China and Europe are set to continue growing their bilateral investments strongly despite a global economic slowdown, and the newly-established free trade zone in Shanghai will actively promote investment liberalization, officials and economists said yesterday.

“China-Europe economic cooperation is increasingly diversified as Europe, which is already China’s largest trade partner, is becoming an important destination for Chinese enterprises seeking overseas expansion,” Zhai Jun, vice minister of foreign affairs, told a forum on China-Europe win-win partnership in Shanghai.

Chinese enterprises invested US$10 billion in European countries in 2011, up from under US$1 billion annually before 2008. Their footprint has also expanded from traditional sectors to more high-end sectors such as communication equipment and renewable energy sources.

John Ross, senior fellow at Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China, said exports from China to Europe will grow moderately in the next few years due to the region’s weak economic situation, but there are opportunities for investments as the political and investment climate between the two economies will continue to be good.

Qi Mei, counselor at the Department of European Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, forecasts that Chinese investments in Europe will reach US$250 billion to US$500 billion by 2020.

European investments in China are also rising, with nearly half of the European businesses in China making profits and 86 percent of the companies planning to boost their investments in China to deepen their footprint, Qi said, citing data from the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China.

Participants also hope that the pilot free trade zone in Shanghai will function as a new platform to deepen economic and trade ties between China and Europe.

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