Speech at the Opening Ceremony of the 2004 Sino-European Economic Forum

原外经贸部副部长、中国国际贸易学会名誉会长 沈觉人

2004年4月

Honorary Chairman of China Association of International Trade And Former Vice Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Shen Jueren

April 27 2004

　　今天，我很高兴与新老朋友们一起，参加对外经济贸易大学和中国国际贸易学会联合举办的中欧经济论坛，对大使先生和欧洲其他朋友们出席论坛,表示欢迎。

 　 Today, I'm very pleased to be with my new and old friends to attend the Sino-European Economic Forum jointly hosted by the University of International Business and Economics and the China Association of International Trade. I'd like to extend my welcome to his Excellency Ambassador and other European friends participating in this forum.

　　在我国对外经贸合作中，与欧洲的经贸关系，具有十分重要的地位。欧洲，特别是西欧国家，已成为我国重要的贸易伙伴以及资金和技术的重要来源，独联体和中东欧国家也正在成为我国开展经济贸易合作的重要伙伴。

　　China's economic and trade links with Europe hold a prominent position in China's foreign trade and economic cooperation. Europe, especially the west European countries, has been important as China's trading partners and source of capital and technologies. The Commonwealth of Independent States and central and eastern European countries are also becoming our important economic and trading partners.

　　2003年，是中国正式加入世贸组织的第二年。在这一年里，中国严格按照加入WTO时所作的承诺，降低关税，开放市场，遵守WTO规则，修改相关的法律法规，获得了各方面的好评。中国的对外开放呈现出新局面，对外经济贸易有了新的发展。全年进出口总额8512亿美元，比上年增长37.1%；中国进口总额4128亿美元，增长39.9%；出口总额4383亿美元，增长34.6%.贸易顺差255亿美元,比上年下降16%. 全年实际使用外国直接投资535亿美元，增长1.4%.2003年也是欧元正式在欧元区12国启动的第一年；欧盟的一体化建设，特别是欧盟扩大进程取得重要进展。

　　In 2003, the 2nd year of its WTO membership, China strictly complied with its commitments, cut tariffs, opened the markets, strictly observed the WTO rules, and modified relevant laws and regulations. These have received compliments from all parties. China's opening-up has taken on a new look and its foreign trade and economic cooperation have taken new steps. The import and export in the whole year totaled US$ 851.2 billion, up by 37.1% over the previous year. The total import stood at US$ 412.8 billion, up 39.9%; the export reached US$ 438.3 billion, up 34.6%. The trade surplus dropped by 16% to US$ 25.5 billion. The foreign direct investment actually utilized in the whole year was US$ 53.5 billion, up 1.4%. The year 2003 is also the 1st year for the official Euro launch in the euro zone consisting of 12 member states. The EU integration process, in particular, the enlargement, has made significant progress.

　　在全球经济开始恢复增长的去年，中欧经贸关系保持了较快速度的发展，呈现出良好的发展势头，这是双方共同努力的结果。据中国海关统计，2003年中国与欧洲进出口贸易总额为1620.9亿美元，比上年增长43.8%, 其中与欧盟的进出口贸易总额为1252亿美元，同比增长44.4%.欧盟继续保持中国第三大贸易伙伴地位，仅次于日本和美国。中国与俄罗斯之间的贸易额也在去年增长了32.1%, 达157.6亿美元, 俄罗斯成为中国的第八大贸易伙伴和原木、化工原料等一些重要原材料商品的来源地。

　　Last year when the global economy started to recover its growth, the economic and trade relations between China and Europe, however, has maintained a relatively fast growth speed and taken on a good momentum of development. This should be attributed to the concerted efforts of both sides. According to the statistics of Chinese Customs, the import and export between China and Europe in 2003 was US$ 162.09 billion, up 43.8% compared with the previous year, among which, the trade volume with the EU reached US$ 125.2 billion, up 44.4% compared with the previous year. The EU continued to remain as China's 3rd largest trading partner, only after Japan and the US. The trade volume between China and Russia last year increased by 32.1% to US$ 15.76 billion. Russia has become China's 8th largest trading partner and the source of timber log, chemical materials and other important raw materials.

