Hamburg Summit Closes in on Belt and Road Initiative
November 29, 2018 | BY
Jacelyn JohnsonGlobal leaders spent two days at the "Hamburg Summit: China Meets Europe" discussing collaboration, opportunities and challenges between China and the EU, especially in light of the Belt and Road Initiative.
China's Belt and Road Initiative was a recurring theme at the eight annual Hamburg Summit: China meets Europe. The two-day summit, held on November 26 and 27, saw officials, scholars and entrepreneurs from China and Europe gather in Hamburg, Germany for a conference on international economic cooperation against the backdrop of rising protectionism.
Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, in his opening speech, called for China and Europe to further strengthen their partnership and take on a greater responsibility globally.
“I welcome the opportunities created by the 'one belt, one road initiative,'” he said. “It will bring people and businesses in Asia and Europe closer together. It is a strong signal that China wants closer, faster, and better connections with its main trading partners.”
Li Yizhong, Chairman of the China Federation of Industrial Economics, in his opening speech, stressed on the opportunities created by the BRI in promoting bilateral trade, utilizing digitization and innovation cooperation. He also called for more China-EU financial cooperation, and for the economies to work together to open up new space for research and development and investment.
Li emphasized on the improvements in China's economic figures, which underlined the importance of stability in China-EU bilateral trade. In 2017, China's direct investment into the EU recorded a year-on-year growth of 72.7%, a record high; and bilateral trade volume between China and the EU totaled $623 billion, up 15.5 percent from a year earlier. In the first half of 2018, 60% of Chinese companies' global M&A volume were in the EU.
“The New Silk Road is not only important for China. For a leading industrial nation like Germany, whose prosperity is based on the export of goods and merchandise, this gigantic infrastructure scheme offers many opportunities and possibilities,” said Angela Titzrath, CEO of Hamburger Hafen und Logistik A.G., in her keynote speech, referring to the Belt and Road Initiative.
“For us, this future is also on the Chinese market, where we intend to secure and increase transport on sea and land routes, develop complementary added-value services in digital logistics and open up additional market access to Asia,” said Titzrath.
The panel discussion on China's Belt and Road Initiative – Opportunities and Challenges for Sino-European Economic Relations focused its discussion on connectivity across borders and the inter-dependency nature of working with multiple partners and policies, as well as international collaboration in the IT field.
The two-day summit saw global leaders discuss a variety of China-EU centered economic and trade collaborative issues including the future of mobility, investment cooperation, defining the drivers of China's growth, Made in China 2025 and the rise of digital consumers.
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