Time to energize China-EU relations 中欧关系亟待注入新能量

Last year marked the China-EU 40th Anniversary. The two parties celebrated together the achievements made so far in political cooperation, economical development as well as people-to-people dialogue.

去年是中欧建交四十周年，中国和欧盟共同庆祝了双方自建交以来在政治合作、经济发展及人文交流领域所取得的丰硕成果。

China and the EU are marching further on their path toward a comprehensive strategic partnership. The age of 40 is a fresh start in China’s culture, indicating that by age of 40, a man will have a better understanding of things previously unknown and a clearer idea of what he wants to do with his life. In another word, it is a milestone for maturity and pragmatism.

双方也一直在为进一步深化中欧全面战略伙伴关系做着不断地努力。中国文化里讲“四十而不惑”，四十岁寓意着一个全新的开始。如果一个人到了四十岁，那么他就对之前所有不理解的事务有了更清醒的认识，同时也不再对自己的人生感到疑惑而是非常明确知道自己应该干什么。换句话说，四十岁是人生的一个里程碑，从这一刻开始，人会变得更加成熟和务实。

The same can be applied here in the case of China-EU relations: it is time for the two sides to untap the hidden potential, to face the unaddressed issues and to realize ambitious dreams with a pragmatic approach hand in hand.

这个道理同样适用于解读中欧关系：现在是时候双方共同发掘尚未开发的发展潜力、共同面对尚未解决的众多难题、携手以一个更加务实的态度和方法实现各自雄心勃勃的梦想。

The largest cooperation potential between Europe and China lays in 5G, digital fund, Industry 4.0, e-commerce and startups.

中欧间最大的合作潜力存在于以下五个方面：5G、数字基金、工业4.0、电子商务和初创企业。

Let us look at theme one by one.

让我们逐一分析一下。

5G and Internet of Things

5G和物联网

There are already over 500 million people using 4G. It is the world’s largest Internet market with over 700 million Internet users, and it will definitely take a leading role in global 5G and IoT development in next decades. The first to ally with China will grasp the chance to be in the forerunners club, develop its own 5G and IoT capability at fastest speed and ensure large shares in this new market.

在中国4G用户已经超过五亿。拥有着超过七亿使用者的中国是世界上最大的互联网市场，而中国也无疑会在接下来的几十年里引领全球5G和物联网的发展。谁第一个和中国结盟，谁就相当于抓住了成为这一先驱俱乐部成员的机会，不仅能够以最快的速度发展自身的5G和物联网，同时也能够确保在这个新兴市场多分得一杯羹。

Therefore, Europe should be the one: we should maintain privileged relations with Chinese partners and promote joint actions both in the field of research and technology trials. Further “concrete joint initiatives” should be put in place, such as the first “Full 5G Cities”, located in Europe and China.

因此，欧洲应该是中国的第一个数字盟友：我们应该继续保持和发展与中国伙伴间良好的关系，同时促进双方在科研和技术试验领域的合作。进一步的“具体联合倡议与行动”也需要相继到位，例如在中国和欧洲打造第一批“全5G城市”。

A Digital Fund

数字基金

China has shown a strong commitment to the Juncker Plan, announcing its will to contribute with up to €10 billion. This sets out a strong signal that China believes increasing investments in Europe will be beneficial and promising. The EU should take advantage of this trust from its partner, use the money wisely and generate tangible results that are in both sides’ interests.

中国表达了支持并加入容克计划的强烈意愿和承诺，宣布将会向其投资高达100亿欧元。这一举动释放出了一个重要信号，那就是中国相信扩大对欧洲的投资是有益处并且有前景的。欧盟应该充分利用来自其中国伙伴的这份信任，明智地使用这笔资金来出产符合双方利益的切实成果。

Digital is key to power up the economy. China is gearing up its economic growth through digitalization under the nation-wide “Internet +” strategy, while the EU attaches great importance to the “Digital Single Market” strategy to revive its economy and regain competitiveness.

数字是提升经济实力的加速器。在“互联网+”战略框架下，中国正在通过数字化全力促进国家经济增长，而欧盟则十分看重其“数字单一市场”战略，希望借此恢复欧洲经济并重获市场竞争力。

The Juncker Investment Plan, combined with the entry of Chinese capital, provides a unique opportunity for Europe to create a joint digital fund with China, aimed at investing and supporting small and medium-sized EU enterprises operating in ICT or interested to invest and transform traditional businesses into digital ones.

