Editor's Note: Greetings! Before Belgium celebrates its national day on Friday, this edition of the CCCEU Weekly Update keeps you up to date on China's latest economic readings and events key to China-EU relations. Enjoy your reading and have a happy holiday.

▶︎ Focus

China's National Bureau of Statistics released the country's "semi-annual report" on the economy on July 17th. In the first half of the year, China's GDP reached 59303.4 billion yuan, an increase of 5.5% year-on-year.

Data on foreign trade showed that in the first half of this year, China's total value of goods trade imports and exports was 20.1 trillion yuan, an increase of 2.1% year-on-year.

In addition, in the first half of the year, China's imports and exports with countries along the "Belt and Road" increased by 9.8% year-on-year, 7.7 percentage points higher than the overall growth rate.

As of the end of June, China had signed more than 200 cooperation documents for the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" with 152 countries and 32 international organisations.

Regarding the China-Europe freight train, the number of its services reached 8,641, transporting 936,000 TEUs from January to June, an increase of 16% and 30%, respectively.

Here are some key figures released by the Chinese authorities:

1.Foreign trade maintains growth

In the first half of the year, the import and export of goods reached 20.1 trillion yuan, an increase of 2.1%. The trade surplus was 2.8 trillion yuan, an expansion of 17.4%. In the first half of the year, China's trade with the European Union grew by 1.9%, while trade with the United States declined by 8.4%.

2.Absorption of foreign investment remains stable

In the first half of the year, efforts were made to carry out a series of activities for "Invest in China Year," and investment from EU countries continued to grow. France's, the United Kingdom's, and Germany's investments increased by 173.3%, 135.3%, and 14.2%, respectively. The quality of foreign investment continued to improve, with investment in high-tech industries growing by 7.9%, accounting for 39.4%, and increasing by 3.9 percentage points. Among them, investment in high-tech manufacturing grew by 28.8%.

3.Deepening of multilateral and bilateral cooperation

In the first half of the year, efforts were made to safeguard the multilateral trading system and actively participate in the reform of the World Trade Organisation. Successful negotiations on the "Investment Facilitation Agreement" text and the domestic acceptance of the "Fishery Subsidies Agreement" were achieved, and 14 Chinese proposals were put forward in the fields of trade and environment. Bilateral economic and trade cooperation continued to deepen, with the fifth meeting of the China-France Entrepreneur Committee, the China-Germany Entrepreneur Roundtable, and the China-Central and Eastern European Countries Expo being held.

Observer: Sino-Europe cooperation on green, digital, and blue economies is promising

Many analysts remain optimistic about further China-Europe cooperation in the fields of green and digital economies.

To start with, both China and Europe have expressed strong commitments to addressing climate change and promoting sustainable development. In the words of Irene Pivetti, former President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, China-Europe green cooperation needs to "move beyond complex political contexts".

Cooperation between the EU and China in the green economy requires a priority list, and the development of mutually recognised standards is one of the key points.

As for the digital domain, e-commerce, fintech, and intelligent manufacturing are promising areas for cooperation.

However, it is undeniable that there are still some challenges, such as regulatory differences, market access barriers, and cybersecurity. China and Europe are urged to conduct dialogues and jointly build up mutual trust in this regard.

Last but not least, the blue economy.

The blue economy involves maritime industries such as shipping, fisheries, marine technology, and ocean energy. China and Europe share common interests in marine resources and maritime transportation, making cooperation mutually beneficial.

Potential issues in China-Europe cooperation on the blue economy may include: a) overfishing and environmental impacts; b) geopolitical tensions; and c) shipbuilding competition.

To tackle those issues, it is in the hope of the business sector that the two sides will promote sustainable fishing practises through regulations and incentives, establish mechanisms to resolve maritime disputes, and promote joint research and development.

▶︎ Hot Topics

>>EU foreign affairs chief: "unrealistic and impossible" for Europe and China to "decouple"

Wang Yi, director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, met with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell on the sidelines of the series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers' meetings on July 14 in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Noting that this year marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership, Wang urged the EU to further clarify its positioning of the strategic partnership between the two sides and promote China-EU relations to move forward on an existing basis. The EU should not waver, let alone encourage backpedalling words and deeds, Wang stressed.

Borrell said that China is first and foremost an important partner of the EU, and this positioning is very clear and certain.

The global production and supply chain are intertwined, so it is unrealistic and impossible for Europe and China to "decouple". The EU does not support confrontation between camps and parallel systems, and the EU has no intention of hindering China's development, he said.

In addition, Borrell noted that he hoped to visit China after the summer vacation after cancelling his visit to China twice due to health reasons. He made the remarks in Brussels prior to a council meeting of EU foreign ministers.

