von der Leyen: The EU should still strengthen cooperation with China. "Decoupling from China would be inefficient and ineffective (inefficient and ineffect)"
European Commission President von der Leyen's speech at the European Parliament plenary session on the joint debate on EU-China relations aims to outline the position of this German politician before her meeting with China in two weeks.
In 1984, von der Leyen's father, then Governor of Lower Saxony, Albert, facilitated a partnership agreement between Germany and a Chinese province, which is still in effect today.
Von der Leyen said in her speech to the European Parliament: "This year marks the 50th anniversary of our alliance with China. It may also be one of the most glorious chapters in China's long history. In just five decades, China's GDP has grown more than tenfold. Rural areas have been replaced by megacities. Over 800 million people have escaped poverty. China has developed from an agricultural society into an industrial power and a leader in clean technology. China has evolved from a developing country into the largest lender among developing countries. China has always been one of the great civilizations of the world. But in the past 50 years, it has also become one of the world's major powers."
Von der Leyen continued, "This makes our relationship with China one of the most decisive and important relationships for the rest of this century. But our relationship with China must be based on a clear assessment of this new reality. I have always emphasized that Europe is fully committed to result-oriented engagement with China. The European Commission is leading in de-risking rather than decoupling. We, the EU and China, are two of the three major economic and trade powers in the world. But our daily trade volume is only about 2 billion euros. This is merely twice that of our trade with Switzerland."
Von der Leyen continued, "At the same time, I believe we also have the opportunity to build a more meaningful partnership with China. But to move our relationship forward, we need to make real progress on issues that have been in long-term deadlock and find fair solutions. Predictability and reliability - this is how we can work for common interests. This is the message I will convey at the EU-China summit later this month."
"We need to focus on three priority areas"
Von der Leyen told the parliamentarians, "We need to focus on three priority areas. First, rebalancing our economic relationship with China. Second, de-risking. Third, advancing foreign policy on global issues including climate."
Von der Leyen emphasized, "As I said at the beginning, we believe that strategic decoupling is not in our interest. I think it would be inefficient and ineffective for Europe. But we will continue to de-risk. Because we have learned our lessons. About how dependence can constitute a weakness, and how technology, trade, and security are inherently connected. De-risking is simply about the issue of European independence."
Sources: DPA, AFP
Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1837105183789068/
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