5. Economic and trade cooperation between Austria and China
In September 1964, China and Austria signed an exchange of letters regarding the establishment of a commercial representative office. In October 1972, the two countries signed the "Trade and Payment Agreement", and the existing non-governmental trade relationship between the two countries rose to an intergovernmental trade relationship. In September 1996, the two governments signed a new "Economic, Industrial, Technical and Technological Cooperation Agreement." Since 1974, the China-Austria Joint Committee on Economy and Trade has held 26 meetings.
(1) Bilateral trade relations
Bilateral Trade
Since 2003, China has become Austria's largest trading partner in Asia and the second-largest trading partner outside Europe after the United States. According to statistics from the Ministry of Commerce of China, the bilateral trade volume between China and Austria in 2017 was 8.39 billion US dollars, an increase of 15.5% year-on-year. Among them, China ’s exports to Austria were 2.53 billion US dollars, an increase of 12.7% year-on-year. ; China's deficit is US $ 3.33 billion. Chinese exports to Austria mainly include apparel and clothing accessories, telephones, automatic data processing equipment, lamps/lighting devices, pharmaceutical products, LCD panels, and footwear; Chinese imports from Austria mainly include automobiles and complete parts and integrated circuits, Measuring and testing instruments, pharmaceuticals, steel, paper machinery and metal processing machine tools, etc.According to the latest data from the Austrian Statistical Office, in 2018, Austria ’s trade in goods with China exceeded 13 billion euros for the first time, reaching 13.18 billion euros, the fourth consecutive year of record highs. Austria imported 9.12 billion euros from China, a year-on-year increase of 7.3%, and exports to China amounted to 4.06 billion euros, a year-on-year increase of 9.7%, both of which are much higher than the average growth rate of Austrian foreign trade. China accounts for 4.3% of Austria ’s total foreign trade and continues to maintain Austria ’s fifth-largest trading partner status. It is Austria ’s third-largest source of imports and the tenth-largest export market.
(2) Bilateral investment cooperation
Investment in China
According to the data provided by the Austrian Federal Chamber of Commerce, as of the end of 2017, a total of about 650 Austrian companies have set up about 950 branches in China, of which 20% -25% are production enterprises. According to statistics from the Ministry of Commerce of China, in 2017, Austria invested 42 projects in China, with an actual investment amount of 94.88 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 122.2%. As of August 2018, China has approved 1,288 Austrian investment projects, with an actual investment of US $ 2.08 billion. Austrian investment projects in China are concentrated in industries such as electronics, machinery, metallurgy, building materials, environmental protection, food, and wood processing. In addition to the provinces and cities of Shanghai, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Shandong, and Liaoning, the investment area also includes Shaanxi, Ningxia, Sichuan, and Yunnan in the central and western regions.Investment in Austria
In recent years, Chinese companies have significantly increased their investment in Austria. There are more than 40 Chinese-funded enterprises with a certain investment scale in Austria. Huawei, ZTE, COSCO Shipping, Air China, Bank of China, etc. have set up branches. In 2009, Xifei Industrial Group, a subsidiary of AVIC Group, acquired Austrian Future Composites, which is by far China ’s largest investment project in Austria and China ’s largest aviation industry investment project in Europe. In 2011, Zhejiang Wolong Group invested US $ 100 million to acquire more than 98% equity of ATB, a subsidiary of the Austrian A-Tech Group. In 2016, the Bank of China established a branch in Vienna, CRRC Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Co., Ltd. established a subsidiary in Vienna, and China Electronics Technology Group Corporation established the CEC European Innovation Park in Graz.
Xi'an Aircraft Industry (Group) Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of AVIC, and shareholders of the world's advanced composite parts manufacturer Austrian FACC held a share delivery ceremony at the Palavicini Palace in Vienna.
In 2017, the number of Chinese mergers and acquisitions with European countries generally fell by more than 20%, and the total amount decreased by nearly a third to 47 billion euros. Against this background, China's investment in Austria has achieved contrarian growth. In that year, China implemented 5 large-scale mergers and acquisitions in Austria. The initiators of the mergers and acquisitions were Hainan Airlines Group, Haier Group, Wanfeng Group, and Ningbo Junsheng Electronics Company. China has become the sixth-largest source of foreign capital in Austria, after Germany, the United States, Switzerland, France, and Sweden. According to statistics from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, China's direct investment in Austria in 2017 was US $ 412 million. As of the end of 2017, the stock of Chinese direct investment in Austria was US $ 851 million. As of August 2018, China's direct investment in Austria was US $ 880 million.
