Brussels, 14 December 2021 – This morning the CCCEU’s Chairman Xu Haifeng held talks with Ms. Elina Bardram, Director for for International and Mainstreaming and Policy Coordination at the European Directorate-General for Climate Action. Mr. Isbrand Ho, Managing Director of BYD Europe and Vice-President of the CCCEU, and Paolo Caridi, Policy Officer in DG CLIMA in charge of the relations with China, also joined them in the discussions.

The meeting, which took place online in observation of the current rules, was an opportunity for the CCCEU to present its 2021 Report on the Development of Chinese enterprises in the EU. Mr. Xu introduced the content of the Report, highlighting its strengths and analytical relevance for the evaluation of the EU’s business environment. In his presentation, he focused on Chapter Three of the Report, which examines China-EU cooperation on developing the green economy, and the role that Chinese companies can play therein.

He also illustrated the recommendations made in the final Chapter of the Report, in particular those related to the green economy and China-EU green cooperation. These include, among others, more support for the construction of new-energy infrastructure in the EU through stronger incentives for the private sector, the accelerated commercialization of green technologies, more support to green investment via dedicated finance instruments and coordinated taxonomy catalogues, and the promotion of China-EU cooperation and dialogue on carbon markets.

Mr. Isbrand Ho also joined the presentation and spoke in detail about the state of the art for electric vehicles (EVs) in the European market, which is a key sector of the green economy as it touches upon green energy and sustainable mobility. Building on his long-standing experience as Managing Director of BYD Europe, Mr. Isbrand Ho spoke about the major obstacles to EV adoption in Europe, including the current lack of infrastructure and specific funding, and possible solutions thereto.

The discussion with Director Bardram and Mr. Caridi was very positive, as both sides put forwards their viewpoints, asked questions, and provided answers to enhance their mutual understanding. The CCCEU sees this dialogue as an important opportunity to exchange views on these key topics for the Chinese business community in Europe.