Chinese-Danish Economic Relations under the New Circumstances. By Xie Hang Sheng, Ambassador of China to Denmark

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First, at the beginning of the Chinese New Year, let me take this opportunity to extend my heartfelt greetings and best wishes to all of you in 2009. Hope the year of Ox will bring you prosperity and happiness.

The past year left us with many unforgettable moments. It is such an uncommon year for China, as well as for the China-Denmark bilateral relations. In this year, we successfully hosted Beijing Olympic Games and Paralympics, bravely fought against natural disasters and further consolidated our determination to build a socialist market economy with Chinese characteristics, while summing up the 30-year experience of reform and opening up.

The year 2008 also witnessed great progress in the bilateral relations. The exchange of high-level visits, the agreement on a new partnership relationship, and the launch of dozens of cooperation projects further strengthened the Chinese-Danish relations. While the financial turmoil is casting a shadow over the world economic growth, we see a booming trend and some broad prospects in bilateral trade and investment cooperation. According to the latest statistics from Chinese Customs, the bilateral trade volume amounted to 8.1 billion USD in 2008, increasing by 24 percent compared to 2007. Many Danish multinationals have intensified their presence in China, while small- and medium-sized enterprises of the two countries showed more enthusiasm about doing business. It is fair to say that the Chinese-Danish economic relations are facing unprecedented opportunities under the new circumstances.

Deepened Political Relations Lay a Solid Foundation for Economic Cooperation
China and Denmark have traditionally enjoyed a stable friendship. We are good friends and partners. In recent years, the exchange of visits between high officials has further promoted the mutual understanding and political trust between the two countries. In 2008, Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen made a successful visit to China, during which time the two sides announced a joint statement of establishing a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. It marked a new era for the development of our bilateral relations. In the statement, the two sides agreed to further enhance the economic relations and to encourage a mutually beneficial cooperation between enterprises. Later on, the Danish government launched an action plan for a mutually beneficial partnership, which added more substance and detailed incentives to the idea of developing the cooperation with China. We highly appreciated those efforts made by the Danish government. We are convinced that under the attention drawn by top officials, with the shared aspiration of the two governments and enterprises, the establishment of the new partnership will give a great impetus to the development of our bilateral economic relations.

Measures Against the Financial Crisis Create Business Opportunities
The ongoing international financial crisis has inflicted a severe impact on both China and Denmark, as well as the world economy as a whole. To cope with the crisis, China has taken various measures to stimulate domestic demand, restore confidence and strengthen regulation. Those measures aimed not only to address the current problems, but also focused on a structural reform and long-term prospects. Furthermore, they provide great opportunities for both domestic and foreign enterprises. For instance, the two-year investment program with the total amount of 4 trillion RMB will stimulate a huge demand for products, facilities and services. The industrial restructuring and rejuvenation program on the other hand paves the way for advanced technologies and innovative solutions. As the biggest developing country and an important developed country in the world, the differences in our respective resource compositions, industrial structures and consumption levels indicate strong complementarities. This complementary nature is the driving force behind the sustained development of trade and economic ties between the two nations even in today’s complicated and volatile economic situation.

New Promising Cooperation Areas Emerge as China Focuses on Sustainable Development
China is now the world’s second largest energy producer and consumer. The Chinese government is accelerating its development of a modern energy industry, citing resource conservation and environmental protection as its two basic state policies. Our goal is to build a resource-conserving and environment-friendly society in the course of modernization and industrialization. The vast demand for relative technologies and solutions has created a huge market for world enterprises. Denmark is a leading country in renewable energy and energy efficiency. We are glad to see that the two sides have already started a successful cooperation in many areas, such as wind power and bio-ethanol. Danish enterprises have unique knowledge and competences, while China provides a sound base for production and R&D. The combination of each other’s advantages will definitely form a strong cutting edge in the world market and result in a win-win situation.

Looking ahead, while much has been achieved, there is more to be done in order to realize all the opportunities. This calls for joint efforts by the governments, enterprises and business associations. We hope Danish-Chinese Business Forum will continue to play an active role in promoting communication between enterprises and achieve more success in the future.

This year is the year of Ox, which represents persistence, fortitude and a down-to-earth attitude. I am convinced that with all these qualities embodied in the Ox, we can overcome the current difficulties and take our bilateral economic relations to a new high. By doing this, we will also contribute more to the prosperity of our two countries as well as to the world economic development.

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