The European energy transition is not possible without China. That is what Minister Liesje Schreinemacher (Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation) stated on Sunday. Europe is trying to become less dependent on the Asian country. But our country should not “disconnect” completely from this, says the minister.
“They do a lot of research and development. It would be a shame if we cut our ties completely,” says Schreinemacher in an interview with the British business newspaper Financial Times.
According to the minister, our country has a strong trade relationship with China. “We need each other to make our economies more sustainable, and for the green transition.”
The G7, where the Netherlands sits at the table through the European Union, recently agreed to reduce the risks associated with ties with China. The countries want to do this, for example, by getting more raw materials from other countries and developing their own clean technology sectors.
According to Schreinemacher, “reducing our strategic dependencies” does not mean cutting trade ties altogether. That, she says, is at least “as long as we’re still diversifying our resources for materials and our supply chains.”
Krijg meldingen bij nieuws over China
Screening investments in breakthrough technologies
Schreinemacher also warns against screening some investments in Chinese companies in advance. These are companies that are working on groundbreaking technologies.
According to the minister, this is a “very heavy instrument” to protect Europe’s economic interests. With such a screening, the Netherlands wants to know in advance “exactly what the goal is and how this can be carried out”, she says.
Over the past decade, the Dutch economy has become increasingly linked to that of China. Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang said this week in a conversation with his counterpart Wopke Hoekstra that China wants to further deepen its economic relationship with the Netherlands. Gang said that the Netherlands is China’s gateway to the EU.
2023-05-28 11:02:25
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