Estonian Speaker Nestor: I Hope The China EU Train Will Arrive At Tallinn Port To Enhance The Two-Way Trade Between China And The EU

Estonian speaker Nestor - Information photo-

Estonia is located in the northeast of Europe, facing the Baltic Sea in the west, the Gulf of Finland in the north, and bordering on Latvian and Russia in the South and East respectively. In the middle ages, the amber became an important trade station in Europe. The capital city of Tallinn is surrounded by water on three sides. It was once a traffic hub connecting central and Eastern Europe, South and Northern Europe, and is known as "the crossroads of Europe".

Due to its unique geographical location, Estonia is naturally interested in the belt and road initiative, especially its potential in enhancing connectivity and free trade in Eurasia. "Our main interest is to get Chinese goods to the port of Tallinn by rail and then to the rest of Europe." On February 21, Estonian speaker EKI Nestor told reporters of the 21st century economic report in Tallinn that he hoped to enhance the two-way trade between China and the EU through the China EU train.

In April 2018, it signed an agreement with Estonian rail International Co., Ltd. According to the cooperation agreement, Xi'an will send two China Europe trains a week to the Estonian port of mug on the east coast of the Baltic Sea. It was also reported that Xi'an will open a train to talin port. Maldu, where Mug port is located, is only 17 kilometers away from Tallinn.

Whether it is for China Central and Eastern Europe Cooperation (16 + 1) or the "belt and road" initiative, Nestor stressed to the 21st century economic reporter that Estonia expressed its support and looked forward to "seeing the implementation of concrete results" and enjoying the practical results of bilateral cooperation. In November 2017, during the leaders' meeting between China and central and Eastern European countries, the two countries signed three cooperation documents, including the "belt and road" cooperation memorandum, the digital silk road cooperation memorandum and the e-commerce cooperation memorandum, marking the new development stage of bilateral relations.

Li Chao, Chinese ambassador to Estonia, recently wrote an article in the mainstream media of Ireland, pointing out that Estonia is China's important cooperative partner in the EU and the Baltic Sea region, as well as an important partner of China in promoting the "belt and road" construction and cooperation between China and central and Eastern European countries. The cooperation between China and Ireland in the fields of economy and trade, energy, agriculture and e-commerce has continuously made new achievements, and the ties between enterprises of the two countries have become increasingly tight.

Rene tamrist, Estonian Minister of enterprise and information technology, told 21st century economic reporter in Tallinn on February 20 that he had just paid a visit to Shenzhen, during which he visited many Chinese science and technology enterprises. "China is working in areas such as digital solutions, smart cities, and Estonia has accumulated advantages in these areas," he said. I think both sides have great potential for cooperation in many fields related to science and technology. "

"The relationship between China and Ireland is much closer now than it was 10 years ago"

China and Estonia established diplomatic relations in 1991. Over the past 20 years, with the continuous development of China's economy, Estonia has shown a strong interest in cooperation with China. In recent years, leaders of the two countries have visited each other closely and bilateral trade has developed steadily. The cooperation between enterprises of both sides is also deepening.

Nestor believes that Fu Ying's visit to Estonia in July 2014, then chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National People's Congress, played a key role. "Before that, the relationship between the two countries remained relatively at the diplomatic level, but after that, the bilateral relations have become increasingly strong." He pointed out that in January 2018, the joint visit of the parliaments of the Nordic and Baltic countries will further promote China Ireland relations. "The current China Ireland relationship is much closer than it was 10 years ago, whether in the economic and trade field or in the cultural field."

E-commerce is one of the key areas of cooperation between enterprises of the two countries. In September 2015, SF and omniva jointly established a joint venture express company post 11, which is responsible for the rapid delivery of Chinese goods purchased online by consumers in Northeast Europe to Estonia, Latvian, Lithuanian, Finland, Russia and other countries in the region. In recent years, SF's Eastern European overseas warehouse in Estonia has been more and more favored by China's cross-border e-commerce.

Enterprises of the two countries are also working together in the field of mobile travel. In May 2018, Daimler and didiling invested $175 million in taxi app taxify. In this round of financing, taxify's valuation has reached 1 billion US dollars, and has entered the unicorn list. As early as August 2017, Didi announced its investment in taxify and established a strategic partnership.

The cooperation between enterprises of both sides has also extended to the field of aviation industry. In May 2018, Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation Technology Co., Ltd. completed the acquisition of 100% equity of Estonian magnetoelectric aircraft maintenance Co., Ltd. The deal is worth 43 million euro (1 euro about 1.2 U.S. dollars), which is the biggest investment of Chinese enterprises in Estonia. Ambassador Li Chao said at the equity delivery ceremony that the merger and acquisition is a "strong alliance" and will promote the implementation of the belt and road initiative and promote mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation between the two countries.

