China and the European Union are two major forces in maintaining world peace, two major markets in promoting common development, and two major civilizations in promoting human progress. With global significance and strategic impact, the relations between China and the EU go beyond the bilateral sphere and are all the more relevant under the current circumstances. Since 2022, China-EU relations have remained generally stable, and the two sides have had frequent highlevel engagements, kept a sound momentum in economic, trade and investment cooperation, seen positive progress with major cooperation projects, and maintained close communication on international issues, creating a relatively stable environment for cooperation between their businesses
and peoples.
In 2022, China and the EU overcame the difficulties of turbulence in the international situation and uncertainty in the global economic recovery, and maintained a sustained growth momentum in their bilateral trade in goods and the trade volume increased steadily. China and the EU were each other’s second largest trading partner. Throughout the year, bilateral trade in goods between China and the EU totaled RMB 5,646.798 billion, up 5.6% year-on-year. In 2021, direct investment flows from Chinese enterprises to the EU amounted to USD 7.86 billion, ranking third in China’s total outbound direct investment (ODI) flows and first in terms of China’s ODI stocks to developed economies. China has always supported the European integration process and the EU’s position on strategic autonomy.
However, in 2022, the EU saw a rise in protectionism and a negative tendency of decoupling between countries and their respective trading blocs as well as breaking of the supply chain. The business environment continued to get worse, causing unabated negative impact on Chinese enterprises investing and operating in the EU.
In order to fully reflect the voices of Chinese enterprises in Europe and help the EU improve its business environment, the CCPIT Academy has conducted a survey on the business environment of the EU for five consecutive years. The research team has comprehensively reviewed the laws and policies introduced by the EU and its member states, distributed 600 questionnaires through various channels at home and abroad, received 298 completed questionnaires, and surveyed 71 enterprises in Europe through field visits, online and offline seminars, etc. The enterprises generally reported that although the EU business environment is still attractive, there are four major problems that have seriously affected them over the year.
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