The European Union Chamber of Commerce in China (European Chamber) held the 2021 European Business in China Awards Gala in Shenzhen on Sept. 3. Cedar Holdings received the “Best Chinese Enterprise in Europe Award” for providing steady supply chain services commodities for the Chinese and European markets.
Recent years have seen great strides in China-EU trade and investment. In 2020, China became the EU’s largest trading partner for the first time, and negotiations on the China-EU investment agreement were completed on schedule. As a private enterprise with the best international network in China’s commodities industry, Cedar owns international companies such as Stemcor and INTEGRA, and has set up subsidiaries or branches in the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland, Sweden, Finland and other European countries. Cedar utilizes its mature supply chain network to cope with changes in the global market and provide stable supply chain services for commodities in Chinese and European markets.
Han Gang, Vice President of Cedar Holdings and President of Cedar Commodity Supply Chain Group, said that Cedar has actively worked to ensure the smooth operation of the supply chain for upstream and downstream customers in China and Europe despite the restricted movement of personnel, a shortage of production materials and logistical restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, it made significant progress in its operating performance, with an increase of 51.65% in European business revenue and commodity trade volume in excess of RMB 12 billion last year. “This award is the European Chamber’s recognition of Cedar’s efforts to overcome difficulties caused by the pandemic to ensure the unimpeded trade logistics and the supply of upstream and downstream industrial products and raw materials. It is also expected for Chinese and European enterprises to facilitate economic and trade ties and boost economic growth.”
Since the outbreak of the pandemic, Cedar has been focusing on ensuring the import of raw materials for Chinese manufacturing companies and the international market, and has worked with countries in Europe and along the Belt and Road regions to foster multi-level cooperation in various fields. At the China Europe CEO Summit held during the China International Import Expo in November of last year, Cedar, in conjunction with BYD, Airbus, Glencore and other Chinese and European companies, jointly issued the Initiative on Supporting China-EU Trade and Investment Cooperation, calling on Chinese and European companies to safeguard the stability of the industrial chain and supply chain. By strengthening communication and coordination with upstream and downstream economic and trade partners, Chinese and European companies fully utilize their strengths to ensure the unimpeded trade and logistics and the supply of upstream and downstream industrial products and raw materials in the face of the epidemic.
In the context of the uncertain global pandemic, Cedar will continue to harness the international network channels built by Stemcor and INTEGRA over the past decade in the steel, raw materials, petrochemical engineering and other fields to provide Chinese and European companies with a stable industrial chain and supply chain, and foster import and export trade and investment cooperation between Chinese and European companies.
According to reports by Xinhua News Agency, the 2021 Business Confidence Survey recently released by the European Chamber shows that the resilient Chinese market provides European companies with much-needed protection in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sixty percent of the companies surveyed plan to scale up their business in China this year, and a quarter of enterprises said they are stepping up or about to step up efforts to build their supply chain in China. The spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the relevant data in the report abundantly illustrates the strong resilience, vitality and bright prospects of China-EU economic and trade cooperation.
