The statement "The EU has never truly penetrated the Chinese market" is very much in contradiction to that what you see in China: On the street (EU cars), in the supermarkets (EU consumer goods) and in the sky (EU aeroplanes).
For many EU products, it does not make sense (neither economically nor environmentally) to ship them around half of the globe to China, so EU-headquartered companies manufacture in China for China and increasingly beyond (RCEP, new silk-road, BRICS-countries).
To evaluate the economic importance of China for the EU, import/export figures are just one factor.
The statement "The EU has never truly penetrated the Chinese market" is very much in contradiction to that what you see in China: On the street (EU cars), in the supermarkets (EU consumer goods) and in the sky (EU aeroplanes).
For many EU products, it does not make sense (neither economically nor environmentally) to ship them around half of the globe to China, so EU-headquartered companies manufacture in China for China and increasingly beyond (RCEP, new silk-road, BRICS-countries).
To evaluate the economic importance of China for the EU, import/export figures are just one factor.
Dear Volker, I thought you would not agree. I hear your points, yet I stand by my statement.