China throws obstacles in path of investment, says Mandelson

tauringhuang.

Economic nationalism is on the rise in China, the European Union trade commissioner said yesterday, as he strongly criticised the restrictions faced by foreign companies investing in the country.

Peter Mandelson said investment by European companies in China was actually falling despite the country's growth and the EU might take up some of the obstacles to investment at the World Trade Organisation.

“On the street and in the boardroom, there is a growing sense in China that we are now strong enough to do it all alone which I think is wrong,” Mr Mandelson said in an interview yesterday, although he added this sentiment was not shared by senior leaders in Beijing. “China needs European investment and the technologies, management skills and capital that it brings,” he said.

tauringhuang.

The obstacles facing European companies were not only theft of intellectual property, but also an “unpredictable” policy for mergers and acquisitions and barriers to market entry including capital requirements, licensing and forced joint ventures. He said he raised with Chinese officials yesterday the fact foreign car companies could only enter China by means of a 50-50 joint venture with a local company.

Chinese officials regularly complain the country faces similar obstacles to investing in the EU.

Mr Mandelson's comments are the latest in a series of recent warnings by international business and government leaders that China is becoming less attractive as a place to invest because of such restrictions.

Mr Mandelson will raise the same issues this evening in a speech in the Chinese city of Tianjin that contains unusually blunt criticism of China's approach to foreign investors.

“China appears to have put out the mat for foreign investment, but the door is still half-closed,” he will say. “In some cases it appears to be swinging shut.”

tauringhuang.

European companies often complain of encountering in China “an unspoken economic nationalism that implies that foreign investment is no longer wanted or needed. I suggest that such a mindset is a strategic economic mistake for China.”

菜子

Very good!