EU-Digest: EU has overtaken the U.S. as China's biggest trading partner

Mrs. Angela Merkel and Mr. Wen Jiabao
This report comes from information provided to EU-Digest by the German Information Center

EU has overtaken the U.S. as China's biggest trading partner

Last year, the 25-nation European Union overtook the United States in terms of trade with China, which now totals some $217.3 billion and is $5.7 billion more than with the U.S., according to Xu Kuangding, chairman of the China Federation of Industrial Economics, and as reported by the Associated Press. European companies like civil jet maker Airbus, German engineering group Siemens and German automaker Volkswagen helped make the EU the No. 4 investor in China, according to AP. Wen negotiated bolstered trade agreements with both Britain and Germany during his European tour, which also saw the announcement of a new factory in China for automaker DaimlerChrysler. He signed eight new trade agreements on September 14 with the German government and businesses, including one on copyright issues and another on biotechnology, AP reported.

Most European governments meanwhile remain wary of China as a formidable competitor while courting it at the same time as a business partner.