Joint Statement
2nd Meeting of the China-EU Round Table
Brussels
14 November 2007
1. The China-EU Round Table held its 2nd Meeting in Brussels on 14 November 2007.
2. The Round Table was co-established by the China Economic and Social Council (CESC) and the
European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) in accordance with the Joint Statement of the
Ninth EU-China Summit adopted in Helsinki on 9 September 2006.
3. The Round Table serves to strengthen contacts between the CESC and the EESC. Exchanges
within the framework of the Round Table are expected to lead to a better mutual understanding of
the concerns and priorities of each side, and to reinforce the civil society dialogue between them.
4. The Second Meeting of the EU-China Round Table was co-chaired by Mr Chen Qingtai,
Vice-President of the CESC and by Mr Dimitris Dimitriadis, President of the EESC.
5. H.E. Mr Guan Chengyuan, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to the European Union
and Mr Eneko Landaburu, Director General of DG RELEX, European Commission, attended the
opening session and delivered speeches on China-EU Relations. The Round Table takes note of
the progress in the negotiations for a new partnership and cooperation agreement. The Round
Table will contribute towards reaching the new partnership agreement.
6. During the meeting, delegates from both sides carried out extensive discussions and exchanged
views on the themes “Climate Change, Forestry and Energy Policy” and “Corporate Social
Responsibility”.
7. The Round Table agrees that climate change is currently one of the most important challenges
facing the world. The Round Table is convinced that organized civil society has an essential role to
play in bringing the issues of climate change to the citizens, and in promoting discussions at the
local level on how communities can take concrete steps to mitigate and to adapt to climate change.
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8. The Round Table notes that forestry policy is of great importance in the context of climate change.
Sustainable forest management (SFM) and land use practices play a key role in the carbon cycle
and need to be addressed in the post-2012 international climate change arrangement.
9. The Round Table notes that forest owners and forest product companies as well as stakeholders,
including environmental organizations, should be fully involved in integrating sustainable forestry
polices in cross-sectorial climate regimes at the national, regional and international levels.
10. The Round Table calls for developing activities in SFM supporting carbon sequestration and forest
sinks, thus implementing the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and conducting afforestation
and reforestation. The Round Table is convinced that this will contribute to creating new
employment opportunities, developing the economy and improving the environment.
11. The Round Table recommends to their political authorities to set up a China-EU Forum on
Climate Change and Forestry, and to conduct joint research on capacity-building in forestry policy
studies, information-sharing, development and transfer of technologies, public awareness
improvement and carbon sink assessment methodology. The Round Table will actively contribute
to the development of these initiatives.
12. The Round Table encourages civil society representatives to be associated with the existing
dialogues between the EU and China.
13. The Round Table believes that an integrated approach to climate change and energy is crucial, and
particularly underlines the need to exploit the synergies between the promotion of energy security,
sustainable energy supply, innovation and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, in order to
ensure consistency between meeting the ultimate objectives of the United Nations Framework
Conventions on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and energy policy goals.
14. The Round Table agrees that Corporate Social Responsibility can be defined as a concept whereby
companies integrate social and environmental concerns into their operations over and above what
is legally required of them, whilst at the same time involving trade unions and other stakeholders
as appropriate.
15. The Round Table agrees that dialogue and engagement between companies and relevant
stakeholders is essential to anticipating social and environmental issues which may affect future
competitiveness and sustainability.
16. The Round Table agrees that Corporate Social Responsibility globally will maximize the
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contribution of enterprises to the achievement of the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG)
and of other international benchmarks, such as the UN Global Compact and the ILO Tripartite
Declaration of Principles regarding multinational enterprises and core labour standards.
17. It is decided that the 3rd meeting of the China-EU Round Table will be held in the first half of
2008.
18. This Joint Statement will be presented to the 10th EU-China Summit taking place in Beijing.
Brussels, 14 November 2007.
Chen Qingtai
Alexander Graf von Schwerin
Vice-President
Vice-President
China Economic and Social Council
European Economic and Social Committee