BRUSSELS -
China holds out enormous opportunities for
European exporters of green technology, high-value
goods and business services, a European Union
study said on Tuesday.
The new study,
supported by the European Commission, identified
major opportunities for EU exporters after an
assessment of the expanding market in China.
According to the study, China's middle
class is expected to reach 150 million by 2010,
which means new opportunities for EU companies in
consumer goods. The study estimated that the
Chinese market for high-value
goods will be worth 1 trillion euros (more than
US$1.3 trillion) three years later.
The
study also found that the Chinese service sector
is set to be on a fast track for growth, and its
market size may expand to 500 billion euros by
2010. This represents a new opportunity for EU
providers of business-to-business services, the
study said.
Since the Chinese government
is committed to a sustainable economic growth
pattern, which is strongly focused on
environmental protection, the need for green
technologies and services is another big
opportunity for EU exporters. The market is
estimated to be worth 98 billion euros by 2010.
The study advised that EU companies should
be present in China to catch those opportunities.
EU companies wanting to compete on price
in the Chinese economy will need to produce goods
in China itself to be cost-competitive, the study
said.
Actually, successful European
companies are already diversifying into
China-based manufacturing where they want to
compete in China. Many new European companies
establishing production in China now are doing so
not as an alternative to EU-based production but
to compete in the Chinese market.
While
acknowledging China's efforts to liberalize its
economy, however, the study raised some concerns
over market access, urging China to do more in
protecting intellectual property and removing
non-tariff barriers. Chinese non-tariff barriers
cost EU operators no less than 21.4 billion euros
a year in lost business opportunities, the study
claimed.
The new study took a similar
position as embodied in the new strategy for
EU-China trade released by the European Commission
in October, which set out a wide-ranging new
policy for building the EU's trade and investment
relationship with China.
The strategy
review argued that both China and Europe have
benefited from China's economic rise, despite the
competitive pressure it has exerted in the global
economy. By pointing out the room for improvement,
the strategy gave an overall encouraging picture
of the Chinese market, which was said to be full
of opportunities, but also with challenges.
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