The Sino-Austria economy and trade mixed committee held its 20th conference in Vienna on Wednesday.

 

Sun Yongfu, director general of the Department of European Affairs of China's Ministry of Commerce, and Josef Mayer, director general of the foreign trade policy and European integration center of Austrian Federal Ministry of Economics and Labor, jointly chaired the conference.

 

Both sides reviewed the progress since the last conference in 2004.

 

They discussed economic and trade issues and ideas on how to make the committee work better, strengthen the cooperation in high-tech fields and stimulate investment.

 

The two sides also exchanged views on the World Trade Organization (WTO).

 

Sun also explained China's position on the full market status of its economy and discussed the trade protectionism it often faced from the EU.

 

Sino-Austria economic and trade relations have developed since diplomatic ties were established in 1971.

 

According to the data issued by the Ministry of Commerce, trade between China and Austria from January to October 2006 reached 2.5 billion euros (about US$3 billion), a 22.8 percent increase on last year.

 

(Xinhua News Agency December 14, 2006)