Honorable Chairman Lars Gaardhøj,
Mr. Ole Hedemann, Mr. Claus Loenborg,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good Morning! It is my great pleasure to attend the EY Nordic China Summit 2015 and exchange views with all of you on how to enhance the economic and trade cooperation between China and Nordic countries. At the outset, I would like to thank EY and Copenhagen Capacity to make this event possible.
Countries in the Nordic region established diplomatic relations with China in the early days of its founding, and have remained important partners for us in various areas including political dialogue, economic cooperation, and scientific and technological exchanges. As our relations have developed, the economic and trade cooperation has always played a key role in the process. According to our statistics, the trade volume between China and 5 countries in the region totaled $41.1 billion in 2014, an increase of 5.3% year-on-year. It is noteworthy that Nordic countries’ export to China, with a total of $19.4 billion, has grown in a faster pace than your import from China, which shows that China has had increasing demand for products in the region. The investment from the Nordic countries to China was $700million in total last year, making the overall investment stock at $7.6billion. In comparison, Chinese investment in the Nordic region started late but has increased rapidly. The Chinese investment in the region was $300million, and the investment stock $7.9billion in 2014, accounting for almost 15% of entire Chinese investment in Europe. It is the good business environment and great innovative capability in the region that have attracted more and more Chinese investors. The achievements are also the accomplishments of concerted efforts made by the business people from both China and the Nordic region, including all present today, and I highly appreciate that.
Ladies and gentlemen,
I believe that all of you, either have investment in China already or plan to do so, have followed the economic development in China very closely. So I would like to take the opportunity to elaborate a bit in this regard. As China’s economy has of late entered into a stage of “new normal”, we will constantly pursue structural reform, shift the gear of growth from a high speed to medium high, and achieve development of a higher standard from the current lower level. In 2014, Chinese economy grew at 7.4%, productivity increased 7%, and energy consumption per unit of GDP was down 4.8%. Though we have seen slower growth, given the fact that China is the second largest economy in the world and its GDP surpassed $10 trillion, even a 7% growth will amount to an increment of $800 billion. Considering China’s huge economic size and great potential, in the coming 5 years, China will import more than US$10 trillion of goods, Chinese investment abroad will exceed US$500 billion, and more than 500 million outbound visits will be made by Chinese tourists. These will bring up numerous investment and cooperation opportunities for Nordic countries and rest of the world.
China will continue as in the past to adhere to its opening-up policy, improve domestic investment environment and protect the lawful rights and interests of investors. Last year, China attracted $128billion in foreign investment, and became the no.1 FDI destination in the world for the first time. In the first quarter of 2015, actually utilized foreign capital increased 11.3% comparing to the same period last year. These figures have demonstrated the confidence that the foreign investors have in Chinese investment environment and its market potential.
Ladies and gentlemen,
2015 is a year of opportunity in enhancing our economic and trade cooperation. China has initiated the building of a Silk Road Economic Belt and a 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, which aim to promote the alignment of national development strategies of different countries along the route and make full use of the synergy among them. Right now, we have received positive responses from more than 60 nations and international organizations. To facilitate the initiative, China has proposed the founding of an Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. I am delighted to know that countries in the Nordic region have all applied and become prospective founding members of the bank. The “Belt and Road Initiative” is an open and inclusive one. It is never China's solo, but a symphony jointly played by all countries in the world following the principles of wide consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits. We welcome companies from the region to take part in the initiative, share the opportunities and pursue a win-win development.
Not long ago, Chinese government issued brand-new “Made in China 2025” strategy and “Internet Plus” action plan, which intend to transform a large manufacturing sector in China into a strong one by promoting intelligent and green production, moving up along the value-chain, strengthening core competitiveness, and integrating IT application with industrialization. In this context, China will focus on developing 10 key industries, such as next generation IT technology, maritime engineering equipments, shipping with advanced technologies, new materials, bio-pharmaceuticals, high-performance medical instruments and agricultural machineries. Nordic countries are highly competitive and competent in these sectors, so we would be delighted to see companies in the region take full advantage of their strengths and share the dividends of China’s reform and progress.
As an old Chinese saying goes, when everybody adds fuel the flames rise high. I am confident that with joint efforts by people from all works of life, the economic and trade cooperation between China and Nordic countries will be pushed forward onto a higher level and enter into a bright future that benefits all of us.
Finally, I wish the summit a great success!
Thank you!