　　近年来，中欧政治关系进一步巩固和加强，为双边经贸关系的发展奠定了坚实的基础。中国与欧盟、俄罗斯分别确立了面向二十一世纪的全面伙伴关系和战略协作伙伴关系，并建立了中国欧盟领导人、中俄首脑和中俄总理定期会晤机制。哈萨克斯坦、中国、吉尔吉斯斯坦、俄罗斯、塔吉克斯坦、乌兹别克斯坦六国正式成立了“上海合作组织”，并启动了以贸易投资便利化为主要内容的区域经济合作机制。中欧双方高层互访不断。2002年6月江泽民主席出席了在俄罗斯圣彼得堡举行的上海合作组织元首会晤，签署了《上海合作组织宪章》;9月，朱 基总理赴欧出席中国欧盟领导人第五次会晤，并访问了法国、丹麦等国。今年1月胡锦涛主席访问法国与希拉克总统进行了重要会谈。欧盟国家中，比利时、卢森堡、西班牙、德国、丹麦等国政府领导人，这两年也先后访问了我国。高层的互访，有力地推动了双边关系特别是经贸关系的发展。

　　In recent years, the Sino-European relationship has been further consolidated and reinforced. This has laid a solid foundation for the growth of bilateral economic and trade relations. China has established respectively with the EU and Russia the comprehensive partnership facing the 21st century and the Strategic Cooperation Partnership. Also, China has formed the regular meeting mechanism between Chinese and EU leaders, between the heads of state of China and Russia and between the Chinese premier and Russian Prime Minister. In addition, Kazakhstan，China, Kirgizstan, Russia, Tadzhikistan and Uzbekistan formally founded the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and started this regional economic cooperative organization with the trade and investment facilitation as the mainstay. In June 2002, China's then president JIANG Zemin attended the summit of Shanghai Cooperation Organization held in St Petersburg, Russia, where he signed the Charter of Shanghai Cooperation Organization. And then he visited the three Baltic States and Iceland. In September, the then Premier ZHU Rongji went to Europe to attend the 5th meeting between the leaders of China and the EU and then he visited France, Denmark. In January this year, President HU Jintao visited France, where he held important discussions with President Chirac and achieved significant results. Among the EU member states, heads of government of Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain, Germany, Denmark and etc visited China one after another over the past two years. Recently, President Prodi of the European Community paid a successful visit to China, and Chinese Premier WEN Jiabao is also going to pay a visit to Europe. The exchange of high-level visits has vigorously promoted the growth of bilateral relations, in particular, the economic and trade relations between China and Europe.

　　众所周知, 在中国与欧洲的经贸关系中, 欧盟占有重要的地位。2003年中国与欧盟的贸易额占中国与欧洲贸易总额的77%, 目前中国欧盟已互为第三大贸易伙伴。欧盟是中国产品出口的一个传统市场，在我对外贸易中的比重不断上升。与此同时，中国也成为欧盟一个重要出口市场，在其对外贸易中的比重也在上升。在中国加入世贸组织后，随着我投资环境的进一步改善，欧盟企业对华投资信心不断增强，欧洲企业，如诺基亚、BP、壳牌、阿尔卡特等重要跨国企业的资本继续大量进入我国。截至2003年12月，欧盟15个成员国来华投资项目数已达16158个，合同外资金额约650亿美元，实际投入378亿美元。与此同时，中国的一些大企业如联想、海尔、华为、TCL等，也开始在欧盟投资设厂或成立营销、研发中心。欧盟还一直是中国引进先进技术和设备的重要来源。中国与欧盟在先进技术，尤其是高科技产品方面的合作有助于欧盟扩大对华出口，也有利于中国企业产业升级、技术更新，符合双方利益，具有很大的发展空间。

　　As is known to all, the EU is holding an important position in