- EU Chamber urges to reopen borders
- Coal boom jeopardizes China’s climate goals
- More and more Russian oil for the People’s Republic
- Chinese anti-missile system to protect nuclear weapons
- Tesla ban in Beidaihe
- COP15 moved from Kunming to Montreal
- François Chimits considers loss of prosperity in China a possibility
China is the biggest sales market for many European companies. However, working in China is becoming harder and harder: Lockdowns, supply chain problems, and, above all, largely closed borders are just a few better-known problems European companies currently have to face in China.
Our author team in Beijing took a closer look at the latest survey by the EU Chamber of Commerce in China and asked what the leadership in Beijing could do to restore the economic environment in the People’s Republic. One thing is clear, after all: Business confidence is worse than ever before. Some companies were apparently already asking themselves how much they still want to rely on China in the future.
Who or what to rely on in the future – this question is currently also true for energy supply. Since the Ukraine war at the latest, this issue has risen to the top of the political agenda of many governments. But while Germany’s Minister for Economic Affairs Robert Habeck is trying to win over Qatar and Saudi Arabia as new gas suppliers, China is turning to a different type of fossil fuel: coal.
An astounding four billion tons were mined in China last year – more than ever before. In addition, dozens of new coal-fired power plants are being built across the country. And all this despite the fact that Xi Jinping likes to herald his country as a future climate protection power. Nico Beckert found out what’s behind China’s coal boom, why many power plants are being built near wind and solar farms – and why leading climate experts don’t see the Chinese coal boom in such a negative light.
Michael Radunski
Feature
EU Chamber urges Beijing to open borders
The European Union Chamber of Commerce in China has urged the Chinese government to finally relax its strict Covid measures. “China must open its borders. It has all the means for a great comeback,” said Chamber Vice President Bettina Schoen-Behanzin on Monday at the presentation of the new Business Confidence Survey 2022.
China must ease the fears of companies and “win back confidence with a clear plan,” said Schoen-Behanzin. The situation cannot be brought under control with mass testing and lockdowns. The appeal was prompted by the results of the annual survey. In it, it becomes clear how much the sentiment of European companies in China has fallen since the start of the war in Ukraine and the lockdowns in several economic centers of the country.
Grim prospects for their own business, supply chain problems, staff shortages – these are all consequences of the geopolitical and health crises, weighing on the business climate in the second-largest economy. The BCS of the European Chamber of Commerce in China reveals the growing concerns among the 620 companies that responded to the annual survey. Three-quarters of members reported that the strict Covid containment measures have negatively affected their business. 92 percent complained about supply chain problems caused, for example, by port closures and rising shipping costs.
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