According to the website of the Ministry of Commerce, on December 18th, the Ministry of Commerce held a regular press conference.

At the meeting, a reporter from the German news agency asked me two questions. The first question is that the Wall Street Journal reported that in the acquisition of a port in Panama, China's state-owned shipping giant COSCO Shipping is required to obtain a controlling stake in the transaction, otherwise it may prevent the transaction from going through. May I ask if the Ministry of Commerce can confirm?

The second issue is that French President Macron commented in the Financial Times that during his last visit to China, he also emphasized that either China will rebalance its economic relationship with the EU, or the EU will have to take protectionist measures. May I ask, what is the comment of the Ministry of Commerce on this?

The spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce, He Yadong, stated that regarding the sale of overseas port assets by Changhe, relevant departments have previously issued multiple statements. The Chinese government will conduct review and supervision in accordance with the law, protect fair market competition, safeguard social public interests, and resolutely safeguard national sovereignty, security, and development interests.

Regarding your second question, we have taken note of the relevant statement. The Chinese side always believes that the essence of China EU economic and trade relations is complementary advantages and mutual benefit. The economic and trade cooperation between China and Europe is the result of multiple factors such as the stage of economic development, differences in industrial structure, and changes in market demand.

The Chinese side has noticed that the European Union has recently increased its economic and trade restrictions on China. Since the beginning of this year, it has launched 12 trade remedy investigations and 3 foreign subsidy investigations against China, preventing multiple Chinese companies from participating in public procurement and green space investment in EU member states.

We hope that the EU and China will work together to abide by the important consensus reached at the China EU Leaders' Meeting, jointly oppose protectionism, maintain market openness, restrain and prudently use restrictive economic and trade tools, and provide a fair, transparent, non discriminatory, and predictable business environment for Chinese enterprises to conduct trade and investment cooperation in Europe.

Complementary advantages? What advantages does the EU have? Doing business with China is a pure loss, and not doing business with China is also a dead end. It's just the difference between dying early and dying late

Europe still has comparative advantages over China in areas such as machinery, mechatronics, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, financial services, asset management, energy, food, higher education, and basic research; Europe remains the second largest study abroad destination in the world (accounting for 30% of global international students, while China only accounts for 7%); The per capita GDP of the Eurozone is three times that of China; As the world's second largest reserve and payment currency, the euro accounts for 32% -35% of international payments, which is 10 times the share of RMB payments (3.6% of RMB payments); If you call these 'where is the advantage', then I suggest you open your eyes and see the world. It is timely for China Europe cooperation to develop while the United States is aging and groggy. Unfortunately, many European lawmakers and political parties, either sponsored by the United States or even more confused than Americans, may find it difficult to achieve their goals.

Laney 发表于 2025-12-19 12:46
Europe still has comparative advantages over China in areas such as machinery, mechatronics, pharmac ...

In the field of chip manufacturing and display technology, there should be something left for Japan and South Korea, while the European Union has nothing left

Macron always makes a fuss about it. He begged to visit China and started making moves when he returned home

向北方 发表于 2025-12-19 12:46
Macron always makes a fuss about it. He begged to visit China and started making moves when he retur ...

Yeah, but if we stand in his shoes and don't make any moves every time, the French will have to mess with him

Didn't Macron just visit China? Did you turn your back when you went back?

Macron is a real villain, so it's not wrong for Trump to humiliate him underground.

Last time this product came to China, it was received with high standards. My comment was: I hope this product lives up to the high standards of reception given to it by the Chinese people! High standard reception is such a waste of facial expressions for such goods!

The Chinese side always believes that the essence of China EU economic and trade relations is complementary advantages and mutual benefit. We can learn from Germany's automotive technology, France's aircraft engine technology, and the local languages of the UK, which are worth learning from..