EU Trade Days Held at Shanghai Expo

The European Commission presented its Trade Days at Shanghai Expo on 22nd and 23rd July, 2010.  The event, with an overall theme "China as an Engine for Trade", attracted business leaders, academics, media, etc., from both China and the EU.

The European Commission was represented by Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht, and China by Vice Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng.  They addressed at the opening ceremony.

The event consisted of two half days. The first half-day was mainly on China-EU economic relations, featuring eight presentations by Chinese and European businessmen.  The second half-day was designated as an academic discussion with eight scholars from China and the EU.  They talked about the sustainability of the Chinese economy and the implications of the EU’s integration process for Asia.

One participant at the event asked the panelists how the EU and China could avoid mutual blaming or criticism of each other over several economic trade issues. One of the panelists said that it was not right to see criticism as a bad thing as criticism might encourage the other to do better.

Prof. Jiang Shixue, Deputy Director of the IES, spoke at the first panel of the second half-day.  He discussed how the EU can help China to adjust its pattern of economic growth.

During the coffee-break, participants at the event enjoyed the traditional food stuffs produced in France, Spain and Italy such as wine, ham and cheese.  Labeled as Geographical Indications (GI), these agricultural produce is world-renowned for high quality and good taste. GI is used to protect the names of these products and give consumers confidence in quality. It is reported that the EU and China have agreed to help develop exchanges of quality traditional products protected through GI such as Champagne and Longjing tea) and therefore have launched negotiations on the protection of geographical indications.