有了中国资本加盟的容克投资计划为欧洲联手中国共同打造一个数字基金提供了一个独特的机会，这一基金可以将目标锁定投资和扶植欧洲信息通信技术领域的中小企业，或者是那些有兴趣投资从而使其从传统商业模式转型到数字模式的企业。

Industry 4.0

工业4.0

The manufacturing industry is about to undergo a new digital revolution thanks to 5G and the introduction of new technologies. This is what we in Europe call Industry 4.0. Think about how new applications are impacting our daily live: artificial intelligence, 3D printers, drones, just to mention a few. It will be an epochal moment, with disruptive consequences to the traditional industries, similarly to what happened with Uber and the transport sector.

多亏了5G和众多高新科技的引进，制造业马上会经历一场全新的数字变革。这也就是我们在欧洲所谓的“工业4.0”。回想一下那些新的技术应用是如何影响我们的日常生活的，简单举几个例子：人工智能、3D打印、无人机等等。这将是一个划时代的历史时刻，传统工业将被彻底颠覆，就如果优步（Uber）改变了交通行业。

China has reacted to the new trend swiftly and is taking fast measures to adapt themselves. The European manufacturing industry must be ready for this challenge as well. Creating an alliance with China, who is interested to increase its investment levels and cooperation opportunities in Europe, can be a precious opportunity for the European industry to accelerate its digital transformation.

中国以极快的速度应对了这一新的发展趋势，并迅速采取相应措施来适应该变化。欧洲的制造业也必须为迎接这一艰巨的挑战做好准备。中国有意愿进一步扩大其在欧洲的投资水平及与欧洲企业的合作机会，如果欧洲可以与中国结盟，那么这将会为加速欧洲工业的数字转型提供一个宝贵的机会。

E-Commerce

电子商务

China is the largest market for e-commerce in the world with online retail sales totaling 3.9 trillion RMB ($US590bn) in 2015. Europe should focus on further strengthening its ties with Chinese e-commerce companies, and intensifying EU-China cross-border online trade.

中国是世界最大的电子商务市场，2015年网络零售交易额高达3.9万亿人民币。欧洲需要继续巩固加强其与中国电子商务公司的纽带，进一步强化中欧跨境网络贸易的发展。

Cross-border e-commerce also means huge potential for European SMEs to reach the ever expanding and increasingly demanding Chinese middle class consumers. For example, in the food and beverage sector, Italian products stand for only 1% of Chinese imports, against 30% represented by the US products.

跨境电子商务对于欧洲的的中小企业来说也意味着巨大的商业潜力，因为由此它们可以接触到正在不断增长的中国中产阶级消费者，而这一庞大的消费群体恰恰代表着巨大的市场需求。举例来说，目前在食物和酒水领域，意大利的产品仅占中国进口的1%，相对美国的进口产品比例则占到了30%。

Implementing Alibaba’s e-WTP initiative can be a very good start, but we need to explore more ambitious solutions, and take concrete measures to harmonize cross-border e-commerce rules and boost international transactions.

贯彻落实阿里巴巴提出的建立世界电子贸易平台（e-WTP）倡议无疑是一个很好的开始，但我们还需要发掘更多具有雄心壮志的解决方案，同时采取具体措施统一跨境电子商务规则及促进国际交易。

Startups

初创企业

Startups can be seen as injections of fresh blood in the veins of an economy, carrying enormous vitality and nutrition needed for a stronger performance. In China, 12,000 new startups are set up every day. The cooperation potential in startups is beyond imagination.

初创企业可以被视作为注入经济血管的新鲜血液，携带着增强其生命力所需的大量养分与活力。在中国，每天有12000家新的初创公司宣布成立。中欧在初创领域合作潜力之巨大是超乎想象的。

ChinaEU has designed “SilkCamp” to explore such cooperation potential, a joint boot-camp program aimed at promoting cooperation between European and Chinese startups in the Hi-tech and Internet fields by providing all support necessary for European and Chinese startups to navigate and scale up in each other’s market.

为了更好地开拓双方这一领域的合作潜力，中欧数字协会开发了“丝路之营”项目。这一合作训练营项目旨在通过对其在对方市场发展提供所需支持和导航来促进在高科技和互联网领域的中国和欧洲初创公司开展合作。

This article was an opinion editorial piece by Luigi Gambardella, President of ChinaEU for China Daily, published on 17th 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17日在发表在《中国日报》上的评论，查看原文，请点击此处。