SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Germany and France urged Beijing on Thursday to do more to level the playing field for European businesses in China and address concerns about the business environment through "concrete and systematic measures".In a rare joint op-ed in the business magazine Caixin, the German and French ambassadors to China said European businesses should have the same opportunities in China as Chinese industries have in Europe.
The op-ed comes on the eve of a major trade expo in Shanghai next week that Beijing hopes to use to signal its willingness to narrow trade deficits and assuage outside concern about its trade practices.
Critics see the China International Import Expo, or CIIE, as an ill-conceived event that is more about political posturing amid trade tensions between China and the United States than business.
French Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert and German Ambassador Clemens von Goetze said the expo was timely.
"French and German companies are looking forward to China demonstrating that it will not waver and will deepen its opening-up and reform policy in order to create a level playing field for foreign businesses in China," their article said.