Highlights · EU-China Policy Dialogues Facility (PDSF) from 2007 to 2017. The focus of the dialogues under the PDSF revolved around the priority themes of environment, climate change,

HighlightsEU-China Policy Dialogues Support Facility

BroadbandRolloutThe common Problems

Promoting Green TravelRelieving Traffic Congestion

EU-China InnovationExploring JointSolutions

InvolvingCitizensTheir say in Lawmaking

Results &Achievements

2007-2017

PDSF Results & AchievementsPDSF Results & Achievements

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Relations between the EU and China have intensified in the last decade, partly as a consequence of China’s economic growth

and increasing importance on the world stage. The EU's approach in its relations with China is based on a positive agenda of partnership coupled with the constructive management of differences. Over time, the number of sectors where the EU and China engaged at a high level called for a flexible instrument to quickly respond to the priorities of policymakers on both sides, and complement the existing bilateral cooperation programmes. It was with this background in mind that the European Commission, represented by DG DEVCO, and the Government of China implemented the EU-China Policy Dialogues Facility (PDSF) from 2007 to 2017. The focus of the dialogues under the PDSF revolved around the priority themes of environment, climate change, social development, and energy.

The effects of China’s rapid development have been felt in all of these sectors. In the global climate change negotiations, China took real leadership alongside the EU and other major emitters, resulting in the 2015 Paris Agreement. Concern for the environment

has become a central theme in China, as its Government started disclosing real-time air quality information in 2012, and passed a much stronger Environmental Protection Law in 2014. China went through astounding social development, achieving all of its millennium development goals, and continuing to lift millions of people out of poverty. Good governance has also become a top priority, as China seeks to strengthen government accountability and rule of law. In the energy sector, although China continues to rely heavily on coal power, it has become the largest investor and producer of renewable energy.

Over the last 10 years, the PDSF has provided good practises and expertise from Europe as part of China’s on-going policy-making process. This brochure provides selected highlights of how PDSF has made an impact.

PDSF has left behind a strong legacy and contributed to the continuation of long-term working relations between the EU and China’s government bodies and research institutions. We look forward to the continuing strong relations with China in the years to come.

Hans Dietmar SchweisgutHead of the Delegation of the European Union to China

Message from the Head of the Delegationof the European Union to China

The EU-China Policy Dialogues Support Facility (PDSF) was established in 2007 to provide

a unique and flexible mechanism to support the increasingly wide range of Sectoral Dialogues between the European Commission and the Chinese Government. The objective of the first phase of the facility from 2007–2011 had a wide remit of “facilitating and supporting the current and future implementation of the Policy Dialogues between EU and China”, while the second phase from 2012-2017 went a step further in focusing on “support to China’s sustainable development”, particularly in the identification of key areas such as Climate Change, Environment, Energy, Social Development, and more recently the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The objective of the second phase of PDSF was to contribute to Chinese

policy formulation, legislation, and improvements in its administrative management. The programme took into account the rapidly evolving relationship between China and the EU, with over 60 sectoral dialogues, reflecting the growth in bilateral cooperation between the two sides, moving into strategic issues and high-level people-to-people dialogue.

The facility recognised that each individual dialogue should not be seen in isolation, but as part of a wider, integrated effort for the EU to continue to engage its Chinese counterparts where its support had the most impact. This approach was achieved by developing multi-stakeholder activities integrating various sectors.

This brochure provides an overview of how PDSF has supported policy changes and closer engagement

Welcome between the EU and China in 8 key areas. These areas include Climate Change, where PDSF provided important input in the run-up to the Paris Summit in December 2015, complemented by an activity on reducing Vehicle Emissions as part of China’s third National Communication on Greenhouse Gases (GHG) emissions. Green Consumption in Urban Transport was promoted to facilitate mobility and enhance accessibility without damaging air quality through shifting to more environmentally-friendly modes of transport. Public participation in lawmaking was supported as part of China’s effort to promote government transparency, with a focus on online consultation systems. The PDSF supported the establishment of a Broadband Policy Expert Group which allows Chinese regulators to study the EU’s approaches to developing policies on financial aid for broadband rollout and universal service provision. In the water sector, the PDSF conducted policy studies on the licensing and permitting of water abstraction, water quality & supply, flood risk management and recycling. It raised awareness on product eco-design and labelling to facilitate business for Chinese and European companies through mapping industry policies, regulations, directives and standards. Cooperation in Science & Technology has contributed to China and Europe becoming leaders in cutting edge industries and promoting innovative strategies in priority sectors such as food & agriculture, urbanization, aviation and ICT.