(3) Bilateral labor service cooperation
Contracted Labor Service
According to statistics from the Ministry of Commerce of China, in 2017, Chinese enterprises signed 17 new contracted engineering contracts in Austria, with a newly signed contract value of US $ 121 million and a turnover of US $ 74.910 million; a total of 93 laborers were dispatched. 101 Austrian laborers. Newly signed large-scale engineering contracting projects include Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. to build Austrian Telecom; Zhenjiang International Economic and Technical Cooperation Co., Ltd. to build the Austrian Embassy maintenance project; China State Construction Engineering Corporation to undertake the office building renovation and expansion project in Vienna.(4) Cooperation in other fields
Culture
Cultural exchanges between the two countries are very active, and cultural groups frequently visit each other. In September 2015, China was the guest of honor for the Austrian mainstream art festival Linz Bruckner International Music Festival for the first time. . Both parties held a series of cultural activities to celebrate the establishment of diplomatic relations. In 2017, the "Vienna Chinese Ballet New Year's Concert" and the "Meet Vienna" Chinese New Year Concert were held in Austria. The large-scale symphonic choral work "Silk Road" created by Austrian composer and conductor Upadaya-"Changanzhi "Gate" was successfully staged in Beijing. The "Happy Chinese New Year" brand has become increasingly popular and influential in Austria, and the event was successfully held in Austria. During President Au's visit to China in April 2018, the two sides signed the implementation plan for cultural exchanges for 2018-2021.
On the evening of November 13, 2017, the large-scale symphonic choral work "Silk Road-" Changan's Gate "" created by the Austrian composer and conductor Upadiyaya was successfully staged in Beijing.
Science and Technology
The China-Austria Government Agreement on Science and Technology Cooperation was signed in 1984. According to the agreement, the two sides have established the China-Austria Intergovernmental Joint Committee on Science and Technology Cooperation. The two sides have carried out extensive project cooperation and personnel exchanges in a series of fields such as medicine, remote sensing, forestry, new materials, and environmental protection. Joint committee meetings are held in turn in China and Austria. As of 2019, 12 joint committee meetings have been held. In October 2014, Austrian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science, Research and Economy Mitreina met with Vice Chairman of the CPPCC National Committee and Minister of Science and Technology Wan Gang during his visit to China. The Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Austrian Academy of Sciences signed a cooperation agreement in 1983, establishing a cooperative partnership and exchange of scholars to carry out exchanges and cooperation. The two sides have achieved fruitful results in the field of quantum physics, especially in space quantum communication and quantum physics experiments. In February 2015, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Austrian Research Promotion Agency signed a cooperation agreement. In 2017, the two academies of sciences successfully implemented the first intercontinental quantum secret video communication.
Education
Since 1973, the Chinese Ministry of Education and the Austrian Scientific Research Department have begun to exchange personnel for studying abroad. Cooperation between colleges and universities of both sides has developed well, and the exchange of scholars and language teachers to lecture has formed a mechanism. As of the end of 2017, there were 3241 Chinese students studying in Austria, and there were 124 partnerships between the two universities. With the support of the education departments of the two countries, 40 universities including Peking University participated in the exchange of the cooperation network of European and Asian universities. In September 2006 and October 2010, the Confucius Institute at the University of Vienna and the Confucius Institute at the University of Graz were established. In 2007, the Confucius Classroom was established at the Chinese Academy of Vienna. In October 2010, Austrian President Fischer visited the Chinese School in Vienna. This was the first time the Austrian head of state visited the Chinese school. In October 2011, the Chinese language teaching program at the University of Vienna opened. This is the first Chinese language teaching program co-founded by China overseas. In October 2014, the Austrian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science, Research and Economy Mitreina visited the Ministry of Education during his visit to China and met with Du Yubo, Vice Minister of Education. After the meeting, the two parties witnessed the signing of cooperation agreements between Nanjing University and Graz University of Austria, China University of Political Science and Law and Graz University of Austria, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), and Leoben University of Mining and Technology, Austria.
On February 28, 2019, the 12th meeting of the Sino-Austrian Intergovernmental Scientific and Technical Cooperation Committee was held in Vienna, Austria.
