China bringing about new rules of play on global markets / President Melsheimer increasingly views China as a competitor to European business

Hamburg (ots) - "Strong growth in China is good for Europe. At the
same time, China benefits from a vibrant, resilient eurozone", said
Fritz Horst Melsheimer, President of Hamburg Chamber of Commerce. He
was speaking at the leading European-Chinese business conference "The
Hamburg Summit: China meets Europe", which opened today in the
Commerce Hall of Hamburg Chamber of Commerce with guests of honour
Wan Gang, Chinese Minister of Science and Technology, Germany's
Federal Minister of Education and Research Annette Schavan and Prof.
Georgios Papastamkos, Vice President of the European Parliament. "On
the other hand", continued Melsheimer, "the crisis in Europe means
that China is becoming an ever stronger competitor to European
business on the world stage." Pointing to China's dynamic economic
development over recent years, the President of Hamburg Chamber of
Commerce urged: "The rules of play are changing and Europe is going
to have to respond!"

Germany's Federal Minister of Education and Research Annette
Schavan emphasised the successful research and development
cooperation between Germany and China: "We have purposefully built up
strategic partnerships and cooperations over the years in areas such
as electromobility, environmental research and the advancement of LED
technology. Effective protection of intellectual property is
important for collaboration in such innovative fields. And it is a
good sign that we are experiencing deeper understanding of our
position in this regard. The quality of German-Chinese relations is
also evident in this." Cooperation in the area of education will now
also be strengthened further through a German-Chinese vocational
training alliance and strategic higher education partnership. "The
young generation in China and Europe needs strong signals that good
education and excellent research are a source of future prosperity",
said Schavan.

Prof. Georgios Papastamkos addressed political relations between
the EU and the People's Republic in his speech, saying, "China and
the EU agree that our strategic partnership needs to be strengthened
at a time when the impacts of the financial crisis on the economic,
political and security landscape are becoming increasingly evident."
He continued, "China's enhanced representation and new power should
go hand in hand with enhanced responsibilities."

This year's "Hamburg Summit" from 28 to 30 November at the Chamber
of Commerce is dealing with Sino-European trade and investment
relations and their role for the global economy. More than 400 high-
ranking businesspeople, politicians and scientists from 17 countries
are discussing securing access to raw materials, "smart cities" and
Chinese and European strategies in a multipolar world in various
panel discussions.

Further up-to-date news, background information and image material
for the "Hamburg Summit" can be found at www.hamburg-summit.com and
www.twitter.com/HamburgSummit.

Contact:
Dr. Jörn Arfs, Communications Office at Hamburg Chamber of Commerce
T: 040-36138-301, Fax: 040 36138-460, Email: joern.arfs@hk24.de,
www.hk24.de