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Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs

EU – China cooperation

The Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs works to address issues encountered by EU industry when operating in, or exporting to China, through dialogues with the State Administration for Market Regulation and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The EU and China also cooperate in a number of sectorial dialogues. 

These dialogues help EU companies and policymakers better understand the Chinese legal and regulatory framework, while promoting the reforms needed to improve the business environment in China.

Dialogue with the State Administration for Market Regulation

The dialogue with the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) contributes to the free and safe circulation of goods through the promotion of convergence of regulations and standardisation in China and the EU.

It also provides a framework for EU support of open and non-discriminatory markets covering all industrial products that are subject to EU technical regulations, conformity assessment (including certification and accreditation), and standardisation. Specific working groups cover these topics. The last plenary meeting of this dialogue took place in October 2022 via VTC.

Dialogue with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT)

The dialogue with MIIT was established in 2009 and covers industrial policy in general, with specific working groups on resource efficiency, SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) policy, automobiles, shipbuilding and raw materials. The last plenary took place in January 2022. 

Dialogue on public procurement

We have a regulatory dialogue with the Chinese Ministry of Finance on public procurement, which was established in 2006. It allows for concrete discussions on China's entry into the World Trade Organisation Agreement on Government Procurement. The last dialogue took place in November 2018 in Beijing.

Dialogue on sustainable tourism

We have a dialogue on sustainable tourism with the Chinese National Tourism Administration. Both administrations launched the EU-China year of tourism in 2018.

2018 EU-China tourism year website