《论中国》| 推进高水平对外开放 中国为世界提供新机遇

编者按：《论中国(China Talk)》为国内外各界人士提供了一个面向全球的演讲平台，分享他们的中国故事和对中国各领域的深入观察。在参加《论中国（China Talk）》时，中国欧盟商会主席伍德克结合多年在华工作经历指出，中国发展势头强劲，变化日新月异，在市场规模、产业集群、基础设施、高素质人才、消费水平等方面具有无可比拟的优势，外资企业在华大有可为。中国稳步扩大制度型开放，形成更大范围、更宽领域、更深层次对外开放格局。内容仅代表作者的观点，而非本台观点。

Editor's Note: China Talk is a global platform where policy makers, business leaders, specialists and scholars, as well as celebrities share their China story and their perspectives on China's development. With the difficult three years passed, is China still alluring to foreign enterprises? What are the advantages of the Chinese market? And how will China's institutional opening up further unlock foreign investors' huge potential? Joerg Wuttke, president of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China, shares his experiences and insights. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily those of CGTN.

大家好，欢迎收看《论中国》。我是伍德克，中国欧盟商会主席。我们商会目前有1800余家会员企业，在中国9个城市设有办公室。我们的工作主要聚焦于信息沟通，比如给中国政府领导层提出建议，我们也会针对会员企业在改革和变革中遇到的问题提供策略，使之更好地应对市场挑战。

Hello and welcome to China Talk. My name is Joerg Wuttke, and I'm the president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China. We have presently about 1,800 members across China in nine offices. We have operation that basically looks into advocacy work, meaning we are giving recommendations to the Chinese government leadership, but also to our members on how to tackle reform and changes and how to cope with the challenges of the market over here.

我算是中国的老朋友了。1982年，我第一次从故乡德国乘火车来到中国。此后我断断续续在这里生活了35年，见证了中国翻天覆地的变化。我非常清楚地记得，我个人曾在青海的高原地区开展一个扶贫项目，（最开始）从西宁一路跋涉过去需要12个小时。两三年后，开着吉普车上山只需两小时了。我一次又一次地亲身体验到中国的发展速度。

But I'm sort of a fossil over here. I came for the first time in 1982 by train from my home country, Germany, to China. And I've lived on and off in this country for 35 years. I've seen all the changes that came along. I remember very vividly when I was doing privately a project for poor people in the Qinghai highlands, it took me about 12 hours to go from Xining all the way to the mountain up. Two or three years later, it just took two hours with a Jeep. I've experienced again and again, the speed with which China has been developing.

所以当人们问我，中国还有吸引力吗？即便2022年遇到了一些困难，我的回答依然是肯定的，因为我目睹了中国短时间发生的这些巨大变化。这次我依旧对此持乐观态度。

And in essence, that's why when people ask me, is China still alluring? Given that we had a rough 2022, I would say, yes, because I've witnessed these changes and the speed with which they happened. I'm very optimistic about this one. 

我们见证了中国汽车产业的发展。1982年，街上只有上海牌轿车，有时还有一两辆别的牌子的车，仅此而已。街上空荡荡的。如今，北京的路上跑着500多万辆汽车。连我的祖国德国的街上也能看到（中国品牌的）汽车。我刚从德国回来，我惊讶地发现领克、蔚来、比亚迪等中国品牌行驶在德国的高速公路上。中国的电动汽车产业发展非常迅速，与此相应，中国也是动力电池的首选供应国。对于一辆新的电动车，动力电池占整车价值的三分之一左右，而中国在这方面有优势。这方面的经年发展当然也有外资的贡献，现在这些技术也被引入欧洲。

We have witnessed developments in the car industry. Again in 1982, there was the Shanghai model and one or two other cars and that was about it. Streets were empty. And now you see (over) five million cars in the streets of Beijing. But also you can see cars in my home country Germany. I just came back. I saw to my utter surprise LYNK, NIO and BYD on the streets of Germany, on the autobahn. That happens very fast because China has developed the electric vehicle industry so incredibly fast and has sponsored this also in a way that China now is battery heaven for companies. So to a new (EV) car, one third of the value is the battery and China has the edge there. Again, developing over years, certainly also with foreign investors, but also now bringing this technology to Europe. 

由此，我来谈谈：我们为什么要来中国？为什么中国仍然具有吸引力？首先，当然是中国的经济体量巨大，基本与美国相当。有说法认为中国已经是世界上最大的经济体了。此外，中国还有很多其他吸引我们的因素。

That brings me to the point: Why are we here? Why is China still alluring? Well, the obvious is the size of the economy. It's about the same size like the United States. Some say it's the largest economy in the world, but it has also other trappings of attraction to all of us. 

