France’s Macron: China Is Welcome, We Need More Chinese Direct Investment in Europe

EXCERPT:

MACRON: “We must act on imports as well, regarding this protection issue. And in the context of escalating trade tensions and Asian over-capacities, Europe must strengthen its trade defense instruments, including [inaudible] measures to enforce regulatory standards, and we must improve the quality and added value of foreign direct investments, targeting projects with strong export potential, and this is call for a re-balancing with China. China is welcome, but what we need is more Chinese foreign direct investment in Europe in some key sectors to contribute to our gross, to transfer some technologies, and not just to export towards Europe some devices or produces or products which sometimes don’t have the same standards or are much more subsidized than the one being produced in Europe. It’s not being protectionist, it's just restoring this level playing field and protecting our industry. So, from [inaudible] clauses to [inaudible] clauses to European preferences and incentives for more FDIs, this strategy is absolutely key. And in parallel, protecting our economies would also require a resilient strategy on both imports and exports to de-risk supply chains, particularly for raw materials or rare earths, semiconductors, chips, and to diversify our trade partners.”