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30th anniversary of diplomatic relations
“China is now not only a major partner of the European Union in trade and investment; China has become one of the main pillars of the multilateral world order based on the UN, a vision of the world that the European Union shares wholeheartedly”. Mr José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, in a letter sent to the Prime Minister of the P.R. of China in May 2005, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the European Union and China.
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If you whish to get more information on the genesis, the achievements and the perspectives of the remarkable relations that the EU and China have been developing in various fields, we recommend/invite you to visit the websites of the Directorate General External Relations (DG Relex) of the EC and of the Delegation of the European Commission to China.
ICT - a key focus for S&T cooperation
China joined the World Trade Organisation (WTO) towards the end of 2001. It has also been experiencing a long period of steady economic growth and was chosen to host the 2008 Olympic Games.
Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are therefore logically playing a more and more central role in today's China. In just a few years, China has become the country in the world offering the most attractive market perspectives for most ICT products and services, thus making ICT a key focus for S&T cooperation between EU and China.
Number of Internet
users in 2004 |
One tenth of China is online
There have been estimated 137 million of Internet users in China by the end of 2006, a number, which represents a penetration rate of 10.5%. China's population of Internet users is the second largest behind the one of the U.S.A. Over the past seven years (2000-2007), the percentage growth in Internet users is 486% and it is expected that by 2009 China will surpass the U.S.A in the amount of Internet users. This makes China a very attractive market. |
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Number of broadband
access lines in 2004 |
China soon world's leading broadband subscriber
The number of broadband subscribers in China is growing at an incredible 79% annually and is expected to reach 79 million in 2007. Analysts have forecast that the number of broadband connections in the U.S.A, presently the world's largest market with approx. 51 million, will be overtaken by China next year – becoming thus the world's largest broadband internet market. |
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Number of cellular mobile subscribers in 2004 |
Chinese to lead cellular mobile world
By the end of March 2007, there were 480.65 million subscribers of mobile communication services in China representing 35.3% of China's population, according to statistics published recently by China's Ministry of Information Industry (MII). It is expected that 600 million Chinese people, 44.18% of the total population, will subscribe to mobile communications service in 2009. This enormous evolution illustrates the perceived value of Information and Communications Technology to a population that is characterised by a far less purchasing power. |
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The role of the EU-funded Framework Programme in the development of EU-China ICT cooperation
R&D projects in the ICT area addressing EU-China cooperation have been mainly supported, all along the years, by the DG Information Society and Media (DG Infso) of the European Commission, with the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) as a privileged partner. Such projects can receive (when selected on the occasion of regular “IST Calls”) a financial contribution in the framework of the IST Programme of the DG Information Society and Media, which encourages international cooperation, in particular to address major challenges where significant added value is expected to be gained from a worldwide R&D cooperation.
In the recent years, a number of IST projects addressing EU-China cooperation in the ICT area have been launched (See the EU-funded Projects section) and China has become the first “third country” in terms of participation in IST Calls. More projects addressing EU-China cooperation in the ICT area are of course expected to be lauchned under FP7, the ongoing programme.
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