Overall, however, as meelis Mandel, editor in chief of the Estonian business daily aripaev, told 21st century business reporters, Chinese investment in Estonia is "very limited" and "we need more exciting investments like the acquisition of aviation maintenance companies.". According to Chinese statistics, as of August 2018, the accumulated direct investment of Chinese capital in Ireland was 3.78 million US dollars, and the project contracting turnover was 16 million US dollars.

In addition, Estonian electric bicycles, pianos, acoustics, wooden houses, dairy products and fish products have entered the Chinese market. According to statistics, the total import and export volume of China and Ireland increased by US $1.16-1.7 billion in 2018. Among them, China's export to Ireland was US $940 million, an increase of 3.9% over the same period of last year, while the import of China's self love was 230 million US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 2.3%. China has a surplus of US $710 million.

In November 2018, the Estonian delegation gained a lot at the first China International Import Expo. During the exhibition, the governments of China and Ireland signed the protocol on inspection, quarantine and veterinary health of Estonian frozen poultry meat and edible poultry by-products exported to China. Balsnack snack company in Estonia signed a US $55000 purchase contract with a purchaser from Shenzhen, China; and hkscan, an Estonian meat producer, signed an order worth more than 14 million US dollars with a food company in Wenzhou, China.

In addition to bilateral cooperation, economic and trade cooperation between China and Ireland has expanded to third-party markets. In January 2016, the Jordanian atrat power company, which is jointly owned by Estonian energy company, signed a loan agreement with Bank of China and industrial and Commercial Bank of China with a total amount of 1.6 billion US dollars for the construction of Jordan's first oil shale thermal power station and oil shale mining field. The total cost of the project is 2.1 billion US dollars. Guangdong Thermal Power Engineering Corporation of China Energy Construction Group Co., Ltd. is responsible for the construction of power stations.

"Bohai high speed rail project": may attract 70% foreign investment

With a population of only 1.3 million, Estonia has a relatively small market size and a small number of large investment projects. Currently, the most concerned project is the Tallinn Helsinki subsea tunnel project under discussion between the Estonian and Finnish governments. Last year, the European Commission decided to allocate 5.13 million euro to Estonia for the design of the Estonian section of the boshai railway project, and promised to provide 70% - 80% (about 3 billion euro) for the whole project.

In May 2018, the project was formally discussed as the main topic at the joint meeting of the government of eiffen. According to the different supporting consortia, the project is divided into two parts: one is the fine link project jointly established by the two governments; the other is a private project, mainly promoted by Peter vesterbacka, founder of angry birds. He has made it clear to the media that he hopes to attract 70% of the funds for private projects from China.

As for whether Chinese enterprises can invest in Estonian infrastructure, Nestor replied that state-owned enterprises account for only a small part of Estonia, mainly involving ports and energy. Even so, only port Tallinn is a state-owned enterprise in the subsea tunnel project, while service providers and shipping companies are private. He said he did not know how vesterbacka would finance part of the private project.

In fact, the Estonian government generally does not use inter Governmental Loans easily, and it is also cautious about government loans outside the EU. Nestor stressed that every country needs to consider both security and economy when making foreign policy. "If the relations between the two countries are open, normal and mutual understanding, then the economic relations between the two countries will also be strong; if the relations between the two countries are not good, then there will be problems in economic cooperation. This is a very common political reality. "

In addition to the undersea tunnel project, Estonia is also considering the construction of a high-speed railway from Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, via Latvian and Lithuanian routes to Warsaw, the capital of Poland. The project is an important part of EU transport network planning, with a total length of 728 km, a gauge of 1435 mm and a train speed of 180-240 km / h. The estimated cost is 3.6 billion euro, of which the EU promises to provide 70% - 80% of the financial aid.

With regard to the latest progress of the high-speed rail project in Bohai, Nestor pointed out to the 21st century economic reporter that the European Union has approved the project, and now the countries along the line are carrying out route planning and land acquisition. He said that the idea of the project is to shorten the transportation time from northern Europe to southern Europe and make railway a supplementary scheme for maritime transportation. However, the key to the problem is how to improve economic benefits.

"At present, the Bohai high-speed rail project is still in a very early stage, and Chinese enterprises can consider participating in the project construction." Said Nestor. According to the plan, the project should be started in the EU budget period of 2015-2020 and completed in 2025. By 2030, the annual passenger and cargo flow will reach 5 million person times and 13 million tons respectively.

(Editor: Li Yanxia liyx @ 21jingji. Com)