EU needs forward-looking China plan 欧盟需要一个更具前瞻性的中国政策

Bloc needs to be ambitious and more focused on opportunities for economic cooperation

欧盟需要一颗雄心，集中精力寻找经济合作新机遇

Ten years after publishing their last one, the European Union’s foreign ministers on July 18 endorsed the Elements for a New EU Strategy on China, which contains a comprehensive overview of China-EU relations and the main challenges ahead.

上一份欧盟对华政策文件发布是在2006年。十年之后，欧盟各成员国外交部于7月18日通过了“欧盟对华新战略要素”，该文件对当前中欧关系做了一个全面的解读，同时也列举了双方需要面对的主要挑战。

The document is not, first of all, addressed to the Chinese authorities but to EU member governments and the European Parliament, and seeks to build a consensus on EU-China policy for the coming years.

首先需要明确的是，这份文件并不是写给中国政府看的，而是呈给欧盟各成员国政府和欧洲议会，希望各方能够就未来几年的欧盟对华政策达成一个共识。

Personally, I hope the European decision makers will focus on the future, on the opportunities China brings and will bring to Europe, instead of raising a lot of preconditions before proceeding to further cooperation.

就我个人而言，我希望欧洲的决策者们可以放眼于未来，将目光锁定在中国已经和即将给欧洲带来的种种机会，而不是在未来可能的合作发生之前就先列出诸多条条框框和前提条件。

We need an ambitious strategy and more focus on opportunities for economic cooperation.

我们需要一个雄心勃勃的战略，把更多的精力集中在经济合作的新机遇上。

Let’s not forget that the EU has daunting challenges to deal with internally: Brexit, the Greek problem, the refugee crisis, the over indebtedness of most governments. The Elements for a New EU Strategy on China acknowledges that enhanced China-EU cooperation is part of the solution.

我们不要忘了欧盟内部还有许多棘手的问题需要解决：英国脱欧、希腊局势、难民危机，还有多国政府那累累的债务。欧盟对华新战略要素指出，深化的中欧合作是上述难题解决方案的一部分。

“The EU’s economic strengths are complementary to the priorities of China’s 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020), such as innovation, services, green growth and balancing urban and rural development,” it says. “Mutually beneficial cooperation on all aspects of investment should be increased, including by finding practical ways for China to contribute to the investment plan for Europe.”

“欧盟的经济优势与中国十三五规划中列出的重点不谋而合、相互补充，例如创新、服务、绿色增长及平衡城乡发展”，文件中这样提到，“关于投资的各方面互惠合作应当进一步加强，包括为中国加入欧洲投资计划寻找实际的方法。”

The willingness of the EU to explore synergy between the two development strategies is a good start.

欧盟表达了希望探索中欧双方发展战略对接可能性的意愿，这是一个很好的开始。

For the time being, what is striking in the Elements document is the key role assigned to the EU-China Connectivity Platform, which was launched in June last year as a vehicle to connect the Eurasian continent through a physical and digital network. The network would enable the flow of trade, investment and people-to-people contact.

现阶段，整个文件中最引人瞩目的是：中欧互联互通平台被赋予重任，将在未来双边关系蓝图中扮演关键角色。该平台于去年7月份建立，是中国和欧盟通过实体和数字网络连接亚欧大陆的媒介。

China is moving fast, much faster than Europe. The EU has a strong interest in working with China. According to the EU strategy, cooperation on the digital economy should harness growth through open markets, common standards and joint research on the basis of reciprocity in areas such as 5G mobile communications and the internet of things.

中国正在飞速发展，速度远超欧洲。欧盟对和中国合作有很强烈的兴趣。根据这一欧盟最新对华战略，数字经济领域的合作将促进双方经济增长。但这需要在互惠的基础上，通过对5G移动通信和物联网等特定领域开放市场、制定通用标准和进行联合科研才能够得以实现。

There is nothing more exciting than knowing two of the giant digital global players will join hands and lead the digital revolution. With the EU’s know-how and mature legislation system, and China’s huge market needs and fast-moving innovation on advanced technology, the EU and China are natural partners.

还有什么比得知全球两大数字巨头将携手引领一场数字革命更加振奋人心的呢？欧盟在数字领域有着很强的专业知识和丰富的实践经验，而中国有着巨大的市场需求，近年来也在高新科技领域不断创新、成长迅速。这样看来中国和欧盟是天造地设的一对搭档。

The Elements list actions, but they should be complemented – once adopted – with concrete projects. It advocates “mainstreaming key themes and objectives across all EU-China dialogues and concentrating resources on a smaller number of priorities where the EU has the greatest added value”. This year should be the year of delivery.

欧盟对华新战略要素列出了一份行动清单，一旦被采纳，就应当通过具体的项目来执行。它主张“在中欧所有对话中挑选出最重要的主题和目标，并把有限的资源和精力集中在能使欧盟从中获取最大附加值的少数几个发展重点上。”

The EU wants a China that is economically more open and stable, with significantly improved market access for foreign companies. A company like Alibaba could play a key role in this process by providing the EU companies – and in particular small and medium-sized enterprises – a platform to reach Chinese undertakings and consumers. In this context, deepening cooperation on customs and trade facilitation would be appropriate to boost e-commerce between the EU and China.

欧盟希望看到一个经济更开放、更稳定、同时对外国公司市场准入状况有所改善的中国。像阿里巴巴这样的公司其实可以在这个过程中扮演关键角色：通过为欧盟企业，特别是为那些中小型规模的企业搭建一个接触到中国企业和消费者的商业平台。如此背景下，在关税和贸易便利化方面加深合作对于促进中欧电子商务发展来说是非常适宜的。

At the same time, the EU should establish a common minimum definition of what constitutes critical national infrastructure in the context of inward investment, to provide legal certainty and promote investment.

同时，在对内投资范围内，欧盟应当设立一个通用的最低标准用来定义国家维生管线的组成，以提供法律确定性并有效促进投资。

Leading Chinese telecom companies should have a clear framework to invest in European telecom operators and bring them the benefits of their critical mass and innovative management culture.

而中国的领军电信公司也应当对投资欧洲电信运营商制定一个明确的制度框架，并把自身的群聚效应优势和创新的管理文化带给他们。

This article was an opinion editorial piece by Luigi Gambardella, President of ChinaEU for China Daily European Weekly, published on 29th July. To view the original text, please click here.

该文是中欧数字协会主席鲁乙己7月29日在发表在《中国日报欧洲版》上的评论，查看原文，请点击此处。