PDSF Results & Achievements

This brochure summarizes selected results and achievement of the facility’s implementation between 2007 – 2017. It describes some of the impacts from the take-up of policy recommendations by the Chinese government, taking on board good practises and lessons learned from the EU. The programme has supported the formulation of policy documents under China’s 5-Year Plans, White Papers, Joint Statements and Bilateral Agreements between China and the EU.


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Climate Change

Transport

China’sOverseas Investments

Law Making

Broadband

Eco-Design

Innovation

Air Pollution

Agriculture

Water

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Inside Highlights


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Warming up to the Paris Agreement

Climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing the world today, as global mean temperatures have risen 0.8 degrees Celsius

since the start of the industrial revolution, and would rise to catastrophic levels in this century in the absence of concerted action. In the run-up to the UN climate conference in Paris, the PDSF supported a policy dialogue between the EU and China to enhance understanding of each other’s positions, contributing to the successful adoption of the Paris Agreement in November 2015.

Negotiations to address climate change have taken place under the framework of the United Nations since 1992. China, the EU and the USA are the largest players in these negotiations.

In the months building up to the Paris climate conference, the EU and China intensified their dialogue to ensure a common understanding. The PDSF supported a series of expert exchanges, including two expert dialogue meetings in Paris and Beijing.

The expert dialogue meetings focused on key sticking points, such as:

• Given that the collective set of commitments in 2015 were unlikely to achieve the 2°C objective, how could the agreement include cycles in which the conditions for action are gradually strengthened over time, without ‘back-sliding’?

• If the new agreement would be ‘applicable to all’, how should the principles of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities (CBDR) and Respective Capabilities (RC) be reflected?

• Regarding transparency of implementation, could a universal reporting track allow for technical differentiation among countries?

• Given the ambitious long-term goal, how can a sufficient amount of investment be mobilized for the low-carbon transition?

The dialogue enhanced common understanding and produced a series of background papers and recommendations to policy-makers. Some of these background papers were widely referred to in the negotiations, such as the document “An Analysis of China’s INDC”, which publicly disclosed some of the key economic and energy modeling underlying China’s commitments in the Paris Agreement.

In the months following the Paris Agreement, the PDSF continued to support a dialogue between the EU and China. This ‘post-Paris’ dialogue focused on reviewing the Agreement to come to mutually agreed interpretations of key elements, developing an outlook for the road towards 2018, 2020 and beyond, and to agree on a scope of joint work to address capacity building on transparency.

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Four future scenarios. The blue line is required to meet the Paris Agreement.

IPCC Fuss et el. 2014


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Allowing Citizensto Have Their Say

in Lawmaking

When Europeans think of lawmaking in China, few would consider public consultation. In fact, a tremendous amount of progress has been made towards strengthening

government transparency more broadly.

T ransparency more broadly. In recent years, public consultation on new laws and

regulations has gradually become commonplace. In 2014, the PDSF received a request from China’s State Council for a policy dialogue on how to design and manage online systems to make such consultations more effective.

Almost 10 years earlier, the EU and China had implemented a four-year project on government transparency, which in 2008 resulted in China approving new legislation which mandated government at all levels to proactively disclose information, and giving citizens the right to request public documents. Although there have been many challenges in the implementation of the so-called “Open Government Information Regulation”, it has been a game changer and greatly reduced opportunities for misconduct and corruption. The ambition to further modernize governance was decided as a top priority by China’s leadership in 2013.

