We are the best friends -- An interview with Mr. Klaus Ebermann, EU ambassador to China

"China is not only one of the biggest trade partners of the EU but also a best friend!" With a learned and refined manner, Mr. Klaus Ebermann said, I, as a friend, am still thinking of what else I can do for the other party except the lecture on the "EU Eastward Expansion & its Influence on China" when he finished his short visit to Changchun. The lecture was delivered at the invitation of the European Study Center of Jilin University during his short stay there

Of German origin, Mr. Klaus Ebermann, EU ambassador to China is a senior diplomat. He studied law and economy in Hamburg and Berlin when was young and started to take up a post in the European Community in 1974. The long life in diplomatic missions offered him a chance to experience the development of friendly cooperation between China and the European Union. Starting from 2001, Mr. Klaus Ebernann began to assume the EU ambassador to China and this offered him a more direct and broader arena for promoting the development of the Sino-EU relations for friendship cooperation.

EU, a hopeful biggest trade partner of China
"The EU is going to be a trade partner of more and more importance for China and a more closely-related partner at that," the ambassador said, to seek for further development of trade and economic cooperation between the EU and China is the common wishes of the two parties. The EU-China trade hit a record high in 2003, an increase of 44.4 percent as compared to that of the previous year. The EU has become the 3rd big trade partner of China while China the 2nd big trade partner of the EU, next only to the USA. This year has witnessed a continuous favorable development of the EU-China economy and trade with the bilateral cooperation deepened in the fields of investment, science and technology and culture. "It is quite possible for the EU to take the place of the USA and become the biggest trade partner of China in future," said he full of confidence.

The EU-China economy and trade is strongly complementary to each other. China is the biggest developing country, featuring a most promising market in the present-day world while the EU occupies an important position in the world economy. Last May, the EU realized its biggest historic expansion and the EU strength is sure to be strengthened again. In recent years, Chinese enterprises do not feel satisfied with buying in some equipment but want to establish joint ventures with, or put up their own factories in, the EU countries. The bi-directional investment began to appear between the EU and China and there appeared a good tendency of getting into each other's market. The EU investment in China has taken on two special features: one is to look far into the future, for example the investment in China's auto-industry, he said. The FAW proves to be a fine example the EU investment has achieved in China. The other is that the EU has not only brought into China its products but also its science and technology and research and development programs. Premier Wen Jiabao's successful visit to Europe has proved that The EU and China are the two powerful forces exerting increasing influence in the world today and the bilateral partnership is tending to be maturer. He said the large companies of China have already accumulated considerable strength in the cooperation with the EU enterprises and they've got to know more about the EU market. Maybe it's no longer necessary for us to offer them any more help. However, the smaller and medium enterprises of China are relatively weaker in this respect and need more of our help to establish connections for cooperation with the EU. The EU-China summit meeting is going to be held in the coming December in Holland, at which it will be taken up for discussion, he believed.

"So far as I know, the EU has a lot of items to be introduced into China," Dr. K. Ebermann told the reporter. The items include those for social guarantee, for transformation of enterprises, for environmental protection and river treatment and some other items in regard of helping China to gain benefits in the international organizations under the WTO framework. An investment item valued at 250 million Euro dollars is now being carried out. Dr. K. Ebermann expressed the EU will offer China some help based on its own experience and to share it with China.

EU-China science, technology and education cooperation of great importance
Mr. K. Ebermann laid a very great stress on the EU-China cooperation in the fields of science, technology and education. He said, in the past two years, the sci-tech research institutions in Changchun, Jilin Province and other regions of China as well as other institutes of higher learning have established good cooperation with the EU. He often talked with friends in Chinese business circle by saying that when you have trade dealings with any enterprise from among the 25 EU countries it means that you'll have opportunities to get in touch with all the EU enterprises. And "likewise once a Chinese institute of higher learning has established a good cooperation with any institute of the 25 EU countries it means that it has chances to set up good cooperation with all those institutes of higher learning of the EU. The colleges and institutes of higher learning in the EU have set up a very close connection among themselves with broadband Internet to bridge them up and it's possible for them to have a quick exchange of information. And the Internet connection among schools will be introduced into China. The students in the EU institutes of higher learning under the support of scholarship are allowed to shift for studies in among other schools. This is being spread out in other parts of the world and the item will soon be introduced into China too.

"To rejuvenate the old industrial base of northeast China is a strategic measure of importance that the Chinese government has recently brought up," Mr. Ebermann said. The EU has already set its foot in it for rejuvenating the old industrial base in northeast China and the EU countries are carrying out some items for cooperation with Liaoning, including in which are city planning, environmental protection and river treatment. A few months ago, Dr. Ebermann had a discussion with the provincial governor of Jilin in Beijing on which fields the EU countries may play their part in cooperation with China for the rejuvenation of the old industrial base in northeast China. And his coming to Changchun this time brought the matter up again for discussion with the provincial officials of Jilin Province. " In Changchun I saw many construction sites, giving me an impression of vigorousness and vitality," Mr. Ebermann said. Some European countries such as Germany and Poland have already taken a great liking of Jilin. And he was very pleased to have come to Changchun this time and came to know in person the environment and conditions in northeast China so as to see what else the EU countries can do for the rejuvenation of the old industrial base in northeast China.

This article is carried on People's Daily of Jun.9 and translated by People's Daily Online



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