Officially the main focus of the visit is opening a dialogue with Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and the Chinese government that will focus on the challenges of climate change and sustainable development. A meeting with President Hu Jintao is also on the agenda. Barroso is accompanied by Commissioners S. Dimas, A. Piebalgs, J. Potočnik, B. Ferrero-Waldner, P. Mandelson, L. Michel, V. Špidla, M. Kuneva and L. Kovács.
On track to become the biggest economy in the world, China is already the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases and the Commission is intent on getting Beijing to contribute to fighting climate change by committing to globally binding emission reduction targets (EurActiv 04/12/07).
But Barroso and his team also face the difficult task of trying to improve the overall climate of EU-China relations at a time when important pressure groups on the Old Continent, including in the European Parliament, are calling for a boycott of this summer's Olympic Games in Beijing - or at least of their opening ceremony. Following China's repression of Tibetan protesters, the European Parliament also has plans to invite the spiritual leader of Tibet, the Dalai Lama, to one of its plenary sessions.
Recent demonstrations in Tibet have already marred the ceremonies of the Olympic torch relays in Western countries and infuriated the Chinese authorities. Anonymous cellphone messages mobilised Chinese protestors against some Western businesses present in China, such as the French retailer Carrefour.
Barroso however has declared himself against the boycott of the opening ceremonies, which could give him some leverage with his Chinese counterparts. He plans to use this leverage to talk about the Olympics and show the contradiction between the "greatest festivals of youth in the world" and repression and human rights violations.
Barroso and Prime Minister Wen will also launch an EU-China High Level Economic and Trade Mechanism. Proposed by the Chinese authorities and approved at the EU-China Beijing summit in November 2007, this mechanism will provide a new tool for dealing with the problems confronting European companies trying to establish themselves in China, especially in the fields of investment, market access and protection of intellectual property rights.
Ahead of the commissioners' visit to Beijing, BusinessEurope circulated a letter listing some of the problems European businessmen face in China.