This policy dialogue took place over the course of 2014, and it couldn’t have been timed better. Right at that time, discontent over environmental problems dominated public opinion, and a long-awaited revision to China’s environmental protection law had received so many public comments that the volume was as good as impossible to process.

The focus of the dialogue was on how to proactively disseminate information about draft laws and regulations, how to collect public comments, how to analyse the results, and how to communicate responses to public comments back to the people. Two policy seminars were held in Beijing, a series of field visits took place in China, and Chinese lawmakers made a study visit to Brussels and Estonia. Estonia has excellent systems for public consultation.

Following the exchanges, Chinese policymakers made a series of improvements to the way public consultation of legislative proposals are conducted. The State Council summarized the following key principles:are conducted. The State Council summarized the following key principles:

• It is important to have a set of laws and regulations to standardize and guide the procedures for public participation

• The results of public consultations should be disclosed to the public, including information on why some opinions were not adopted or modified

• Officials require training to enhance their awareness and ability to adequately conduct public consultations

• Social organizations play a key role in guiding and organizing public participation

• Information technology can greatly facilitate the process of information disclosure and providing feedback


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Evaluating Transport Emissions in China:EU Model, Chinese Data

W ith a huge diversity of vehicles, fuels and operations, on-road transportation is a difficult sector to manage in even the best of conditions.

When estimating the GHG and air pollutant emissions from this sector, it is an even bigger challenge. Like China, the EU is a highly diverse transportation market with varying vehicles, climates, topographies, economic activities, and fuels across the region, which presents challenges for emission model development.

Yet transportation is also a major source of emissions that requires estimation. Therefore, the EU supported the development of the COPERT model, which allows EU Member States to input fleet, fuel, engine types and vehicle-use parameters to estimate and report their transportation emission inventories for CO2 and air pollutants. At the same time, China faced challenges in estimating its road transport emissions, and based on the idea that the EU and China face similar challenges of geographic, economic and automotive diversity, a request was made to the PDSF to create dialogue around adapting the COPERT model for China.

The dialogue started with a 2015 experience sharing workshop, which introduced the COPERT model methodology and offered a practical demonstration with hands-on training for Chinese experts. The scoping report that

followed explored how COPERT could help China report on transportation emissions, and discussed how to improve the model for use in China, including on how to collect data on road transportation, activity data, emission factors, emission inventory and a summary of future transportation system improvements. The COPERT model was updated with new vehicles categories, new technologies, inclusion of disaggregated data in one file, and Chinese climatic conditions, topography, vehicle mix and fuel mix to create a more detailed picture of Chinese transport emissions. Today, the 5th version of the COPERT model is under development.

“Cooperation on the COPERT model through the PDSF was flexible, efficient and effective; very suitable for Chinese needs. The PDSF helped us to find the right experts to do the right work, saving us time and effort.” – Dr. Yang Hongwei, Energy Research Institute of the National Development and Reform Commission.

The PDSF dialogue successfully established EU-China expert-to-expert communications to demonstrate to the NDRC that the COPERT model can be useful for overcoming the challenges of estimating Chinese on-road transportation emissions for National Communications reporting, and led to further follow-up activities to prepare scoping documents to feed into climate negotiations in 2016.

“Like China, the EU is a highly diverse transportation market

with varying vehicles, climates, topographies, economic activities, and fuels across the region, which

presents challenges for emission model development”


EU-China on the use of the COPERT model for transport


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Promoting GreenUrban Travel:

Relieving Traffic Congestion in China

Rapid urbanization and motorization in China, along with sharp increasing ownership of motor vehicles, has driven up the travel demands of consumers,

resulting in often debilitating urban traffic congestion in Chinese cities. Not only does congestion slow down the movement of people and goods, the Chinese Academy of Sciences estimates that congestion results in both socio-economic and environmental losses that amounted up to RMB 1 billion per day across 15 cities. With urbanization increasing at a historic rate, motorization and congestion have increased in-step, increasing air pollution from transportation and putting the safety of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged groups at risk.

From March to November 2013, the PDSF coordinated a series of short-term, high-impact activities to explore and develop policy recommendations to address three key topics in green urban travel:

• Planning and Regulatory Instruments; • Economic and Fiscal Instruments; and, • The development of a Green Commuting Index.

