« Both China and EU are important players in the world’s economy ; and for China, Europe has always been considered as an important partner”
Part I. ZHANG YI JIN,CCPIT and AECBL
This is the first STORY of a series of articles looking at our question : « during the pandemic how exploring new areas of cooperation between Europe and China ? »
PART 1. Today LHCH met ZHANG YI JIN, Assistant Representative at China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, CCPIT* Representative Office in Belgium and Treasurer at The Association of Chinese Enterprises in Belgium and Luxembourg, AECBL**
LHCH : from the beginning of the COVID-19 Outbreak till now, how did you concretely react ?
ZHANG YI JIN : firstly, the CCPIT representative office in Belgium has been taking full advantages of the role as international trade promoting platform. To help easing the local shortage of medical supplies, we provide matchmaking services for our European partners and companies, putting them in contact with trustworthy Chinese manufactures and exporters of medical goods.
Secondly, upon requests from our partners, with the assistance of our colleagues from the legal department in CCPIT headquarter, we also provide legal consulting services to Belgian companies including verifying the credibility of their Chinese suppliers, the authentication of the products certificates, and offering advices in in resolving trade disputes between Belgian and Chinese companies, etc.
In a nutshell, we have been joining hands with our Belgian and European partners to provide assistances to both Chinese and European companies, promoting the cooperation between companies from both sides during this difficult time.
Meanwhile, as the Secretariat of AECBL, our office has also been actively involved in organizing Chinese invested companies in Belgium to fight against COVID-19.
LHCH: what about your member companies staff ?
ZHANG YI JIN: at very beginning of the outbreak, we reminded our member companies to draft their own anti-epidemic measures and emergency response plans accordingly, doing their best to provide protection for their employees.
LHCH: please give us some examples about Chinese companies helping Belgian hospitals
ZHANG YI JIN : moreover, we organized initiatives to our member companies, and encouraged them to step up to donate medical supplies and funds to Belgian medical institutes. In addition, our office also got in contact with Brussels Saint-Luc Hospital, and calling on our members to donate to Fondation Saint-Luc, providing financial help to the hospital to meet the high need during the crisis.
In total, our AECBL members donated 11,500.00 euros to Fondation Saint-Luc, and donated medical supplies worth of 348,462.00 euros, including medical masks, protective clothing, ventilators, disinfection equipment and etc., to several Belgian hospitals.
Some beneficiaries also posted relevant articles on their official websites, expressing their gratitude to the donation of the relevant Chinese companies.
Furthermore, we also provide assistances to our member companies, organizing webinars such as seminars on COVID-19 related laws in Belgium, and video conferences for our member companies to exchanges ideas and experiences about how to better implement health protection measures, and so on.
LHCH: during these difficult period, did you hear about any touching stories between Chinese and European companies ?
ZHANG YI JIN: at the very beginning when China was suffering from the epidemic, we received letters of condolences from our partners, such as Belgian-Chinese Chamber of Commerce, China EU. All of these letters are very warm-hearted and extremely supportive, and promised to “stand ready to provide any assistance in every possible way”. In returns, we have also sent them our letters to express our commitment to join hands with them and stand united to fight against COVID-19, and to mitigate the adverse effects of the epidemic on the economy.
>> « No country is immune to the pandemic »
I believe that in times of adversity, these letters are the reflections of the spirit of the community with a shared future for mankind.
LHCH : according to your expertise, how the commercial relations between China and Europe will evolve in the future? What will be the role you will have to play in the new situation?
ZHANG YI JIN: I am no expert, but I think the commercial relations between China and EU will continue to thrive.
Both China and EU are important players in the world’s economy, and China has always regards Europe as an important partner.
According to the report Business Environment of the European Union 2019/2020 issued by CCPIT Academy, in 2019, China-EU relations have maintained a momentum of solid and steady progress: the two sides concluded the negotiations on Geographical Indication, and also signed two agreements on aviation cooperation; on the economic and trade front, there were also abundant achievements. In 2019, the value of China-EU trade amounted to 4.86 trillion RMB, up by 8 percent year-on-year.
As mentioned by Ambassador Zhang Ming during his online “strategic dialogue” with Shada, a scholar of the European think tank “Friend of Europe” on 24th April, 2020, COVID-19 is affecting the original schedule between China and the EU, but it does not paralyze the communication between China and EU. The pandemic shows once again, that China and EU should be partners, not rivals.
Despite of the epidemic, we can see that the discussion on bilateral investment treaty is still going on, and it is reported that progress is being made. So I think it is a positive sign.
LHCH : so the pandemic could be an opportunity for both China and EU to explore new areas of cooperation ?
Some experts think that the pandemic could be an opportunity for both China and EU to explore new areas of cooperation, such as healthcare, digital economy, etc.
As for our office, with the further developed trade relations, I think we will work more closely with our partners, and remain a bridge between China and Belgium, between China and Europe, to coordinate between the governments and business communities, and to provide better services to Chinese and European companies
—
CCPIT*: established in May 1952, CCPIT, comprises enterprises, organizations and Representative players of the economic and trade sectors in China. With the approval of the Chinese government, CCPIT established China Chamber of International Commerce (CCOIC) in 1988.
AECBL** : established on May 21 2004, is the leading association of Chinese enterprises in Belgium and Luxembourg, and aims to promote trade, economic cooperation and investment between China and Belgium, Luxembourg.
Among AECBL members are many well-known Chinese enterprises in various industries, i.e. international trade, transportation, port terminal operations, banking and finance, engineering and technical services, hotel management, technology R&D, and manufacturing. In recent years, AECBL has focused on organizing member-oriented events to better support its members.
