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HOME>NEWS&EVENTS>NEWS BRIEFING>CASS webinar explor...
CASS webinar explores China-EU cooperation

Author:GAO YING and SUN MEIJUAN     Source: Chinese Social Sciences Today     2020-10-03

The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) hosted a webinar to discuss cooperation and the economy related to China and the EU amid the COVID-19 pandemic in late September.

CASS President Xie Fuzhan said that in the face of the sudden COVID-19 epidemic, Chinese President Xi Jinping provided personal guidance and deployment. Under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee, the nationwide fight against the epidemic has achieved major strategic results. China has made remarkable achievements in coordinating epidemic prevention and control with economic and social development and in restoring normal production and life in a timely manner.

In light of new domestic and international changes and trends, President Xi proposed a new development pattern which prioritizes the domestic market as the foundation while letting domestic and foreign markets boost each other. This is an important strategy in response to new domestic and international circumstances and also a necessary choice to promote a higher level of opening up in the new era.

Over the past four decades of reform and opening up, China’s economy has been deeply embedded in the division of labor system of the international industrial chain, Xie continued. Opening up to promote reform and development is an important way to facilitate China’s continuous modernization. Open and mutually beneficial cooperation is the only way for mankind to address common challenges and build a better world. Under the new development pattern, China will continue to unswervingly adhere to the basic national policy of opening up to the outside world, comprehensively improving the level of opening up and contributing more to the construction of a community of shared future for mankind.

Whether it is to restore the economy or to improve the international economic order, China and Europe have a solid foundation and also more urgent needs for cooperation, Xie pointed out. At present, the economies of China and the EU are highly complementary. Deepened cooperation is beneficial to both parties and the world. China and the EU should treat each other more as partners than competitors.

In light of the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the EU, the two parties should take their respective new round of mid-term development plans as an opportunity, grasp the general trend with strategic courage, and promote continuous breakthroughs in bilateral cooperation to facilitate a higher level of mutual benefit.

Renaud Dehousse, president of the European University Institute, Christoph M. Schmidt, president of the Leibniz Institute for Economic Research in Germany, officials from the central banks of Italy and Hungary, and other scholars from European think tanks and government officials gave speeches and conducted in-depth discussions on the economic recovery of China and Europe, and China-EU economic cooperation.

Participants concluded that in this difficult time when the global economy is in a severe recession due to the COVID-19 pandemic, strengthening China-EU economic cooperation will not only help restore their economies more quickly, but to a large extent determine the future of the world economy. In the future, China and the EU should uphold the principle of open cooperation and promote economic cooperation through communication and consultation. The two parties need to further tap their potential for cooperation, especially in terms of mutual investment, as well as the digital economy and green economy.

As China-EU cooperation is facing a new and complex situation with both major opportunities and severe challenges, the importance of exchanges and cooperation between academic circles and think tanks is further highlighted, said Wang Lei, director of the Bureau of International Cooperation at CASS. CASS is willing to strengthen research and deepen exchanges with European academia and think tanks, so as to contribute wisdom and strength to make more breakthroughs in China-EU cooperation.

Editor  :  Yu Hui

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