Xi JinPing's five-year plan and new challenges for European exports

The Beijing Plan outlines the Development goals in line with recent events that have shaken the global economy and will change the geopolitical balance in the years to come. In a context where the Globalization is proving fragile and cutthroat technological competition, Xi Jinping has already given precise direction to his future political line.

The cornerstone of the Plan concerns “Dual Circulation” through which China will intensify and it will encourage domestic economy in the same way, if not more so, Of international trade, especially in some areas. Technological innovation was put on center of the discussion: China's manufacturing industry will focus on it to increase product quality and achieve independence in some sectors. 

The discussions on the Plan come at a time of great tension with the United States and during a health crisis that has had a very strong impact on the global supply chain. Therefore, the five-year plan will need to be flexible enough to respond to the rapid changes the whole world is facing. 

But one piece of data that certainly stands out is the one regarding GDP growth of China: it is indeed The world's first major economy to record a positive growth rate, despite the global pandemic. 

European companies already present in China seem to confirm, for now, their confidence in the Asian giant. From 4th Position Paper of the European Chamber of Commerce, which monitored 600 top companies in the financial economic sector in the Chinese market, indeed, it emerges that 88.1% of companies already operating in the country have no plans to invest elsewhere in the future nor is it thinking about reshoring, and that The 38% group of large companies is already planning further investments.  

Different scenario for European SMEs, who have suffered a greater setback due to Covid, excessive quarantine policies and of the travel restrictions still preventing European representations from returning to China, Damaging investor confidence toward the market. 

In this context, it will therefore be necessary for small and medium-sized enterprises, both existing ones and those intending to enter the Chinese market for the first time, develop a real long-term strategy that can take into account all these changes.