Give EU firms greater market access, urges think-tank chief

For China and the European Union to have a better relationship, China may do well to provide increased market access to European companies, said the chief of a renowned European think-tank.

China-EU ties are going through some adjustment and changes as China has now developed into a level where it is certain to expect more and more demands to open up its economy to narrow the trade surplus it runs with EU, China's biggest trading partner, said Gustaaf Geeraerts, director of the Brussels Institute of Contemporary China Studies.

The biggest domestic challenge for China's new leadership is the "transition of an export-led, fixed-investment-driven economy into one that is more consumption-based," said Geeraerts.

In addition to having a sounder national economy, the transition, if successful, will have the added benefit that "the Chinese domestic market will come to its full expansion and become the true engine of the world economy, which will increase China's autonomy," he added.

In addition to further liberalizing the economy, it is also important to build a counterweight to state-owned enterprises, he added.

With respect to the EU's arms embargo on China, a bone of contention hindering the bilateral ties, Geeraerts said he personally believed the ban is "completely out of date" but the issue remains "pretty much unsolved" and should be seen in the context of EU and China's trade relations.