Hello everyone and welcome to this E-Sype online conversation. My name is Frederick Erickson, and I'm very

pleased to welcome today, Jorg Vodka, president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China.

The topic for today's conversation is China and its economic development, in light of a new

annual report that was published by Jurg and his colleagues at the chamber very recently.

There are few people in Europe and the world who come with the same depth of expertise and

experience as Yoog in matters of China and its climate reform business. China has

been his base for a long time and he has talked and written extensively about

his experience as a businessman in the country being part of both the period when

waves of economic reforms catapulted China into much higher prosperity,

as well as having a ringside seat now,

watching current developments in China,

a country that has matured economically,

and that now seems to gradually been shifting its view on economic openness.

Hello, Jorgh, good afternoon. I'm very glad to have you

with me today. Thank you very much for inviting me. So first of all, I mean, congratulations to

again producing a stellar report from the Chamber on policies in China and how European businesses are viewing this.

This is a goldmine for anyone with an interest in understanding Chinese policies.

And my hope and plan is that we can start our conversation there about your top line findings

and takeaway from your exercise now. and look at also how these takeaways sit

in a broader analysis of China's economic direction.

So let's start with your new position paper.

What are the core takeaways that policy folks in Europe should pay attention to?

...