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Trade in services and bilateral investment between China and the EU are still low and a bilateral investment agreement is needed, Martin Schulz,says. Provided to China Daily |
Continent can play key role in China, candidate for European commission presidency says
Martin Schulz, a candidate to become next president of the European Commission, says the relationship with China still offers "great untapped potential".
Trade between China and the European Union is worth more than 1 billion euros ($1.37 billion) a day, but exchanges between the two sides are overwhelmingly concentrated in goods.
"Our trade in services and our bilateral investments are still depressingly low," Shulz says. "A successful bilateral investment agreement is needed to top this up."
In the May 22-25 European elections, Schulz, 58, a former bookshop owner from Germany, aims to swap his presidency of the European Parliament for what most would regard as the more influential position of EC chief, replacing the outgoing president Jose Manuel Barroso, who has served two five-year terms.
A recent survey in Germany by the news magazine Stern showed that 41 percent of respondents would like Schulz, candidate of the center-left Socialists and Democrats, to become commission president, while only 24 percent favored his main rival, the former Luxembourg prime minister Jean-Claude Juncker, candidate of the center-right European People's Party.
Schulz is backed by his own German Social Democratic Party and received the support of 21 socialist member parties across Europe.
For Schulz, the recent landmark visit of President Xi Jinping to the European Parliament and European institutions illustrated the importance that the new Chinese leader attaches to healthy EU-China relations.
In recent years, Schulz says Europe has slowly moved away from viewing China as the primary threat to EU jobs due to cheap labor, and now sees it as a country that offers a "host of opportunities, not without risks" to ensure Europe's continued prosperity.
Much has been written in Europe about Xi's Chinese Dream of national renewal, but Schulz says the term remains "somewhat ambiguous".
"A dream should not be set in stone," he says. "People should be able to juggle with it and decide it in the way they see fit for themselves.
"Judged by deeds, the translation of the Chinese Dream into reality has so far proven forward-looking, open and peaceful. The reformist agenda put forth by President Xi is one that takes stock of the long-term trajectory of the Chinese economy and society and sets out a plan for continued growth, prosperity and greater environmental sustainability.
"The bulk of the reform program continues on the path of enlarging the opportunities for China's middle-class."
Measures such as relating to the one-child policy, the intensified fight against corruption, the central "decisive" place occupied by the market in economic and social development, the reform of the household registration system and the reform of the system of re-education through labor camps are the product of a reform-minded leadership, he says.
Commentators have also looked with optimism at the response of the Chinese leadership to the changing paradigm, looking for more balanced growth though increased domestic demand and a freer internal market rather than relying mainly on exports as the main driver of growth.
Schulz, who is now one of the longest-serving members of the European Parliament, having been elected in 1994, says EU-China relations are solid.
"If we look at where we started some 35 years ago and where we stand now, the strength of our interdependence could hardly be overstated."
China is the EU's second-largest trading partner and the EU is China's biggest trading partner. China's bilateral trade in goods with the EU increased one hundred-fold between 1978 (4 billion euros) and 2012 (now 433.6 billion euros). EU exports to China have more than doubled in the past five years, contributing to rebalancing Europe's trade deficit. Also, as shown by recent agreements on solar panels, polysilicon and wine, cooperation and conciliation can be successfully reached, he says.
"The EU and China have also deepened relations politically. The yearly EU-China Summit has helped improve mutual understanding and coordination of policy choices.
"At the last summit, the synergies between the EU and Chinese policy actions were strengthened with the adoption of the EU-China 2020 Strategic Agenda for Cooperation, which laid down a constructive basis for further cooperation.
"The parliamentary dimension of this cooperation through the European Parliament delegation to China and the National People's Congress has also gathered pace."
Schulz worked in a publishing house before entering politics. At 31, he was the youngest ever mayor in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. His hopes for a football career were dashed by a knee injury in his youth.
He welcomes the importance the new Chinese leader attaches to healthy EU-China relations and says Xi, with his recent European visit, showed that he "understands the European Union more than some Europeans do".
"When I recently asked an economic expert, during a conference on EU-China relations, what he thought the main priorities of President Xi's visit to Europe were, he said: 'I think his three priorities are: trade, trade and trade.'
"Well, international trade is an exclusive competence of the EU. The bilateral investment agreement with the EU is the most strategically important text currently being debated between the EU and China and could be a precursor to a more ambitious measure. Gathering sufficient support from the European Parliament in future commercial negotiations will be essential, but not necessarily easy."
For Europe's commercial relations to flourish, Shulz says dialogue and trust must be reinforced "in all their dimensions", including political, parliamentary, commercial and relating to human rights.
In a recent interview carried by the social networking service LinkedIn, Schulz said: "The parliament believes that for our partnership to succeed the EU must not be in contradiction with the fundamental values that the EU wishes to promote through its external policies. We have therefore called for social and environmental criteria, human rights, the fight against counterfeiting, security, workers' and consumers' rights, public health and safety, to be included in any future agreement.
"This concern with values and basic rights is a defining feature of the European Parliament and the EU both internally and in their external actions. That is why we devote so much of our attention to these issues, whether in our relations with China or any other country."
With the socialists expected to make big gains in this month's elections, Schulz is seen as a serious contender for what is arguably Europe's top job. Many are demanding that the appointment of the next president directly reflect the outcome of the poll and Schulz says he would do the job with "passion, selflessness and resolve".
If he fails, he has no ambitions to re-enter German politics and will seek another five-year term in Brussels as a relatively humble member of parliament.
Whatever the outcome, Schulz is convinced of one thing - Europe can contribute to the Chinese Dream.
"China, with its stated support for European integration, will help to forge a more integrated and prosperous EU," he says. "And Europe has a big role to play in the fulfillment of the Chinese dream."
For China Daily
(China Daily European Weekly 05/16/2014 page28)
