Source: AFP
The EU ambassador to China said Monday the Asian powerhouse could become Europe’s biggest export market this year, overtaking the United States as Beijing boosts domestic demand.
His comments came after Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said China was considering helping the crisis-hit eurozone by contributing to bailout funds, and that a stable Europe was crucial for Beijing.
“There are indications that in 2012, China may become Europe’s biggest export market,” Markus Ederer told reporters in Beijing.
“European exports are growing at a higher pace than European imports from China,” he said, adding the forecast was based on current trade trends.
The European Union has long been the biggest market for Chinese goods, but Beijing is increasingly looking to reduce its dependency on exports and focus more on domestic demand, which would lead to a rise in imports.
But its economy ‒ which grew at a rate of 9.2 per cent last year, down from 10.4 per cent in 2010 ‒ is still export-driven and Beijing has watched with increasing concern as Europe’s debt crisis has deepened, impacting its growth.
Last week, Wen said solving the crisis ‒ which has seen a wave of credit-rating downgrades and brought Greece to the brink of bankruptcy ‒ was “urgent” and urged global cooperation on the issue.
After talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who was on a trip aimed at boosting her hosts’ confidence in Europe, Wen said China “was investigating and evaluating ways” to become more involved in solving Europe’s debt problem.
Then on a visit to the manufacturing hub of Guangdong in China’s south over the weekend, he told local businesses that Europe was important for China.
“Helping stability in the European market is actually helping ourselves,” he said.
