered with EU embassy envoys, economists, think tank leaders, business executives from China and the EU, as well as experts and scholars in the field of globalization studies, to discuss current key issues such as China-EU cooperation, economic recovery, and geopolitics. At the annual meeting, the President of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, Jens Eskelund, delivered the opening speech, and the Ambassador of the European Union to China, H. Tuoe.Jorge Toledo delivered a keynote speech, and Adam Dunnett, Secretary General of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, presided over the annual meeting.
The annual meeting of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China focused on the theme of "Restoring Economic Vitality in a De-risking Environment", focusing on "China's Economic Review and Prospects" and "De-risking and Self-reliance – What Does the Future Hold?"."Geopolitics in 2024 - Expectations for the Development of China-EU Relations" and other topics were set up in three sessions.
CCG Chairman Wang Huiyao participated in the panel discussion on "Geopolitics in 2024: Expectations for the Development of China-EU Relations". Guests included J R.G. Wuttke, Chief Representative of BASF China, William Klein, Consulting Partner of FGS Global and former Minister of the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, and Sitao Xu, Chief Economist and Partner of Deloitte China. Yan Ci, President of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, presided over the meeting.
In his speech, Chairman Wang Huiyao stressed that decoupling between China and the EU is not realistic. He pointed out that in order to combat climate change, Europe should make full use of China's clean energy technology, and should not be influenced by ideology and geopolitics. Taking new energy vehicles as an example, China has now become the R&D center, production center and chain center of new energy vehicles, and decoupling from China will limit the international influence of European auto companies. He said that China's trial expansion of the unilateral visa-free policy has had a very good impact on the international community, reflecting China's sincerity in opening up more and has been warmly welcomed by the five European countries. He believes that as a higher level of opening up in China, China can also consider unilaterally opening up the terms reached in the China-EU bilateral investment agreement to some friendly and cooperative EU countries, such as Hungary and Greece, or countries with more economic cooperation such as Germany and France, and take the lead in opening up the terms of the China-EU two-way investment agreement, so as to promote a higher level of opening up, strengthen China's attractiveness and cooperation with the world, so as to finally achieve mutual and comprehensive opening up and ensure that the results of the negotiations are not in vain.
Also present at the annual meeting of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China were: Zhu Ning, Head of Brunswick Group China, He Wei, Economist of Longzhou Economic Consulting, D**id Zeng, Director of Corporate Affairs of Merck China, Wendy Wu, Political Economy Editor of South China Morning Post, Frank Schmiedel, Chief Counsellor of the EU Delegation to China, Stefan Bernhart, Vice President of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, and Carlo, Vice President of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China Diego D'Andrea, Soeren Meyer, Vice-Chair of the ICT Working Group of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, Mariann Nagy, Policy and Communications Manager, the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, etc.
Founded in 2000, the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China currently has more than 1,700 members in 7 chapters and operates in 9 cities: Beijing, Nanjing, Shanghai, Shenyang, South China (Guangzhou and Shenzhen), Southwest China (Chengdu, Chongqing) and Tianjin. The goal is to build a common voice for the various business sectors in the EU and for European companies operating in China.
As a leading international think tank in China, CCG has been committed to research in the fields of globalization, global governance, and international relations, and actively participates in and promotes exchanges between people from all walks of life in related fields**. On December 3, 2019, the 2019 Annual Meeting of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China "Is there a future for globalization?"."It was successfully held in Beijing, and CCG Chairman Wang Huiyao attended the meeting, contributing the wisdom of think tanks to further enhance global governance, better promote economic globalization, and give full play to the unique advantages and role of non-governmental think tanks.