China-EU: Green Eco., Environ. Protec., Scientific Innovation

China's five year plan spells good news for Europe

Potential buyers and real estate agents attend a housing fair in Shanghai, China, 19 March|ANA/EPA/QILAI SHEN

10 April 2011 - In recent years, EU-China relations have endured something of a turbulent rollercoaster.

Beijing found it hard to disguise its unease at the European parliament´s decision to invite the Dalai Lama to address a plenary session and EU criticism at China´s military response to unrest in Tibet.

This year, however, China-EU relations got off to a much better start with a series of what were seen as key events, with Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang’s visit to Spain, Germany and the UK reinforcing bilateral ties between China and key EU member states.

The EU-China Year of Youth was launched in January and there are a number of high-level visits during the first half of the year. There are reasons to believe that China-EU relations will see further progress in 2011, not least following the National People's Congress - China's parliament - recent endorsement of the country's 12th "Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development."
The plan is seen as an important document guiding China's social and economic development for the years ahead.

It is China´s equivalent of the EU´s much-vaunted "2020 strategy" that sets targets for boosting jobs and growth up to the year 2020.
Like the 2020 strategy, the successor to the failed Lisbon strategy, China´s plan aims to boost scientific development and secure substantial progress in economic growth. For China, the five years covered by the plan are crucial to building a moderately prosperous society in all areas and critical to deepening further reforms.

Addressing MEPs recently,China´s EU ambassador Song Zhe said both China´s plan and EU2020 share much similar ideas and priorities and present huge prospects for practical cooperation in areas like the green economy, environment protection, scientific innovation and technology-intensive industries.

"We must make the best out of our comparative advantages by thoughtfully matching Europe’s expertise and China’s market, and facilitate common business growth," he commented. A Brussels seminar on the five-year plan on 1 April heard that EU-China economic and trade cooperation is important not just to the two sides but the "whole world." {continued}