Former EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said that EU’s trade policy has not kept pace with Asia's development. The EU must realize that the adjustment of EU's trade policy cannot be limited to China. The EU’s main goal of choosing Asia as a 'bilateral trade offensive' was the outstanding performance of emerging Asian countries in the financial crisis. After the EU officially signed a free trade agreement with South Korea on October 6, 2010, it has recently reached a contract with India. The intention of the EU-India Free Trade Area. India and the European Union reached an agreement at the 11th EU-India Summit. The two sides stated that they will sign a bilateral free trade agreement in 2011.
The EU is India’s largest trading partner. India exports 18.7% of its products to the EU. Bilateral trade volume reached as high as 69 billion euros in 2009. The EU is also India’s largest source of investment. The EU’s investment in India has accumulated 20 billion euros in 10 years.
According to Dr. Shen Minghui of the Institute of Asia and Pacific Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the EU-India, the EU-Korea Free Trade Area are mainly the needs of their respective economies. The Indian side should be more active and hope to have more trade opportunities. After all, China, a big country in trade, has given it great impetus.
Both the EU and India have shown a positive attitude towards the establishment of the free trade zone. European Commission ** Barroso said that the relevant negotiations are expected to be completed in the spring of 2011. Both parties will sign this agreement at the summit in 2011. The establishment of a free trade zone between the two sides is undoubtedly a 'win-win' cooperation and will thus form a 15 Billion people's big market. This will not only be crucial for the EU and India to achieve sustainable development, increase employment, and technological innovation, but also be conducive to global economic recovery. At the same time, it will also send strong signals to open markets and oppose trade protectionism. Indian Prime Minister Singh said that India’s development requires firm Indo-European relations.
According to the Associated Press, after the establishment of the Free Trade Zone, trade tariffs between the EU and India will be cut by 90%, and bilateral trade volume will increase by 30%. In addition to formally signing its first free trade agreement with the Asian economies with South Korea, the EU will also initiate bilateral free trade negotiations with Singapore and Malaysia. Analysts from outside have pointed out that Asia is becoming the main target of the EU 'bilateral trade offensive'.
Observers here believe that the trade imbalance between China and Europe has kept Europe uneasy. In addition to various protectionist measures, the EU has successfully won 'South Korea. In addition, it is still negotiating with the ASEAN Free Trade Zone. The main reason is that the export products of ASEAN and South Korea have a cross with the 'Made in China'. It can be used as a 'replacement made in China', which will help correct the imbalance between China-EU trade.
Shen Minghui believes that India’s external export structure is not the same as China’s. There is not much crossover between the two. India is dominated by service outsourcing, and China’s manufacturing industry is dominated, so India’s establishment of the free trade zone with China’s foreign trade There is not much impact, of course, the same industry with India will be affected by some. For India, expanding exports and pushing India’s service sector to the European market will also benefit the competitiveness of India’s domestic industries in the long run.
With opportunities and challenges coexisting, Chinese hardware companies need to seize the opportunity to follow up the market in a timely manner.