“Congestion results in both socio-economic &

environmental losses that amounted up to RMB 1

billion per day”

The key senior government partners – under the EU-China Transport Dialogue – worked with a team of 13 short-term experts from China and EU who produced a high-quality draft policy study. The study, presented at the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED) Congress in November, 2013, received the full attention of not only the Minister of Environmental Protection and Vice Minister, but also convinced them of the need to coordinate on environmental issues with the Ministry of Transport – a rarely observed policy exercise. The study also elicited praise:

At the [CCICED] meeting, of the five reports, our recommendations stood out because of their very specific, practical and detailed nature…I think this caught people’s attention. – Professor Zhou Wei, PDSF short-term expert

At the CCICED Congress, the issue of urban mobility was elevated as a topic of discussion to be raised directly with the Premier, and core themes of the report were quickly adopted by Chinese policy makers in their speeches – a Director-General of the NDRC was soon thereafter heard delivering a speech on walking, cycling and ‘vulnerable road users’.

The report served as an important foundation for discussion at the 2013 EU-China Urbanisation Forum in November 2013. The forum served to strengthen the connections, and create opportunities for cooperation between EU and Chinese stakeholders. One hundred and thirty China and EU participants from across the political, academic and business communities came together to discuss an ambitious agenda including sustainable urban transport planning, public transport oeprations and management, urban traffic congestion management and road user charging, and urban traffic safety – making for a busy and comprehensive overview of key areas for potential cooperation between the EU and China in the future.

The EU-China Transport Dialogue


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From 2012 until Mid-2015, the PDSF coordinated a highly-successful series of activities which:

1. Identified a broadband strategy focused on;

a. Broadband developments in the EU and China, assessing market structure, size of broadband markets, broadband user rates and charges;

b. Comparison of EU-China broadband strategies including development goals and implementation agencies;

c. Public sector support mechanisms to help finance broadband development;

d. Broadband network construction, broadband access, universal access, broadband applications such as e-commerce and mobile internet; and,

e. Influence on the economy and society.

f. Influence on the economy and society.

2. Organized a policy study assignment in Europe, with exchanges performed in Denmark, Belgium and France, Investigating key challenges and recommendations for the future development of markets for electronic networks and services. Dialogue focused on the areas of rural broadband rollout, universal service, strengthening competition and opening of markets and over-the-top (OTT) service providers and telecom operators.

The activity brought together policy makers and major private sector internet and telecom companies to discuss how to ensure that policy frameworks in the EU and China

Broadband promotion and rollout strategies and their implications for the economic

and social environment are a new challenge where both China and the EU are in decisive stages, needing to identify feasible strategies that balance the need for high-speed broadband, market competitiveness, opportunities for state support and social and economic impact of an improved broadband infrastructure. The EU-China Information Society (ICT) Dialogue, initiated in 2005, identified this common challenge as an important area for collaboration between China and the EU because they both face issues in this area, particularly of fast-growing capacity and quality requirements in the networks through the growing digital economy, while policy struggles to keep up. Traditional telecom operators struggle to finance new technologies and rollout in remote areas, while new business models lead economic development.

The Common Challenge of

Broadband Rollout


are designed in such a way that they facilitate and support the roll-out of broadband networks and services for the benefit of enterprises and citizens.

“The PDSF is a great platform for exchange between China and Europe. This dialogue didn’t just produce a report – because of the PDSF, the report was seen by senior officials at MIIT, and MIIT and DG CONNECT had a direct exchange on this topic. We hope to participate in similar dialogues in the future.” – Dr. Shi Lina,China Academy of Information Communications Technology

This series of PDSF activities on connectivity has served to significantly improve relationships between the EU and China on the issue of ICT, and has successfully researched and disseminated key issues facing this industry over the coming years.

Broadband Policy Study Assignment in Europe



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Tackling China’sNotorious Smog

China has been struggling with air pollution far exceeding the levels considered safe.

