F REIGN TRADE - 中国国际贸易促进委员会

EUROPE
Why challenged sector?
EU’s access to the Chinese service
market, although improved in recent
years, remains difficult. Certain key
sectors, such as banking, insurance, and
telecommunications, remain particularly
difficult for EU’s companies to access.
The major complains from the EU
on entering and expanding Chinese
service market are as follows:
(1) Excessive regulatory requirements
that limit service providers. For
example, of the 22,000 telecoms licenses
granted since 2001, only 23 have gone
to foreign companies. Foreign law firms
in China are still not allowed to employ
Chinese lawyers and their employees are
not permitted to participate in bar exams
to gain Chinese qualifications.
(2) Lack of transparency, unfair
implementation of public procurement
awards, and unsatisfactory appeals procedures
has made it very difficult for European
companies to access the Chinese
market in the area of public procurement,
according to European Commission.
For example, within the projects invested
by China’s stimulus package of 4 trillion
RMB, which played a significant role in
infrastructure construction, foreign construction
companies only won 2% of the
contracts. In addition, foreign construction
services are limited to designated
areas, such as contracts wholly financed
by foreign investment.
(3) Unfavorable regulatory environment
for foreign companies which
create an unleveled playing field for
EU companies. 43 % of EU companies
expect the regulatory environment for
foreign companies to worsen in the next
2 years, surveyed by European Commission.
For example, under China’s
Insurance Law, all insurance companies
operating in China must be registered
and all staff or organizations requiring
coverage in China must obtain insurance
from an insurance company established
and registered in China. While
most licensed foreign insurers and all
life insurers are fully incorporated in
China, they are still considered “non-
Chinese” and therefore subject to additional
regulatory requirements and
limitations, beyond those applicable to
local insurance companies.
Huge potential
Although bilateral trade in services
currently plays only a minor role in
EU-China trade, as China continues
to grow, there is huge potential.
EU is more advanced and developed
than China in service industry.
China market is large, and more
importantly, at the initial stage of
service industry development, which
means great opportunities to attract
EU companies.
The saying of “Grasp the China
Opportunity” was stated in the recent
EU parliament policy study. There are
steps which EU is going to take: (a) EU
states need to be better supported by a
more unified EU that takes more account
of the specificities of the China’s
situation; (b) EU needs to increase the
visibility political policies and measures
toward China; and (c) With its technical
expertise and diversity of approaches,
the EU needs to play a leading role in
thinking new economic policies forward.
Change is coming to service trade.
(Authors: Su Dan, undergraduate
of Law School of Central University of
Finance and Economics; Jiang Peng,
PhD of School of Finance of Renmin
University of China)
Links: General growth of EU-China trade
According to China Customs, the EU’s imports from China reached $333.99 billion in 2012,
down 6.2% year-on-year, while the EU’s exports to China edged up 0.4 % year-on-year to $212.05
billion. EU’s trade deficit in goods is predominantly in sectors like office and telecom equipment, textiles,
and iron and steel.
Data Source: Eurostat
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