The European Union would benefit from more Chinese investment and shouldn’t follow the U.S.’s isolationist strategy, said Industry Commissioner Stéphane Séjourné Friday.
Speaking at POLITICO’s European Pulse Forum in Barcelona, the top EU official identified “a path forward for Chinese investment” in the bloc. “We need it. We need foreign investment.”
The Commission vice president explained that the EU had chosen to “de-risk its economy.” “It’s not the same objective as what is being pursued by the U.S.,” clarified Séjourné, who said that Washington was seeking a much more comprehensive decoupling from the Asian economy.
Séjourné said the bloc was trying to reduce its dependence on China in strategic sectors, while still maintaining a level of openness, something he said was in Europe’s “DNA.”
The Commissioner was the driving force behind the Industrial Accelerator Act — a piece of legislation that is currently in negotiations — and which would partially shut China out of European public procurement, as well as set more onerous ownership obligations when it makes large European investments.
Commenting on Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s upcoming trip to China on Saturday, Séjourné said that “all leaders, for many years now, have been going to China.”
“I think it’s a good thing to talk and to keep discussing with China,” he added.
EU industry chief says Europe won’t follow the US on China
Source: Viral Showbiz Pinay
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