The majority of Chinese citizens are regularly exposed to unhealthy smog, with the exception of some living in remote places like Lhasa or the island of Hainan. A major public outcry has erupted over what became known as the ‘Airpocalypse’. In the winter months in northern China, some areas including Beijing occasionally witness concentrations of harmful particles (PM2.5) reaching as high as 40 times above what is considered harmful to human health.

In 2013, the government of China started to disclose real-time air quality information including PM2.5. Chinese people were shocked to learn the extent of the problem. A policy dialogue took place in the months right after that, to support the formulation of better policies for urban air pollution prevention. A seminar and field visits took place in China, during which it became obvious that despite very strict policies, such as the mandatory closure of outdated production facilities, many cities with serious pollution had failed to bring emissions even close to acceptable levels.

These exchanges led to a set of suggestions for a technical framework to control PM2.5. In parallel, the EU – China Environmental Governance Programme supported China’s new Air Pollution Prevention and Control Law with an international seminar with lawmakers of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the National People’s Congress Standing

Committee, to discuss international best practices.

The EU – China Environmental Governance Programme also implemented several sub-projects on information disclosure and air quality modelling and forecasting at the local level. Such modelling provides citizens with pollution forecasts, and it is necessary for local governments to improve planning and prioritize law enforcement.

Over the period of the PDSF, China has made tremendous advances in environmental information disclosure, especially regarding air pollution. Acknowledging the problem and disclosing information such as environmental quality and sources of emissions are preconditions to finding meaningful solutions. The EU and China continue to have an active dialogue on how to further strengthen air pollution control through improved legislation and environmental law enforcement.

“Major public outcry erupted following what became known

as the Airpocalypse”


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“More than half the surface water in

northern China is too dirty for people to wash

in, let alone drink”

China – EuropeWater Platform


China Europe Water Platform 2013 Policy Dialogue

China’s emperors regarded water management as one of the principle functions of government. They invested heavily into vast projects such as the Grand

Canal between Beijing and Hangzhou, which was finished in about 500AD. Today, China faces a series of water-related challenges. The international definition of water stress is 1,000 m3 of usable water per person per year. The average northern Chinese has less than a fifth of that amount. Furthermore, pollution is contaminating the little water which is available. More than half the surface water in northern China is too dirty for people to wash in, let alone drink, and some is so poisonous it cannot even be used in the fields.

Between 2007 and 2012, the EU and China cooperated on water management through the flagship EU – China River Basin Management. It introduced some of Europe’s best practices to China, with successful exchanges on a diverse set of topics such as:

• Early warning and emergency response systems

• Integrated river basin management

• Bio-monitoring (measuring river health by counting the number of animals in it)

• Public participation in river management

Water management was elevated to the top of the national policy agenda in 2012. In that year, the China – Europe Water Platform was established as an on-going mechanism for policy, industry, and academic exchanges.

From 2012 to 2015, the PDSF supported this platform with an intensive series of policy dialogues. Government officials, academics and business leaders had a wide range of exchanges, on topics including:

• Water legislation, such as licensing and permitting of water abstraction

• Good governance of water resources

• Integrated pollution permitting

• Rural water challenges

• Urban water challenges

• River basin and flood risk management

These exchanges included conferences, policy studies, research internships, and roundtables. European member states were identified to take the lead on each of these topics. Over time, exchanges of best practices in water management have shifted from being mainly Europe to China, nowadays the exchanges go both ways.

“PDSF activities bolstered the starting phase of the China – Europe Water Platform by bringing in organisations, experts and ideas, making it active in many fields and visible at a high level. PDSF took a realistic and long term view to policy impacts. These early activities were critical for mobilizing the CEWP.” – Dong Yanfei, DirectorMinistry of Water Resources

Northern China faces severe water stress. World Resources Institute, 2016


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DesigningEco-Friendly Products


Every day, we use products that consume energy, resources, and water, and many cause

waste and pollution. Think of electrical appliances, cars, industrial components, laundry detergents, and even the homes we live in – with clever design they can have less environmental impacts throughout their life cycle.

