Environment Section

Cooperation and Development Section ■ Delegation of the European Union to China and Mongolia

Europe Aid Business, Energy and Environment Section

EU-China Trade Project II Support to China’s Sustainable Trade and Investment System

Duration 5 years (2010-2015)

Beneficiary country People’s Republic of China

EC Contribution € 20,000,000

China Contribution € 5,000,000 (in kind) Ministry of Commerce of People’s Government partner Republic of China (MOFCOM) China (Beijing and other Location provinces) EU Delegation Contact Ms. Paola Bellabona Person [email protected]

Project Background Since China joined the WTO in 2001, the country’s economy has been growing at an average two- digit rate up to 2007. China’s unprecedented growth has created a large market for trade and investment, rapidly changed the landscape of global competition and made China susceptible to world economic uncertainty such as the financial crisis. While economic growth has delivered higher incomes and is the greatest contributor towards the attainment of the First Millennium Goal to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, this rapid growth has also resulted in considerable income and regional disparities as well as environment degradation. It is therefore of critical importance to underpin China’s achievements on poverty alleviation, provide continued technical assistance to integrating China into the global economy and ensure a more balanced and sustainable global trade. The project further responds to the European Parliament’s call to the Commission to further continue the policy of engagement and dialogue with China. It is also in line with China’s newly

1 Cooperation and Development Section ■ Delegation of the European Union to China and Mongolia

Europe Aidreleased 12th 5 year plan (2011-15) that provide a blueprint for continued reform and prioritise overall sustainable development. EU-China trade has increased dramatically in recent years with trade in goods amounting to €296 billion (2009) and in services €31 billion (2009). China is now the EU's second trading partner and the biggest source of imports, while the EU is China's biggest trading partner and export market

Project Objectives The project’s overall objective is to support China’s economic, trade and investment reform in line with China’s sustainable development path. It aims to strengthen the design and implementation of trade and investment policy, legislation and regulation at central and provincial level.

Main Project Activities The project provides technical assistance at the central administrative level on issues of policy, legislative and regulatory developments and at the provincial level on issues of enforcement of trade and investment law and strengthening of robust international trade and investment ties. The technical assistance support will concentrate on five sector components:

1. Services industries: further develop the regulatory framework for services to enable consumers to benefit from more competitive, liberalized and efficient services;

2. Quality infrastructure / technical barriers to trade: continue ongoing efforts in developing and harmonizing China’s quality infrastructure in line with international standards and best practices;

3. Agriculture and agro-food /sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures: strengthen the capacity of the agriculture sector to promote sanitary and phytosanitary compliance, improve food safety and contribute to rural development;

4. Customs and import/export regulatory and tariff systems: modernize customs to raise efficiency, improve administrative capacity and increase accountability leading to an improved business climate for exports and imports;

5. Horizontal issues: ensure good governance in its trade and investment framework in particular in cross-cutting areas of public procurement, investment, intellectual property rights, competition policy, green economy and corporate social responsibility;

The intervention strategy for the project components, namely the prioritisation of issues to be addressed and the choice of activities will be largely determined by the relevant EU-China Economic, Trade and Regulatory dialogues. Sector specific activities to be supported by the project are drawn up taking into account the strategic objectives of these Dialogues. Support will take the form of expert advice, studies, development of information portals and databases, capacity building, training, conferences, workshops, study tours, internships and other forms of technical assistance.

Current Status The project was officially launched on the 25th March 2011. The Overall Work Plan (OWP) and the 1st Annual Work Plan (AWP) for the period from 1st March 2011 to 28th February 2012 were adopted on 1st March 2011 by the Project Steering Committee.

2 Cooperation and Development Section ■ Delegation of the European Union to China and Mongolia

Europe AidThe Implementation of activities is ongoing. Up to now the project has organized 14 study tours to Europe and 34 workshops in China at central level and provincial level. Preparation of the 2nd AWP is ongoing.

Project Contacts: Address: Room 2080, Beijing Sunflower Tower, No.37 Maizidian Street Chaoyang District Beijing 100125, P.R. China Team Leader: Philip Bartley, [email protected] Website: http://www.euctp.org/