On June 4, local time, Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao chaired a roundtable meeting with Chinese-invested enterprises in Lisbon, Portugal. Heads of some Chinese-invested enterprises that carry out cooperation in energy, finance, construction and communication in Portugal attended the meeting. They talked about their operation and development in Portugal and made recommendations on deepening China-Portugal trade and economic cooperation. Chinese Ambassador to Portugal Zhao Bentang attended the meeting.

Wang Wentao said that Portugal is pragmatic and friendly with China, and the two countries have many converging interests and strong economic complementarity in their trade and economic cooperation. In recent years, under the strategic guidance of the leaders of China and Portugal, bilateral commercial cooperation has been developing rapidly, and Chinese-invested enterprises have made their contribution to Portugal’s economic and social development. Chinese-invested enterprises need to fully understand the significance of deepening China-Portugal commercial cooperation, and engage actively in practical bilateral cooperation. They should tap the potential of green cooperation, continuously expand bilateral cooperation areas, explore and cultivate new cooperation opportunities, and steadily promote solid cooperation in third-parties.

At the roundtable meeting, some business representatives voiced their concern that recently, the EU has been suppressing Chinese-invested enterprises on the grounds of so-called “fair competition”. A survey conducted by the China Chamber of Commerce to the EU found a worrying trend that the overall evaluation of the EU business environment by Chinese enterprises in the EU has been declining for four consecutive years. Wang Wentao stressed that related countries’ accusation of “unfair competition” against China were totally untenable. Fair competition, which is a consensus of all countries and the cornerstone of international exchanges, should not be defined by just a few countries. A country that really pursues fair competition should try to run faster, rather than attempting to trip others; it should open itself up and carry out win-win cooperation on an equal footing, instead of establishing exclusive clubs; it should abide by rules on which there is international consensus, rather than arbitrarily destroying and tampering with rules. China advocates win-win cooperation, but it does not shy away from or fear competition. It welcomes healthy competition, but opposes suppressive vicious competition.

(All information published on this website is authentic in Chinese. English is provided for reference only.)