‘Eco-design’ is an important topic of common interest to the EU and China, because many products are produced in China and consumed in the EU and vice-versa. Eco-design looks at the whole product life cycle, from raw materials, through to production, transportation, packaging, and consumption - all the way to disposal or recycling.

From 2013 to 2015, the EU and China had an in-depth policy dialogue to exchange best practices in how to transform markets towards eco-design. Chinese officials and experts from European member states got together in a series of seminars, field

visits, and expert meetings, both in China and in Europe. They discussed issues such as harmonizing markets, as well as ways to engage with industry through consultation forums.

The EU has adopted the Ecodesign Directive, a regulatory framework under which manufacturers of energy-using products are obligated to reduce the energy consumption and other harmful environmental impacts that occur throughout the product life cycle. This is complemented by the Energy Labeling Directive, which informs consumers of the relative efficiency of a given product. The combination of Ecodesign (i.e., ‘market push’) and Energy Labelling (i.e., ‘market pull’) is a highly effective policy tool combination for improving energy efficiency.

China has a series of policies and laws to promote ecodesign, including the Cleaner Production Law, the Circular Economy Law, the Energy Conservation Law, the Product Quality Law, and underlying standards for

product energy efficiency, life-cycle assessment, eco-design etc.

The dialogue concluded with a joint eco-design policy report, which provided policy recommendations to DG ENTR and China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Final recommendations included the following:

• Strengthen Cooperation on Standardisation

• Create a China-EU On-Line Ecodesign Portal

• Enhance Participation of Business for Better Regulations

• Develop Market Push and Pull (see above)

• Improve Regulatory Clarity

• Regular Review of Regulations

• Develop Robust Monitoring, Verification and Enforcement

• Develop Industrial Ecodesign Incentives

Anestis Filopoulos, an official of DG GROW, was satisfied with the results of the dialogue: ‘The recommendations have been a useful source for the development of the Eco-Design and the Green Goods’ policies. The main findings of the report have been discussed by DG Grow and MIIT in the context of the bilateral industrial policy dialogue between EU and China and have contributed to defining the next steps and continuing the collaboration on product policies.’

The dialogue also helped to expand understanding and trust on product eco-design policymaking, and allowed Chinese and European businesses to share eco-design experiences and learn from each other.


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EU-China Innovation Cooperation

The Innovation Cooperation Dialogue:

After the Joint Declaration on Innovation Cooperation Dialogue was signed on the occasion of the 15th EU-China Summit in Brussels, the EU and China concluded that innovation is required to create innovative technology solutions to major societal challenges of common interest. The PDSF was approved by MoFCOM and the EU Delegation to provide support to the new dialogue.

Beginning in November of 2012, a fully-fledged China-EU science, technology and innovation collaboration was sought out using seminars involving industry, academy and participants from various agencies to identify areas and modalities of collaboration. By November 2013, 4 priority areas for EU China research and innovation collaboration had been identified:

• Food, agriculture and biotechnologies;

• Sustainable urbanisation;

• ICT; and,

• Aviation

The report of a further Innovation Experts Task Force Meeting, co-chaired by Kostas Glinos from the EU, and and Wang Xiao, from the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology was endorsed by Chinese and European experts. The report is being used as a basis for further in-depth study.

PDSF support to cooperation on innovation between the EU and China was made in the exploration and development of areas of cooperation for innovation cooperation, and secondly in a joint study of EU-China researchers bilateral mobility.

“[Both sides]…welcomed the report of the join experts’ task force on innovation and acknowledged the need to continue working on the improvement of innovation framework conditions to create a level playing field that encourages European and Chinese researchers and innovators to work together and across borders”. – Joint Statement by the parties

Significantly, the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology covered most of the travel costs for all of the Chinese experts, including the coordinator, demonstrating the importance that the Chinese government has lent to this process. EU-China Researchers Bilateral Mobility:

With China and the EU each implementing programs to attract talented people to perform research, including China’s “1000 Talent Plan”, and the EU’s Marie Skłodowska-Curie programme and Erasmus+, EU-China researchers’ flows became more and more active. Yet, it was found that the number of Chinese researchers traveling to Europe was much higher than the number of European researchers going to China.