以我比较了解的化工市场为例，你会发现中国占了全球市场的一半。再次以汽车市场为例，中国占据全球市场份额的三分之一。在机械设备行业，中国的体量更大，市场规模相当于美国、日本和欧洲的总和。因此，如果你想在这里做生意，就必须是全球玩家。而如果你想在全球层面内取得成功，就必须进入中国市场。

If you look into the chemical market, which is sort of my background, you can see that half of the global market is in China. You can see the car market again. One third of the global market is in China. And then machinery is even more pronounced. You have the Chinese machinery market as big as the U.S., Japanese and European market put together. So if you want to be here, you have to be a global player. In order to succeed globally, you have to be in China. 

中国的另一大优势是产业集群。过去20年，中国建立了令人叹为观止的产业集群，特别是在珠三角和长三角地区。在这些产业集群中，投资者可以找到生产产品所需的各种零部件，品类齐全程度远超大多数国家。中国以外的其他地方很难复制这些集群。

The other advantage is the cluster. China has incredible clusters built up over the last 20 years, particular in the Pearl River Delta, the Yangtze River Delta. Clusters, where investors can find a lot of these items they need for assembly to produce their products in many folds, much more than in most other countries. These clusters will be very difficult to replicate elsewhere outside China.

中国的基础设施也是一大亮点。如果在柬埔寨，将货物运到西哈努克市，那里港口规模较小，只有一条车道。相比之下，深圳的港口有四条车道，非常宽敞高效。我想中国拥有世界上六七个最繁忙的港口，这正显示了中国基础设施和相关产业集群的实力。这也是为何对于欧洲企业来说，中国非常具有吸引力。

The infrastructure makes a big difference. If you take your items in Cambodia, to Sihanoukville, it's one road and one port smaller as it is. If you have ever seen the port in Shenzhen, its four lanes, it's huge and very efficient. I think China has six or seven out of the busiest ports in the world and that just shows the power of the infrastructure and the clusters attached to it. That's why to European business, China is alluring. 

高素质人才队伍也是中国经济的重要优势。许多欧洲公司在中国各地成立了研发中心，比如在成都，主要研究解决全球工程难题。因此，具备高素质人才队伍绝对是一个巨大优势。

Another advantage of the Chinese economy is its very strong labor pool. Many European companies to establish centers in China, for example, in Chengdu, in order to work on global engineering challenges. That is something which is a huge advantage by having this labor pool over here. 

我想对我们很多企业而言，最重要的还是中国有一群要求高有品味的消费者。他们不见得一定会死忠某品牌，这让我们不敢松懈。例如，汽车研发理念就需要转变，车不再只是交通工具，而要变成一台带轮子的电脑。所以，中国是欧洲企业的“健身房”。欧企在华经营，必须学习了解中国消费者的需求，并据此进行调整和改进，然后把经验复制到全球业务中。因此，我们必须扎根中国市场，与中国消费者共同成长，这样才能生产出满足21世纪要求的产品。我们认为欧洲企业仍能发挥作用，创造更好的产品。

And then first and foremost, I think for many of us, it is the demanding sophisticated urban Chinese consumer. They are not always brand loyal which keeps us on our toes in a way that cars, for example, get developed on the concept not of moving from A to B, but as a matter of fact, to have a computer on wheel. So European companies operating in China are basically in a fitness center. They are operating here, learning from the Chinese consumer where they have to make new adjustments and amendments. And that can be replicated in their global business. So in many ways, we have to be here in order to actually grow with the Chinese consumers in order to get the products deep into the 21st century where we think we can still make a difference and it make better products.

欧企在中国生产，产品主要面向中国客户，鲜少出口。我们的客户确实在出口电子产品、家具等各类商品到欧洲，而且都取得了成功。如果研究一下中国对欧盟的出口数据，你会发现中国的出口量惊人。举个例子，2022年的前10个月，中国向欧盟运送了500万个集装箱的货物，你可以在各个购物中心看到这些商品。

We're here in China primarily to produce for Chinese customers. It's very rare that European companies are exporting. Our customers do, in electronics, in furniture, in all kinds of items that end up in Europe and it's successful. If you look into the exports coming out of China into the European Union, it's just staggering how much China is able to sell. I give you one figure. In the first 10 months of 2022, China shipped five million containers into the European Union, so you can see products all over the place and all the shopping centers.

与此同时，我们在中国的存量投资额达到1600-1700亿美元。但别忘了，中国公司在欧洲市场也取得了不错的成绩。我们估计，中国公司在欧盟投资额约为1300亿美元，这说明我们之间的相互依存度很高，中欧双方能够在投资领域深化合作、学习互鉴。

But at the same time, we have been investing here a lot with the stock being somewhere between $160 and $170 billion in the Chinese economy. But don't forget also, Chinese companies have been rather successful in the European market. We assume that about $130 billion were invested into the European Union by Chinese companies that just shows you how interdependent we are, and how much we actually can work and learn from each other in this respect.

