EU looking for other countries that learned to live with Covid for new projects including India, says Joerg Wuttke

President of European Chamber of Commerce in China (EUCCC), Joerg Wuttke has said that European companies are looking towards other countries including India who have learnt to live with the COVID, for new projects. In an exclusive interview with Prasar Bharati correspondent in Beijing, Mr Wuttke said, the World is not waiting for China.

EUCCC President warned about economic decoupling between China and the West as COVID related lockdowns across China sent shockwaves among the business community. He said China’s Zero-COVID policy has caused havoc and unpredictability and hit the Chinese consumption, employment and household income in a big way. He said, China is not able to come out of it due to tussle between government and Chinese Communist party.

Mr. Wuttke also talked about a report released by EUCCC this week which said in addition to Intellectual Property theft and an unlevel playing field for foreign companies, China puts new obstacles for foreign companies.

The report has warned European companies about potential pitfalls and risks of engaging in Research and Development in China even as it said that there are many opportunities in world’s second largest economy. The report said the unequal access to government support in comparison with local companies was also reported by 82 percent of respondents, with reasons for this including opaque or unclear information and processes for accessing grants and subsidies, administrative challenges not faced by local companies, support schemes that are not publicly announced and explicit rules preventing foreign companies from accessing support.