Brussels, 19/01/2006 (Agence Europe) - There remain considerable obstacles to technology exchange between Europe and China despite China's opening to foreign businesses four years after joining the WTO, said Viviane Reding. During her visit to Shanghai on 16 January, the Information Society and Media Commissioner met high Chinese telecommunications and technology officials, to whom she expressed her concerns and hopes for Sino-European exchanges. “I was struck by the list of remaining obstacles mentioned in the 2005 position paper issued by the European Chamber of Commerce in China,” stressed the Commissioner. “European industry is investing heavily in China and is a growing source of technology transfer and employment in China,” she said, expressing her disappointment at the constraints and great administrative formalities which foreign companies have to go through to gain access to the Chinese technological market, in valued added services and in basic services too.
Europe is concerned at the lack of lack of clarity on the part of the Chinese authorities over licences for third generation mobile phones, a highly placed official in the European telecom market confirmed to Reuters. Tenders are due to start in the first half of this year but great uncertainty continues to reign, he said. “There needs to be a clear agenda, because the uncertainty that is going on (…) is not good for the industry, neither for the Chinese nor for the Europeans,” said Mrs Reding. European businesses are unhappy at not being allowed to become full members of Chinese standardisation organisations. “Standards are sometimes used to create technical trade barriers by adding on - sometimes unnecessarily - Chinese characteristics to internationally developed standards,” said Mrs Reding.
China is failing to respect international agreements on intellectual property, product counterfeiting is still rife in the country, to the detriment of European businesses particularly. Europe would like to settle this difference smoothly, stressed the Commissioner. “I hope that gradually the Chinese government will continue the liberalising of China's economy and opening up important sectors to investors,” she said, while giving China reassurances of Europeans' desire to continue to cooperate in the development of new technological services.
The visit was also the opportunity for the European Union and China to launch formally in Beijing the “information society project” through which the EU will, over four years, provide China with technological assistance in communications, announced an EU press release. This 22 million euro project (with 15 million euro coming from the EU and 7 million from China) officially began in August 2005 and, according to Viviane Reding, is an important pillar of Sino-European dialogue on the information society. It consists principally in helping the Chinese government improve its legislative measures on telecommunications, copyright, protection of personal data, security of information and access to governmental information. The EU will also help to better deploy e-government in China and in training schemes in a number of provinces and municipalities.