Following the meeting held in Shanghai with Shang Yuying, DG of Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, the S&D delegation praised the implementation of a legal and tariff regulation framework that favours the opening of their market to foreign and European investment. A model of best practice that should be taken as a model for the whole of China. The S&D delegation led by the Group president, Gianni Pittella, and composed of Victor Boştinaru, S&D Group vice-president responsible for foreign affairs, Inmaculada Rodríguez-Piñero, member of the international trade committee and the delegation for relations with Southeast Asia (ASEAN), and István Ujhelyi, vice-president of the transport and tourism committee and member of the China-EU parliamentary delegation, stressed the fundamental role that tourism between China and Europe will play in boosting both economies.
Inmaculada Rodríguez-Piñero, member of the inta committee, stated:
"The Free Trade Area in Shanghai is one of the best way to attract foreign investment and to widen the Chinese market to European companies. For China, this model represents a good practice based on a comprehensive legal framework and a market-oriented tariffs and duties system. Nevertheless, there are still improvements to be made that can facilitate the creation of joint ventures and cooperation between Europe and China in order to attract further European investment. We encourage the Chinese authorities to extend Shanghai’s positive model to the rest of the country. It would surely speed up the implementation of the bilateral investment treaty with the EU for mutual benefit of both the European and Chinese economic systems."
István Ujhelyi, vice-president of the transport and tourism committee, highlighted:
"The tourism industry between China and Europe must become the genuine engine of the European economic system in the near future. Over 3.7 million Chinese tourists visited Europe in 2015. 10% of European GDP is generated by the tourism industry. More than a 100 million Chinese will travel for tourism by the 2020, according to WTO reports. All these figures clearly show that the increasing tourism flows from China may represent a fundamental engine to reinvigorate the European economy. Tourism means jobs, through improved infrastructure and long-term investment. The competition coming from the rest of the world will be substantial. Europe must therefore ready itself to capture this flow of tourists."
