(15 May 2006 – Europe/China) The European Union appears to have woken up to China’s impending economic heavyweight status and is sending its market commissioner to start talks on a number of financial issues.EU internal market commissioner Charlie McCreevy will visit China for the first time this week to open talks on intellectual property and accountancy standards among other issues.
McCreevy will visit Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong in the hope of signing agreements on closer cooperation between Europe and China.
“China is an increasingly important partner for Europe. It’s very important that we establish common rules,” one EU official said.
The EU is concerned that it is well behind the US when it comes to business dealings with China and certain key markets in Asia generally.