Business delegation starts European procurement tour

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-02-25 09:55

BERLIN -- A business delegation of about 200 Chinese entrepreneurs arrived here Tuesday night, starting their four-state procurement tour in Europe.

The delegation, led by Commerce Minister Chen Deming and composed of state-owned, joint venture and private companies from various industries, are expected to sign deals of purchasing automobiles, machinery, aircraft engines, railway equipment and components with companies from Germany, Switzerland, Spain and Britain.

The trip is a follow-up action for the agreements Premier Wen Jiabao reached with his counterparts during his visit to the four European countries early this month.

"We come here in according with the agreements Premier Wen and the leaders from the four countries had made," Chen told Xinhua at the Tegel Airport after he landed in Berlin.

Germany is the first leg for the Chinese delegation, and the Chinese trade officials and business leaders are to hold negotiations with their German counterparts on Wednesday.

"I believe we will have our pockets fully packed this time, and I also believe our procurements would help inject some energy into the slump economy of Europe," Chen said.

"I hope we can achieve a lot, I also hope we can get good technology standards and reasonable prices for our procurement," he said.

European Union (EU) is the biggest trading partner of China and China is the EU's second biggest trading partner. Germany is the biggest trading partner of China within the EU. According to official data released by the German side, the trade volume from January to November 2008, the trade volume between Germany and China hit 85.637 billion euros (about 109.52 billion US dollars), up 10.8 percent.