Europe must have the confidence to welcome China's economic
resurgence and develop new policies to help its people adapt to
changes brought by globalization, European Union Trade Commissioner
Peter Mandelson said in Beijing Thursday.
Mandelson made the remarks in a speech delivered at the Renmin
(People's) University of China in Beijing.
He said Western views of China's resurgence often fell at one of
two extremes: those who fear that China's increasing economic power
will lead to military might and foreign policy confrontation; and
those who argued that the world was undergoing an economic
revolution which politics could do little to shape or influence,
and Europe should maximize its share of burgeoning markets, new
contracts and profits as best as it can.
Mandelson said he rejected both extremes and believed that
Europe had the confidence to welcome China's economic resurgence,
and that Europe was capable of competing in a "race to the
top."
He urged Europeans to make concrete efforts to beat the tendency
of protectionism on the continent.
"In European domestic politics, seeing off protectionism
involves more than political commitment and rhetoric," he said.
European governments must develop comprehensive new economic and
social policies to help their people adapt to changes brought by
globalization and China's rise, to build new sources of comparative
advantage, foster creativity and allow their people to develop
their talents to the full.
Mandelson urged China and the EU to work together to build an
economic relationship that benefited all.
"Such a successful relationship means living up to economic
political responsibilities and commitments on both sides," he
said.
"Economically both sides have to commit to openness, resist
protectionist pressures.... Politically both sides have to work
together to tackle the pressures generated by the wider security,
social and environmental consequences of globalization," he
said.
Mandelson also said he intended to put forward to the European
Commission and to member states this autumn a document setting out
the agenda for the trade and investment between China and Europe
for at least the next five years.
Mandelson arrived in Guangzhou in south China's Guangdong
Province Monday on his fifth trip to China as the EU Trade
Commissioner.
(Xinhua News Agency June 9, 2006)
