CICC Chairman Davide Cucino took part to the launch of the China Advisory Council (CAC)

Brussels - On Monday the 18^th of May, 2009, the CICC Chairman Davide Cucino took part to the launch of the China Advisory Council (CAC), a roundtable discussion organised by EUROCHAMBRES and Friends of Europe. The meeting brought together European Commission officials and business leaders with experience in Chinese markets to discuss the council`s role in the Understanding China programme.

In recent years, China has emerged as one of the most important markets in the world. The goal of the Understanding China programme is to improve knowledge of China in European businesses through two avenues: specific policy dialogue and training programmes for business intermediaries. Better access to knowledge will ultimately enhance access to Chinese markets for European business. "An economic policy with a specific focus on entering Chinese markets is important to our economic dialogue", said one of the speakers.

The CAC is composed of fifteen members - appointed by the Commission - from industry, think tanks, academia, and chambers of commerce, all with specialised knowledge and experience working within Chinese markets. Over the next three and half years, the CAC will serve as the advisory board to the European Commission (DG Enterprise) to help influence policy that will serve both European and Chinese business needs.

At this preliminary launch meeting, the participants agreed on the following areas that the Programme needs to address in its action plan:

* creating an up-to-date database to aggregate existing information and initiatives on China;
* developing policy to ensure that European businesses have political power to protect them in China;
* training for businesses to be able to communicate effectively across language and cultural barriers;
* creating a mechanism to follow ever-changing EU and Chinese laws as it is not easy for the small business, with its limited resources, to actively follow them.

The China Advisory Council will meet again in December 2009.

Click here to download the list of participants, or here to download the press release.