Alfredo Pastor, former Dean of CEIBS (China Europe International Business School) in Shanghai (China) and professor at IESE, participated in the IV congress on "development International", organized by School of Economic and Business Sciences of the University of Navarra. "Spanish entrepreneurs should be encouraged to keep this country in mind," he said at his exhibition on "La Economics China".

The Full Professor of Economic Theory emphasized that "China is a country that is beginning to be very important for two reasons: it is growing at a rate of 7% per year and is beginning to be integrated into world trade". In this sense, he added that "its weight is still relatively low, it has a participation in world trade of 6%, which is lower compared to other countries, such as Germany, which is at 10%".

However, in view of the figure of economic growth of between 9 and 10% of average in the last twenty years, Pastor stressed that "we are not in a position to affirm that it will be the country with the world leadership in the short term deadline, as this is not known". Moreover, "we must bear in mind that such high growth rates always entail a very high risk of crisis", she pointed out. Even so, he stressed that "the Chinese are aware of their weaknesses and that they are gradually establishing themselves in the world trade framework ".

Regarding the entrance in the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001, this Full Professor has mentioned that "it is a sample of China's willingness to integrate into world trade with the rules of the WTO".

Spanish interest

When asked by an attendee about the reasons that a Spanish business might have for going to China, Pastor mentioned two reasons: "Firstly, as a manufacturing base; or, also, because of the interest as a market in itself. Of the Spanish companies that have entered, the vast majority are SMEs and they have done well".

Regarding the difficulties of investing in China, the IESE professor at the University of Navarra said that "it is a very different place, both because of language and because of the way people think. Also, because we must not forget the problems that exist when we are talking about a country that is in transition and where, therefore, the rules change. Finally, "because there is a lot of skill among Chinese companies themselves".