European companies in China yesterday called for greater market access and a level playing field with Chinese rivals amid growing frustration among foreign firms over perceived unfair treatment.
An EU Chamber of Commerce position paper said uneven enforcement of laws and unfair restrictions on foreign investment were deterring overseas companies from expanding their operations in China.
“This is not because European companies do not want to expand their China operations ... but rather because they face obstacles or risks in excess of what their boards and stakeholders will allow them to bear,” said Jacques de Boisseson, president of the business group.
The paper was the latest in a growing chorus of complaints from foreign firms that China’s business environment was worsening.
It called on Beijing to consult more with foreign firms on policy decisions and urged the EU to develop a common China policy.
“A single market needs a single and proactive economic and trade policy towards China,” Boisseson said.
Despite repeated assurances from top leaders that foreign investment was welcome in China, there was a “growing tendency” in sectors such as auto, telecoms and healthcare to block overseas companies from the market.
These hurdles were prompting some European companies to reconsider their presence in China, Boisseson said.
“There are sectors of the Chinese economy ... that would probably be satisfied with a lower level of foreign investment,” he said.
Beijing last month urged officials to implement policies aimed at encouraging foreign investment, in an apparent response to the criticism by foreign governments and firms over perceived unfair policies and market restrictions.
Surveys by the US and European chambers of commerce in recent months showed overseas firms were increasingly unhappy with the way they were treated in China.
Separately, a US federal grand jury has indicted 11 German and Chinese executives for conspiring to illegally import more than US$40 million of honey from China, the US Justice Department said on Wednesday.
In an example of what US Senator Charles Schumer has called “honey laundering,” they were accused of mislabeling honey made in China as coming from Russia, India, Indonesia and elsewhere to avoid nearly US$80 million in anti-dumping duties.
Some of the honey was also adulterated with antibiotics not approved for use in honey production, the department said. However, the 44-count indictment handed down in Chicago does not allege any cases of illness or risk to public health.
Ten of the indicted individuals were top executives of German food conglomerate Alfred L Wolff GmbH, or four of its affiliated companies, whose US honey-importing business was based in Chicago, the department said.
A Chinese sales manager for China-based QHD Sanhai Honey Co (秦皇島三海蜂業) was also indicted, as was the company itself, the German firm Alfred L Wolff GmbH and affiliates in the US and China.
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
RULES BROKEN: The MAC warned Chinese not to say anything that would be harmful to the autonomous status of Taiwan or undermine its sovereignty A Chinese couple accused of disrupting a pro-democracy event in Taipei organized by Hong Kong residents has been deported, the National Immigration Agency said in a statement yesterday afternoon. A Chinese man, surnamed Yao (姚), and his wife were escorted by immigration officials to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, where they boarded a flight to China before noon yesterday, the agency said. The agency said that it had annulled the couple’s entry permits, citing alleged contraventions of the Regulations Governing the Approval of Entry of People of the Mainland Area into the Taiwan Area (大陸地區人民進入台灣地區許可辦法). The couple applied to visit a family member in
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