The global recession has not made China more any more protectionist, European Union officials said after two days of talks that saw Brussels and Beijing jointly call for a swift conclusion to stalled global trade negotiations that China said was critical to pulling the world out of its economic quagmire. “Protectionist temptations are everywhere. But we have not seen China turn more protectionist as a result of the (economic) crisis,” said Mauro Petriccione, the EU official in charge of bilateral relations with China.

 While the EU remains unhappy about China’s reluctance to open up its markets, Petriccione praised the country for not introducing a United States-style “Buy American” clause in the area of public procurement. “There are issues where we are concerned ... but the crisis has not made things worst. And the reason for that is that the Chinese have exactly the same concerns as us,” Petriccione said. He said China was also showing a greater willingness to reach a compromise and accommodate its concerns within the context of the Doha round of talks of the World Trade Organization (WTO.)

Begun in 2001, the Doha Development Round aims to lower trade barriers around the world. However, the talks have stalled amid divisions between the world’s richest nations and major developing countries such as China and India. EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton said trade and investment would play a key role in leading the world out of recession. “The EU and China therefore stand together today in calling for the swift conclusion of the Doha (Development) Round, which will help us trade our way out of recession,” Ashton said after talks with Chinese Vice-Premier Wang Qishan.

Nine EU commissioners and 12 Chinese government ministers met in Brussels to discuss closer cooperation between two of the world’s biggest economies. This was the second time that such an EUChina High-Level Economic and Trade Dialogue meeting was held since its launch, in November 2007. During the latest talks, both sides said it was crucial to stick to the conclusions of a recent Group of 20 meeting in London, in which world leaders vowed to avoid protectionist measures.

The delegations also exchanged views on how best to tackle climate change, how to better protect consumers from dangerous products and how to safeguard intellectual property rights, although China has been cited as the world’s largest pirate of goods, depriving artists of billions of US dollars and Euro in what they would otherwise legally earn. But China is Europe’s fastest growing export market, with the continent exporting 78.4 billion Euro worth of goods to China in 2008 and EU officials have been reluctant to offend China even though the trade balance remains heavily tipped in China’s favour, with Chinese manufacture exports to Europe totaling 248 billion Euro during the same year. The EU hopes to strengthen the presence of its small- and medium- sized businesses in China by opening an assistance centre in Beijing by the end of the year.