Beijing was still referred to unspecified security reasons

On May 7, at an official dinner organised in Brussels at the end of a meeting between Commissioners Europeans and a Chinese Government delegation, Joerg Wuttke, the President of the Cham-

ber of commerce European in China, fell to the table of Wang Qishan, Deputy Prime Minister, to discuss economic issues dividing the two partners. "We had a large 200 page report listing all the difficulties of European companies in China." "They, them, a single page of grievances", remembers the head, which denounced a surge of protectionism in China.

Affected as their Chinese counterparts by the slowdown in growth to only 6.1 in the first quarter, foreign companies in the country expected much of the impact of the recovery plan of 4,000 billion yuan (465 billion euros) promised in November by Beijing. But they have not yet all had, in equal parts, of these spending projects. "Many companies have reported a rebound in orders essentially the beginning of March." "Stimulus has notably had a positive impact on the automotive industry, household appliance producers and suppliers of components," point Joerg Wuttke, who believes that "the Chinese economy is in train of bounce". Yesterday, Isaiah Cheung, Vice President of Hewlett-Packard in China, confirmed that his group had actually benefited in recent weeks of an improvement in consumption in the country. "If the stimulus plan will not lead to a surge of orders for Alstom, it will allow to ensure the previous projects embody or funding", said Philippe Joubert, President of Alstom Power a few days ago.

Opaque procedures

In many areas, this Chinese resumed soon yet to gain foreign firms who find themselves excluded from the projects initiated by the Government. "China has not validated the agreement on government procurement of the World Trade Organization, the procedures for bidding on procurement of infrastructure are still not transparent." "Foreigners are found very easily disqualified on technical criteria," said Joerg Wuttke. No foreign group, and not the giants of the sector that are Suzlon, Vestas or REpower, has thus been selected in the latest major wind projects led by the powerful Chinese National Commission for the development and reform (NDRC). "The most recent case which concerns us relates to a contract relating to 5.2 gigawatts of electricity which was estimated at $ 5 billion", details the President of the European Chamber of commerce in China.

Remaining usually discreet about their woes in the country for fear of offended the central authorities, frustrated groups do little commented these days this surge of protectionism. At mid-May, Paulo Soares, the Executive Director of Suzlon in China, regretted however publicly the limitation of access to the major markets of the country, which has yet imposed on foreign groups working from plants in the country. "We believe that international producers can access up to 35 of the market," he warned before calling Beijing to "let the market".

Concerned about the social impact of the crisis, which have already cost their jobs to more than 20 million migrant workers, Chinese Central and local authorities, which supply the bulk of the stimulus plan, would tend to protect their labour markets up and forget their promises of openness made their trips in Western capitals. Already closed to foreigners several major areas of "sensitive" (Telecom, media, a part of finance...), they did more hesitant to complicate access to markets deemed less "policies." End of April, a new postal law prohibited as UPS, DHL, FedEx or TNT groups distribute express mail inside Chinese territory. Beijing was still referred to unspecified "security reasons".