Chinese Finance Minister Jin Renqing began a visit of major European partners on March 30 with meetings in Germany with his German counterpart Hans Eichel and with visits to local enterprise considered as potential key to bilateral relations between the two.

Chinese Finance Minister Jin Renqing began a visit of major European partners on March 30 with meetings in Germany with his German counterpart Hans Eichel and with visits to local enterprise considered as potential key to bilateral relations between the two.

The visit also involved some international dimensions since Germany holds the leadership of the G-20 group on economic and financial issues. One subject apparently touched on during the visit involved the German wish to retain the leadership of the International Monetary Fund for a European candidate in the drive to succeed the outgoing Horst Kohler. And talks also involved world trade negotiations and Chinese exchange rate policies.

The Finance Minister’s visit to Berlin also coincided with the staging of the international conference on Afghanistan, and both he and his colleague Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing attending the Afghan meet were received by German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, who vowed to keep relations between Germany and China in a central position. During that visit, it was noted that Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao would visit Germany in the coming weeks and Schröder would plan another visit to China in 2004.

Li Zhaoxing said the two countries were working closely together on the promotion of pluralism, the joint fight against terrorism and the reconstruction of Afghanistan. He also appreciated germany’s position towards the one-china policy and against the independence of Taiwan.

Part of the visit also centered on bilateral trade and technology cooperation, spotlighted in a tour of German facilities in the Eastern port city of Rostock. There the Ministers conducted a tour of the Caterpillar plant that was of potential to China in maritime engine technology and the Neptun steel and machinery facility there.

Jin Renqing signed several agreements with Germany on financial aid, worth €65 million, to help the development of the health and solar energy sector.

In France, the Minister met with the country‘s new Finance Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, its business community and a special group of French firms already in China. As part of the official relations, Jin Renqing signed three cooperation agreements with France, dealing with a framework on French financing and listing priority areas such as transport and the environment, the financing of projects in China by the French Development Agency and a financial protocol for the supply of medical equipment for a hospital in Xian.

Addressing some 100 business leaders of the Medef International he was questioned on the problem of counterfeiting by firms such as Lacoste, which just opened its second production facility in China but had been plagued with fake copies of its apparel, and by firms such as Dassault System on protection of intellectual property. He replied that “The Government is determined to enforce respect intellectual property“and to combat counterfeiting, but he also added that “the country is immense and we are just beginning this struggle. This cannot be done from one day to the next.“

Another subject raised by the Minister involved the national currency the Yuan, which he had also discussed in Berlin when he had aroused some attention by noting that the currency was considering a “more flexible“ exchange rate policy. In Paris he seemed to adopt a different tone, when he remarked that the yuan would remain “a stable currency in the interest of China and all of Asia.“

He was also reported to have specifically invited French firms in the West and North-East of China. He also particularly mentioned the aeronautic sector as one in which Chinese firms will “progressively open up,“ their capital, but he also added it would not happen all at once. He also said China had needs in the transport, energy and environment sectors, but not certain areas as cement, which he described as overheated.

He also pointed to problem areas in the economy, such as employment, social protection, rural development, regional development disparities, and “somewhat blind investments.“ But he said he was counting on new technologies to raise the Chinese standard of living and insure its sustainable development.

For their part, Chinese business and industrial participants inquired whether France would consider easing its policy on regulations for long-term visas. The deputy director general of China Southern Airline was quoted as being particularly interested in this issue.