China, EU foresee bright future in economic ties

With 40th anniversary celebrations of China-EU diplomatic relationship coming to an end, 2016 is expected to be a year of delivery, said a senior EU official in Brussels.

"We try to find ways how China can invest more in Europe and cooperation should be available by the end of the year. Next year is the year of delivery,",said Jyrki Katainen, vice president for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness of the European Commission.

Katainen was addressing a Forum on China-Europe Investment and Connectivity Cooperation, on Monday.

He said he expected progress in the Bilateral Investment agreement between China and EU to speed up so that European and Chinese companies can confidently invest in each other's market.

Katainen said that now is the time to look forward to where both sides want to take the relationship, which to him means investment connectivity remains the core of the right direction.

Yang Yanyi, Ambassador of the Chinese Mission to the EU said there are many converging visions and interests between the One Belt One Road initiative and the Juncker Investment Plan, particularly in fields such as investment, connectivity, climate change, innovation, digital economy, cyber security, smart-cities, low-carbon cities, sustainable development, circular economy and green growth.

Ever since the 17th China-EU Summit in June, the two sides have been exploring synergies between the One Belt One Road initiative and the Juncker Investment Plan, connectivity, digital economy, legal affairs dialogue and facilitation of people-to-people exchanges. In addition, a China-EU connectivity platform was lunched in March.

Judging from the overwhelming participation by nations from different continents in the establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and positive responses to exploration of building synergy between the Belt-Road initiative and the Juncker Investment Plan, Yang said it is apparent that the regional and global market regards these visions and efforts as driving forces that can provide the world economy with fresh and much-needed impetus to otherwise mundane global growth outlook.

Katainen said China was the first country tp announce a willingness to contribute in Juncker Investment Plan and China's investments are highly important for infrastructure development in both Asia and Europe.

"China and the EU have a common responsibility for global affairs. We have learned that we should work together and use a bilateral system in response to our challenges," said Katainen.

He stressed that the China-EU high level economy dialogue offers a platform to take concrete steps so that such potential can be realized by setting specific initiatives and it is high quality investment that brings two continents closer.