On 15 January 2013, the Rafael del Pino Foundation and the Harvard Club of Spain organised the Keynote Lecture "The new China ande the world" delivered by Yu Yuantang, Director of the European Affairs Division of the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China.
Yu Yuantang argued that "China is in the process of rebalancing its economy as it seeks to shift from an export orientation to a model of economic development based more on domestic demand and domestic consumption. Of course, import and export trade will continue to be an important component of our economy, as will investment and other aspects of our economic growth model". [...] "China's economy has slowed somewhat; this is natural because the global economy is not at its best. External demand and exports have slowed down. These factors have affected the economy. At the same time, because we cannot expect to grow forever, without taking into account, for example, environmental protection and other factors in the economy, so I am sure that this slower growth will not affect us in the coming years.
Yu Yauntang also gave us his opinion on Chinese investments abroad "Chinese companies have started to make large investments in recent years, for example in Europe. Companies have made investments FOR business purposes and I am sure that this trend of investments through mergers and acquisitions is worth continuing. I am sure that in the coming years they will continue to invest in Europe, I hope that Western Europe will receive more favourable attention. As for the priority sectors for us, they are high-tech end-manufacturing and environmental protection, brands and maybe also talent. In China, we have made a decision to combine investment with management, talent, etc... so we are not just buying assets, we are not just buying equity, we want to benefit from both the European investment communities and the rest of the world.
