Guangdong, EU sign deals boosting cooperation

South China's Guangdong province signed a total of 15 cooperation agreements during the 2017 China (Guangdong)-Europe Investment and Innovation Cooperation Conference which was held in Pearl River Delta city of Foshan from Sept 13 to 14.

Ma Xingrui, governor of Guangdong province, and Hans Dietmar Schweisgut, ambassador of the European Union to China, attended the signing ceremony, which further advanced economic ties between Guangdong, a major production base in the Chinese mainland, and the EU for many years to come.

The cooperation projects cover new energy, technological innovation, environmental protection, smart manufacturing, artificial intelligence, urban construction and talent exchanges and training.

Ma also met senior business executives from the EU during a roundtable meeting to discuss the expansion of cooperation between Guangdong and Europe and to help solve their problems when investing in the province.

"Guangdong welcomes more investors from the EU to set up their facilities in the southern province, one of the country's economic power houses," Ma said.

Ma said his government is expecting to deepen its cooperation with EU in small and medium-sized enterprises, technological innovation, trade, training and exchanges of talents in the future.

Guangdong needs to attract more technology and investment from the EU to help technological and industrial structure transformation and upgrading, he said.

Ma encouraged more Guangdong companies to expand cooperation with their European counterparts and increase their investment in Europe.

Hans Dietmar Schweisgut said Guangdong is an important destination for investment from the EU.

Hans said he is confident about Guangdong's economic development and is expecting the province to offer even more business opportunities for companies from the EU in the following years.

Mats Harbon, president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, said he did not think investment from Guangdong is a threat to the European countries.

"The EU welcomes more investment from Guangdong province," he said.

Guangdong and the EU have established very close relations in the recent years.

Guangdong and Europe reached a foreign trade volume of more than $115.66 billion in 2016, representing one-sixth of the country's total Sino-Europe trade volume and one-ninth of the province's total import and export volume.

Guangdong's foreign trade volume with Europe is continuing to grow, climbing to $59.6 billion in the first six months, up year-on-year 16.9 percent.

By the end of June, Guangdong has attracted 3,098 projects, with a contract investment of $20.25 billion, from Europe. Many big name European companies including Siemens, Philips, Alba, Michelin, Bayer and Nestle have built their facilities in Guangdong province.

Organized by Guangdong provincial government and the European Union Chamber in China, the 2017 China (Guangdong)-Europe Investment and Innovation Cooperation Conference in expected to play an important role in advancing Sino-Europe cooperation to a new level.

More than 450 senior government officials, business executives, experts and scholars attended the two-day event.