Zhang Ming(left), head of the Chinese Mission to the European Union, meets Joerg Wuttke, President of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China on February 6 in Brussels, Belgium (COURTESY PHOTO)   

"I guess that China's market will stay as it is, (and) will certainly grow. Even if it's slower, it may be 5 percent this year or even more," Joerg Wuttke, President of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China (EUCCC) said during an online media round-table on February 18.

Wuttke and Chamber executives answered questions from Chinese and foreign journalists concerning such topics as challenges faced by the EU firms in China since the outbreak of COVID-19 and the impact of the epidemic on China-EU trade.

Since the outbreak of novel coronavirus, the EUCCC has continued to operate, coordinating donations of medical protective supplies, providing information to European firms in China, and maintaining close contact with the Chinese Government.

According to the EUCCC official website, many member companies have made financial contributions, donated medical devices or supplies and nutritional products to Wuhan and other affected cities, and have provided free logistics channels as well as free 24-hour online clinics.

Wuttke said EU firms in China, during the epidemic, have to face certain challenges, especially in the following aspects:

First, logistics and transportation. Due to the strict implementation of epidemic prevention and control across China, the domestic transportation efficiency has slowed down. The international trade routes are also affected by the epidemic, because the number of flights and ships to and from China has been cut down, which has adversely effected supply chains and sales channels of many enterprises.

Second, shortage of labor. For some reasons, many enterprises have still not been approved by local governments to resume operations. Even companies that have started production are facing a shortage of labor, and some executives and employees are also required to be quarantined for 14 days. But in the manufacturing industry, many of the manual tasks cannot be done through telecommuting.

And finally, lack of funds. Some SMEs from the EU have difficulty in getting financial support from international banks. They are in urgent need of loans from Chinese banks and subsidies from the Chinese Government at this difficult time.

Compared with the SARS epidemic in 2003, China's GDP now is about eight times its size 17 years ago. And the Chinese economy today is more globally important. Not only EU firms in China, but also the entire European and even the world economy is subject to severe pressure from the epidemic.

Wuttke pointed out that millions of Chinese tourists had the world-leading per-capita tourism expenditure. But now they are not able to travel to Europe for the time being, delivering a heavy blow to Europe's aviation and retail industries.

What's worse, because China is restarting production later than anticipated, the supply side of a great number of European industries are coming under strain. Firms in auto manufacturing, chemical production and agricultural processing are facing an emergency.

China has been the largest investor in Europe over the last years. But many ongoing negotiations have been suspended due to the epidemic.

However, Wuttke expressed his confidence in China's economic development. He said: "Even if the Chinese market grows slower, it may be 5 percent this year or even more, it is still interesting enough size-wise, so there is always the allure."

Copyedited by Madhusudan Chaubey

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