>>EU removes post-Fukushima curbs on Japan food imports

Reuters reported that the EU agreed on Thursday to remove restrictions on Japanese food imports, imposed after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident, with the hope that Japan will ease its controls on EU farm produce. The EU has required pre-export testing of food products for radioactivity since an earthquake and tsunami wrecked the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant on Japan's east coast.

>>Brussels mulls hitting Microsoft with antitrust investigation

According to the Financial Times, the European Commission is expected to initiate an investigation into whether Microsoft's bundling of its Teams video conference software with Microsoft 365 and its Office apps violates antitrust laws.

>>EU, Latin American leaders hold summit in Brussels

Reuters reported that as more than 50 leaders from Europe, Latin America, and the Caribbean gathered in Brussels, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told a business forum that the three regions needed each other more than ever.

The EU is the biggest foreign investor in Latin America and the Caribbean, but China has become its second biggest trading partner, behind only the United States.

>>Two Chinese companies won the 2023 WIPO Global Awards for SMEs

According to the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), Shanghai Westwell Technology Co. Ltd. and Xi 'an KissFuture Network Technology Co., Ltd. recently won the 2023 WIPO Global Awards for SMEs, which are at the forefront of innovation and creativity.

Shanghai Westwell Technology holds a robust patent, industrial design, and trademark portfolio offering multi-scenario intelligent and green solutions for the bulk logistics field, while Xi 'an KissFuture Network Technology is a leader in AR/VR technologies with patented motion platforms and hardware optimisation to offer comprehensive solutions for cinemas and cultural institutions.

>>Timmermans reportedly wants to return to Dutch politics

Vice President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans was reported to seek a return to national politics in the Netherlands after announcing his candidacy to the new leader of the newly-merged coalition party PvdA and GroenLinks.

Timmermans left Dutch politics in 2014 to become a European Commissioner. The parties will have to approve his candidacy.

▶︎ What are experts talking about？

Provoking confrontation among factions by NATO does not serve the interests of Europe

Source: Institute of European Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

Author: Prof. Feng Zhongping

(Director of the Institute of European Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)

The recent NATO summit once again fueled the fire while extensively portraying the "China threat," demonstrating a dangerous attempt to further create division and confrontation. NATO cannot fundamentally solve Europe's security issues. The outbreak of the Ukraine crisis has proven the serious flaws in the post-Cold War European security framework dominated by NATO, and the construction of the European security architecture cannot bypass Russia.

Europe's reliance on the United States and NATO in defence hinders the achievement of its strategic autonomy goals. NATO has become a tool for the United States to maintain hegemony, continuously pushing Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, and even the world towards a dangerous trend of group confrontation, which is not in line with Europe's own interests. Some people in Europe currently talk about "derisking." In fact, Europe faces two real risks in security and defence issues: first, the unreliable security protection from the United States; and second, NATO only serves the hegemonic interests of the United States. Europe should fully recognise this reality and make continuous efforts towards strengthening strategic autonomy.

The new EU-US Data Privacy Framework

Source: European Policy Centre

Author: Giulia Torchio

(Programme Assistant in the Europe's Political Economy programme at the European Policy Centre)

On July 10, after years of uncertainty and tense negotiations, the European Commission finally announced the adoption of an adequacy decision concerning the EU-US Trans-Atlantic Data Privacy Framework (TADPF). With this decision, the Commission makes the assessment that the US offers a comparable level of protection of personal data to that of the European Union, and hence that personal data can be transferred from the EU to US companies participating in the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework.

This decision breaks a three-year deadlock on transatlantic data flows since the 'Schrems II' European Court of Justice ruling that in 2020 brought down the EU-US Privacy Shield agreement. The EU-US Data Privacy Framework provides EU citizens with new safeguards against misuse of their data and the right to obtain access to, correct, or delete data stored in the US. In case of mishandled data, they will have the possibility to obtain redress by lodging a complaint with their national Data Protection Authority (DPA), which in turn can appeal to a Data Protection Review Court (DPRC) with the powers to investigate and impose binding remedies.

The news of the adequacy decision will be welcomed by businesses looking for legal certainty for transatlantic data transfers. But privacy advocates were quick to voice their scepticism with regard to the DPRC, its independence, and its functioning. The DPRC will be composed of members from outside of the US government, but the appointment process might not be sufficiently robust to ensure full independence and hence fair and transparent judgments. Additional worries concern the level of safeguards and possibly diverging EU-US interpretations of the proportionality criteria that limit access to EU citizens' data by US intelligence authorities.

END

Please note: the English version of this issue is slightly different from our Chinese one. The views and opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the official position of the CCCEU.