12-10-2011

It’s a genuine pleasure for me to be here today to celebrate 40 years of diplomatic relations between the People’s Republic of China and Belgium.  Today’s conference is one of the many events that have been commissioned to mark this 40th anniversary.  A number of events have already been staged in China and in Belgium to celebrate it in style.  And later this month, HRH Prince Philip will fly to China at the head of one of the largest Belgian business delegation ever to visit the country.  The more than 450 Belgian business men and women who are visiting China, are living proof of a relationship in excellent shape.

Today bilateral relations between Belgium and China are more than ever embedded in the larger EU-China framework.  Of course I would like to speak about Belgium as a gateway to Europe and its economic advantages. However, it is fair to say that the EU has an important role in the relationship between Belgium and China.  Hence my suggestion to share with you some ideas on EU-China cooperation.  More than ever, such partnership is of utmost importance: China is rebalancing its economic model and Europe is battling to overcome its financial turmoil. 

But the need to cooperate is inspired by more than the economic evolutions of the last so many years.  It goes to the very heart of the societies we stand for.  China has decided to pursue a stable and harmonious society.  This decision deserves a lot of respect; it is a daring step in a world that tends to reduce societal happiness to GDP per capita rankings. It is a step which is reflected in the large scale Chinese investments in clean technology and in societal goods.  I dare to say that the Chinese concept of a harmonious society has more than few elements in common of the social-economic welfare state that Europe has pursued since the Second World War, the so-called Rhineland Model.  I am convinced that this convergence of ideas on the good society will provide a fruitful conceptual framework within which we will further develop our partnership.

But of course, this is not enough.  The pursuance of the idea of the good society in a globalised world cannot be thought in isolation of a multilateral regulatory environment.  In order to avoid frictions, a multilateral environment needs to be rules-based, accountable, fair and predictable, be it in the trade area or in the monetary field or be it in all the other domains of interest for our country.  A useful element is that both China and Europe believe in the virtues of structured international relations as they generate stability and prosperity.  Both strive to uphold the effectiveness of representative multilateral institutions.  China’s joining of the WTO for example has boosted trust among world trading nations towards China’s economic expansion.  The new Chinese competition law is another major source of international trust.

These are the terms on which we can strive together towards an inclusive societal model.  Sure, there are a number of issues where Europe and China are grappling with.  Those issues are important, and deserve our full attention.  But they tend to make us forget that there is a wide zone of common interests for China and Europe.  Much can be said about how Europe and China can support each other in the pursuit of a common interest.  China, much like the rest of Asia, has benefited from European investments and from Europe’s open markets to achieve unprecedented export-led growth.  Europe has found in China manufacturing opportunities and a consumer market for its high end products.  Today, Europe is China’s largest trading and investment partner.  And China is Europe’s second largest partner and fastest growing export market.

But there is more.  Some of our core interests complement each other, and this is good news in a globalised world.  As a matter of fact, there appears to be ample opportunity to support each other in order to deliver sustainable prosperity.  Not only are both China and Europe committed to the Millennium Development Goals and the WTO rules based global trading system, but also is there room for effective cooperation on issues like climate change and food security.

These are just a few significant examples that show that cooperation between Europe and China must be further enhanced.  In a sense, one could argue that globalization is forcing Europe and China into a partnership that geopolitics alone might have never produced.  Over the last decades, the EU and China have indeed become mutually supportive.  From the very beginning of Chinese-European engagement, Europe has been very supportive of China’s economic rise, as – it must be said - this came to the benefit of the European economy.

In short, it is fair to say that Europe and China have been true partners for growth and development.  The strength of our cooperation in my mind needs to be monitored on the basis of three crucial parameters that I’ve sketched out above.  The first one is the attachment to a rules based global environment that accepts that responsibility comes with accountability.  The second one is an open attitude towards fair and free trade.  And the third one – the most intangible one, but definitely not the least important one – is the common attachment to a harmonious and happy society.  There is work to be done on all three of these parameters, but we’ve already come a long way.  The past inspires trust, the present urges action, and the future promises hope.

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