在市场准入方面，我们依旧面临挑战。这意味着，在诸如企业并购等方面我们还有很大空间。比如去年一季度，宝马集团出资近40亿美元，这对沈阳的这家中德合资企业是个重大的好消息。这表明，只要有机会增持25%的股权，企业会真金白银地投资。因为事实上，欧企对华投资依然整体偏低。

We have the challenges also when it comes to market access here that again would give us a lot of possibilities to do far more in acquisitions, for example. One example is BMW's takeover in billions last year in the first quarter, with nearly $4 billion, stellar performance in Shenyang by this German joint venture. It just showcases if there is a takeover of 25 percent, you get the real money in. Because in essence, I think we are still under invested in China.

就中欧政治关系而言，大约四年前，欧盟出台了相关文件。其中指明欧盟从三个维度看待与中国的关系。

Now looking into the politics of this, the European Union has been coming up with a paper, I think it was about four years ago, indicating three pillars of how they want to work with China and how they see China. 

一是伙伴关系。这包括双方的商业往来和合作，比如我们在这里的经营、中国企业投资欧盟或将商品出口欧盟市场等，也包括其他领域的伙伴关系，例如气候变化方面的合作。去年5月，中国欧盟商会发布了一项关于气候变化的重要研究报告，表明欧洲公司可以在哪些方面帮助中国企业发展，因为这是中欧双方共同面临的最大挑战之一，必须提高绿色能源占比，使中国在2030年实现碳达峰，在2060年实现碳中和。

One is the partnership. That's where we link in business, the partnership that we have as business here as well as Chinese doing ventures or selling into the European Union market. But also the partnership in many other areas, such as for example, the climate change. Climate change is something where we have been coming up with a great study in May last year, indicating where European companies can help Chinese companies to grow, because that is one of the biggest challenges we have here. It's to green the energy level in order to get China to peak in 2030 and then to get carbon neutral in 2060.

然后我们有竞争关系。我们不仅在中国是对手，在欧洲和第三国市场上也有竞争。竞争本质上是好事，它使我们不会松懈，让我们为了贴近客户需求生产出更好的产品。我认为有竞争是好事，但竞争必须公平公正，这是我们的文件反复强调的。欧企需要享有公平的竞争环境。

Then we have the second item which is competitor. We are competitors not only here but also back home in Europe, but there are third markets where we are competing. Competition in essence is good. It keeps us on our toes. It makes our products better in order to keeps us closer to the customer. It's a good thing that we have competition. But competition has to be fair and square, and that's where our position paper comes in again. It is competition which needs to be leveled.

当然，我们的政治体制不尽相同。这是第三个维度。欧盟将中国视为“体制性竞争对手”，主要是因为欧盟遵循自由民主制度，而中国遵循共产主义制度。政治家们要考虑如何处理好双方体制上的差异，这样我们才能以此为基础，加强合作、展开竞争。

And then politics starts in our different systems. That's the third pillar. Europe is seeing China as a systemic rival that is something coming out from a liberal democracy and then you have a communist system over here. But that's something the politicians have to figure out how to actually manage this kind of two different systems in order to make it possible for all of us to do the other things, meaning partnership as well as competition.

总而言之，在中国居住了这么久，见证了中国40年的增长，我可以确信的一点是，中国拥有强大的复苏能力。2022年对我们所有人来说都很难。如今经济正在逐渐复苏，疫情相关出入境管控已经解除，我们可以更便捷地出入境，这不仅是有利于开展商业活动，也有利于中欧双方更好地了解彼此。

Let me finish briefly by saying that again after witnessing China's growth for 40 years, having lived here for so long, one thing sure to me is that China has an incredible comeback gene. Again, 2022 was very difficult for all of us. And we are creeping back in economic activity. The borders are open again. We can fly in and out easily. And that's something which we really need in order, not only to conduct business, but also in order to have a possibility in order to understand each other much better.

回到最初的问题：中国是否仍具吸引力？我在中国生活超过了35年，见证了中国最伟大的经济复兴。我可以肯定地说，是的！我们必须与中国保持交往，融入中国经济。这不仅是为了服务中国消费者，坦白讲，这也是为了帮助我们欧洲人自己。中国是训练我们的大型“健身房”。谢谢！

So coming back to the initial phrase: Is China still alluring? Having spent more than 35 years here and having witnessed the largest economic comeback story in China. I can say definitely, it's a YES. We have to be engaged with China. We have to be embedded in the economy in order not only to help the Chinese consumer in the Chinese economy, but frankly, as Europeans also to help ourselves. Again, China is an enormous fitness center for us. Thank you.

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