The final report has been praised as having collected a wealth of useful information, and feedback from the event indicated a high level of interest amongst all stakeholders involved.


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Family Farming is the predominant form of agriculture both in developed and developing countries. There are over 500 million family farms

in the world, ranging from smallholders and medium scale farmers, to peasants, indigenous peoples, traditional communities, and many other groups in any region of the world. Family farmers are an important part of the solution for a world free from poverty and hunger, and all kind of evidence shows that family farmers can quickly deploy their productivity potential when the appropriate policy environment is effectively put in place. Europe has established a sophisticated social service system for family farms. For example, governments introduce favourable policies and technology dissemination systems, universities and research institutes launch technological innovation projects, and professional associations offer direct services to support the development of family farms. Family farming has become one of the most important agricultural models in the European Union. It helps the member states

with protecting food security, offering public products, sustaining the growth of rural areas and guaranteeing the supply of quality products. The EU therefore hopes to motivate more young people to work in agri-business by fostering modern, competitive and environmentally friendly family farming, thus promoting the prosperity of the rural communities.

Compared to Europe, family farming started relatively late in China. “Family farming” was first used in a Chinese Communist Party directive known as “Document Number One” in 2013, and has since become in vogue as a concept. Farmers suffer from lack of long-term capital investments in infrastructure and means of production, and are discouraged from expanding production, due to concerns over ill-regulated land transfers.

Throughout 2015 and 2016, the EU – China Policy Dialogue Support Facility implemented research and a series of exchanges to summarize the experience and best practices Europe has acquired in family farming,

How to Engage Young Farmers for Sustainable Agriculture?

and provide China’s central and local governments with recommendations tailored to the national conditions and growth needs of family farms, analyzing the most appropriate policies and measures.

The research was combined with a major conference on “Developing Family Farming to Promote Agricultural Cleaner Production” which took place in February 2016 in Beijing. A research report was produced which covers four specific areas of sustainable agriculture in the EU. The four issues of greatest interest were:

• The current EU Common Agricultural Policy, including the greening requirements and the move to provide additional income for young farmers through the basic farm payment

• Rural development policies and how these can improve conditions in rural communities to encourage families to remain in agriculture. Case studies of successful interventions for business development, social farming and agri environment schemes

• Detailed information on training systems for the agricultural community and support for innovation

• Management of manures to maximise their nutrient value and reduce water pollution.

Agriculture and rural development have always been some of the most active and vivid dialogues supported by the EU – China Policy Dialogue Facility. The PDSF supported a total of 7 dialogues on agriculture and rural development.

Following these dialogues, the Chinese government is placing an increasing emphasis on family farming. A major policy document in 2015 notes: “It can be seen from the practices by the Western developed nations in promoting agricultural modernization that family farming is the most successful form of agriculture and animal husbandry operation, as land can become a kind of capital for farmers, and it can help farmers not only increase income but also participate in market competition”. The document goes on to point out how family farming helps to clarify rights and responsibilities, thus making it in the interest of the family to protect the environment, and helping to secure the quality and safety of agricultural products.

This dialogue on family farming was of great interest on both sides. A follow up activity is being proposed which will focus on training for young farmers.

PDSF Results & Achievements PDSF Results & Achievements

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A s China’s economy continues to rapidly expand, it is becoming an important player in the international arena. It is actively investing

overseas, and it provides massive foreign aid to less developed countries, primarily in the form of large infrastructure projects. However, some observers have expressed concern over potential social and environmental impacts of these investments. As the Chinese government is attaching ever higher priority to the environment at home, it is an excellent time to start tackling these problems. Under this policy dialogue, the EU and China shared experiences and best practices on how to reduce environmental risks of overseas investment and foreign aid.

