China-EU Business & Technology Matchmaking Conference Successfully Held

Foreign Ministry: Complementary Advantages Achieve Mutual Benefit and Win-Win for China and Europe

On November 26, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning presided over the regular press conference. A reporter from The Paper asked: According to reports, the 18th China-EU Investment, Trade, and Technology Cooperation Matchmaking Conference (EU-China Matchmaking Conference) was recently successfully held in Chengdu. What are your views on China-EU economic and trade cooperation? What comments does China have on this?

Mao Ning stated: Since its inception in 2002, the EU-China Matchmaking Conference has been held 18 times, attracting over 12,000 Chinese and European enterprises to participate and resulting in more than 3,300意向性合作 agreements. It is the investment, trade, and innovation cooperation platform with the highest participation of EU member states, the broadest involvement of European companies, and the largest scale of China-EU exchanges. The economies of China and Europe are highly complementary, with deeply intertwined interests. Economic and trade cooperation serves as the ballast stone of bilateral relations.

Mao Ning added: Over the 50 years since China and the EU established diplomatic relations, trade volume has increased from $2.4 billion to over $780 billion, and two-way investment stock has grown to over $270 billion. Currently, 25 EU member states enjoy visa-free policies from China, and the China-Europe Railway Express has made nearly 120,000 trips, reaching over 200 cities in 26 European countries.

"Complementary advantages have achieved mutual benefit and win-win outcomes, bringing tangible benefits to the people of both sides. We are willing to continue strengthening economic and trade cooperation with Europe to promote the healthy and stable development of China-EU relations. We also hope that Europe will firmly uphold its commitment to openness and seize the important opportunities presented by China's development," she said.