Sunday

28th May 2023

China looking to snap up EU factories, railways

  • Wang: 'The euro zone crisis has not entirely played out and asset prices are very volatile. They haven't found their floor' (Photo: Stefan)

China is looking to buy EU factories and railways instead of wobbly government bonds as prices fall amid the eurozone crisis.

Minister of commerce Chen Deming articulated the strategy at a business congress in China on Monday (28 November).

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

"Next year, we will send a delegation for promoting trade and investment to the European countries ... Some European countries are facing a debt crisis and hope to convert their assets to cash and would like foreign capital to acquire their enterprises. We will be closely watching and pushing forward the process," he said.

Chen's remarks come after the chief of the $410 billion Chinese Investment Corporation, Lou Jiwei, wrote in an op-ed in the Financial Times on Sunday that EU infrastructure needs outside help.

"Traditionally, Chinese involvement in overseas infrastructure projects has been as a contractor only. Now, Chinese investors also see a need to invest in, develop and operate projects," he explained.

Lou praised the UK as "one of the most open economies in the world" and mentioned involvement in a new UK north-south railway project in the context of political hostility to China in some countries.

Chinese port operator Cosco last year bought a 35-year lease for two container terminals in debt-struck Greece. But crisis-hit Iceland last week blocked the sale of a large farm to Chinese businessman Huang Nubo on national security grounds.

Huang said he wanted to build a hotel and a golf course.

Speaking to the Sina Finance news agency, he hit out at what he called European "prejudice ... like the view that state-owned enterprises represent your country, that whatever your background is you're a military business."

"You can come and buy a house, and you can emigrate here and bring your riches with you, or you can buy my luxury goods, but if you want to touch my natural resources, then I'm sorry, I won't let you."

The EU in recent weeks had tried to interest China in buying weak Euroepan bonds instead through a special purpose investment vehicle.

For their part, Chinese analysts predict the spending spree will not begin until prices hit rock bottom.

"The euro zone crisis has not entirely played out and asset prices are very volatile. They haven't found their floor ... Europe is not a resources player, but its manufacturers are what would most interest us, with their market, their technology, and their strong experience," Wang Jun, an economist at the Beijing-based CCIEE think-tank told Reuters.

China shows interest in sponsoring EU bail-outs

Chinese diplomats are awaiting a detailed proposal on taking part in the EU bail-out fund, the EFSF, while promising not to push for market economy status or lifting the arms embargo in return.

Chinese official: Eurozone collapse would be a 'disaster'

A collapse of the eurozone would be a "disaster for everyone" and EU leaders have not "fully realised" the urgency of the situation, a Chinese official said Tuesday, adding that Europe's problem is not money, but lack of confidence.

Barroso to China: EU is not falling apart

European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso has told the Chinese public that the EU is going to become a fully-fledged "political union" after the financial crisis.

EU: national energy price-spike measures should end this year

"If energy prices increase again and support cannot be fully discontinued, targeted policies to support vulnerable households and companies — rather than wide and less effective support policies — will remain crucial," the commission said in its assessment.

Opinion

EU export credits insure decades of fossil-fuel in Mozambique

European governments are phasing out fossil fuels at home, but continuing their financial support for fossil mega-projects abroad. This is despite the EU agreeing last year to decarbonise export credits — insurance on risky non-EU projects provided with public money.

Latest News

  1. How the EU's money for waste went to waste in Lebanon
  2. EU criminal complicity in Libya needs recognition, says expert
  3. Europe's missing mails
  4. MEPs to urge block on Hungary taking EU presidency in 2024
  5. PFAS 'forever chemicals' cost society €16 trillion a year
  6. EU will 'react as appropriate' to Russian nukes in Belarus
  7. The EU needs to foster tech — not just regulate it
  8. EU: national energy price-spike measures should end this year

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. International Sustainable Finance CentreJoin CEE Sustainable Finance Summit, 15 – 19 May 2023, high-level event for finance & business
  2. ICLEISeven actionable measures to make food procurement in Europe more sustainable
  3. World BankWorld Bank Report Highlights Role of Human Development for a Successful Green Transition in Europe
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic summit to step up the fight against food loss and waste
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersThink-tank: Strengthen co-operation around tech giants’ influence in the Nordics
  6. EFBWWEFBWW calls for the EC to stop exploitation in subcontracting chains

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us