China’s overseas investment has increased significantly in recent years. In 2014-2015, China spearheaded the establishment of the BRICS Development Bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the Silk Road Fund, demonstrating China’s growing influence in development finance. Also in 2015, China established an assistance fund for South-South cooperation and pledged 2 billion US Dollar for its first term, aimed at assisting developing countries to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

In the context of “The Belt and Road Initiative” promoted by the Chinese government, the Ministry of Environmental

Greening China’sOverseasInvestments& Foreign Aid

Protection is conducting research on green investment mechanisms for outward investment and foreign aid. In 2013, MOFCOM and MEP jointly issued Guidelines for Environmental Protection in outward Investment and Cooperation. However, the guidelines haven’t been fully implemented, and there is a need to further strengthen this work.

Throughout 2016 and the first half of 2017, DG DEVCO and MEP conducted a policy dialogue to share experiences and expertise on how to mainstream environmental protection in outward investment and foreign aid. The dialogue started with two studies to analyse relevant policy and institutional frameworks, including overseas development assistance policies and green investment and CSR policies.

Based on the findings of the policy studies, the dialogue continued by exploring and recommending a framework of environmental guidelines for China’s outward investment and foreign aid. This includes a set of policies and technical guidelines for environmental, social and climate safeguards, such as responsible investment policies on both the EU and Chinese sides. This may include appropriate due diligence in the identification, screening, classification and review of projects.

According to Mrs. Liu Yuan of MEP Foreign Economic Cooperation Office, the Chinese lead researcher:

“As China is ramping up its overseas investments through the Belt and Road Initiative and other policies, we need to improve the environmental management system as well as the environmental management capability in this process. We will work together with the host countries to achieve the sustainable development of society, economy and environment to meet UN Sustainable Development Goals.” The guidelines developed through this dialogue will make important contributions to achieve this goal.”

Africa largely welcomes China. AfroBarometer survey, 2015

A series of high-level and sectoral dialogues underpin the EU’s strategy on engaging with China. The dialogue

architecture features three high-level pillars covering Political, the Economic & Sectoral and People-to-People Dialogues, supported by over 60 Sectoral Dialogues and Working Groups.

Sectoral dialogues have helped to develop a solid foundation for the EU-China relationship which is now characterised by increasingly close policy coordination in many important areas. The EU has strongly encouraged and intensified these dialogues over the years as they constitute an important area of support to the overall relationship with China.

The dialogues are organized at various levels, from working level up to Ministerial level, taking the form of working groups, conferences, annual meetings or informal exchanges in line with the priorities in each respective sector. They constitute an effective tool for further widening

and deepening EU relations with China, for exploring new areas of common interest, for exchanging know-how, models and best practices from the EU, often paving the way for businesses by eliminating potential regulatory obstacles, and through raising awareness and facilitating contacts.

Regular exchanges between specialists, officials and the business community serve to boost mutual understanding, and provide the substance for further developing the EU-China strategic partnership.

Over the 10 years of PDSF’s implementation, the programme was particularly active in over 20 sectors which required targeted resources to meet the needs of the dialogue partners as set out in the various bilateral agreements.

The diagram on the opposite page shows the structure of the EU-China policy dialogues.

EU-China DialogueArchitecture

28

High Level Economic and Trade Dialogue (Annual)(EC Vice-President responsible for Jobs, Growth,

Investement and Competitiveness)

Joint CommitteeMinisterial/Senior Officials Meeting (Annual)

Summit Annual

Presidents of the European Council & Commission

29

EU-China bicycle

www.eu-chinapdsf.org

EU-China PolicyDialogues Support Facility

The EU-China Policy Dialogues Support Facility II is a project financed jointly by the European Union and the Government of the People’s Republic of China, implemented by a consortium led by Sweco Danmark A/S.

This publication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union. The content is the sole responsibility of Sweco Danmark A/S and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union.

本项目由中国和欧盟共同资助，由以Sweco Danmark A/S (斯维克公司)为首的咨询机构实施。

本出版物得到欧盟资助，出版物内容由Sweco Danmark A/S (斯维克公司)全权负责,不代表欧盟立场。

Documents

Highlights · EU-China Policy Dialogues Facility (PDSF) from 2007 to 2017. The focus of the dialogues under the PDSF revolved around the priority themes of environment, climate change,