This month, the Post’s Xiaofei Xu sat down with Deng Li, China’s ambassador to France and Monaco, for an in-depth and wide-ranging interview. In part two, Deng discusses Beijing’s economic relationship with France and the EU. Part one can be found here.
As Europe adapts to the changing nature of the global economy and the fast pace of technological innovation, China is ready to help the continent as it determines its role in emerging industries, Beijing’s top diplomat in Paris told the Post.
“Many new industrial and supply chains are currently taking shape, continually emerging as technological revolutions advance,” said Deng Li, Chinese ambassador to France and Monaco, in Paris on October 15.
“China sincerely hopes that these industrial chains will be global. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), especially those in Europe, must consider [their] place in the industries of the future.”
China and Europe can both learn from each other, Deng said, adding that shared growth will ensure all can occupy a position in these supply chains.
The ambassador said that protectionist methods are bound to provoke retaliation and will not help reduce trade deficits, naming the EU’s tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles (EVs) as an example. Measures like these, Deng said, will put Europe behind on bedrock technologies, eventually making cooperation more difficult due to an innovation gap.
