Cooperation is the key to success.” David, chief representative of Foreign Trade Bureau of Valencia Regional Government, Spain and vice president of Spanish Chamber of Commerce indicated that the Spanish government has imple-mented forceful measures to tackle the financial crisis in order to pro-mote the economic recovery of Spain. Influenced by the financial crisis in 2008, the economy of Spain has seen a downturn; therefore, Spain is bound to take China, a huge economy in the world, as its impor-tant partner during the process of revitalization of its industrial devel-opment. “The trade and business between China and Spain have been keeping increasing in the past sev-eral years.”

　　EU Anti-Dumping

　　Prevents The Exportation

　　Of Chinese Ceramics

　　Nowadays, the production and consumption of ceramics in Spain have suffered a strong impact due to the influence of economic crisis. As the consumption market of Spanish ceramics has further shrunk, the de-mand on imported ceramics has been reduced; as a result, the ex-portation of Chinese ceramics to Spain has suffered various obstruc-tions.

　　As the ceramics industry of Spain is in a downturn, EU, with the reason of protecting its own indus-try, starts anti-dumping against ce-ramics of China, which becomes an eternal pain in the mind of Chinese ceramics enterprises. According to the statistics published by ASCER on September 20, 2011, the exportation volume of Spanish ceramics in the first half of 2011 has increased 10.1% over the same period of last year and the ceramics industry takes on a trend of recovery. Nevertheless, due to the impact of economic crisis, EU, Spain’s largest exportation re-gion has only increased 1.8%, which indicates that its demand is still weak.

　　The anti-dumping tax rate that EU final anti-dumping ruling on Chi-nese ceramics products involved in the case has 5 categories: 26.3%, 29.3%, 36.5%, 30.6% and 69.7%. “It affects trade activities between China and Spain.” David said that anti-dumping did not only exert influ-ence on Chinese ceramics exporting to Spain but also on Spanish materials and technology exporting to China. According to the statistics of Chinese Customs, as the 3rd largest export destination of Chinese ceramics, EU’s export volume accounts for 8%—9.5% of the total export volume of Chinese ceramics and 10%—12% of the gross output value.

　　Cooperation Between China And Spain Pulls Chinese Ceramics Enterprises Out Of Plight

　　How can Chinese ceramics en-terprises tackle the predicament of European market? David pointed out, “Chinese products have gradually lost their price advantage as the price dif-ference between Chinese and Span-ish products is about 20%—30%.” He said that anti-dumping affected the interests of both China and Spain and Spanish Chamber of Commerce would actively help to find a balance in such a difficult situation. It is learned that a purchasing group led by Spanish Chamber of Commerce will organize Spanish enterprises to pur-chase products in Foshan, China in April of this year.

　　Spanish Chamber of Commerce has been committed to the commu-nication between Chinese and Span-ish business and government. “Dur-ing 2012 we will continue promoting the Canton Fair, which undoubtedly offers a great opportunity to our com-panies.” David said, “Many Chinese visitors have confirmed that they would attend CEVISAMA, which will further strength the communication and cooperation between Chinese and Spanish enterprises and associa-tions and will be helpful to solve the EU anti-dumping issue.”

　　David also offered several sug-gestions for ceramics enterprises that were going to export to the market of EU. He thought that those new ex-porters which needed to export ce-ramics to European market might ap-ply to European governments for ex-amination and survey, which would not cost more than 9 months, usually 4—5 months; if approved, new ex-porters could get a relatively low tax rate—30.6%. “For those Chinese ceramics enterprises which desire to open up foreign markets, they must rethink the price of their products, seek more opportunities to cooperate with the local enterprises of Europe, and promote additional value of their products from such aspects as design and process.”

　　合作是成功的关键。”西班牙瓦伦西亚自治区政府对外贸易局首席代表、西班牙商会副会长David(大卫)表示，西班牙政府实施了有力的措施去应对金融危机，以推动西班牙经济的复苏。受2008年金融危机影响，西班牙经济呈现一片低迷，中国作为全球的庞大经济体，西班牙在振兴产业发展的过程中必然将其纳入重要的合作伙伴。“中西两国的商贸往来在过去几年一直保持着增长态势。”

　　欧盟反倾销

　　重拳阻击中国陶瓷出口

　　西班牙当地受经济危机的影响，其瓷砖生产和消费也遭到强烈冲击。西班牙的瓷砖消费市场进一步萎缩，对进口瓷砖的需求显著减少，中国瓷砖出口到该国遭遇重重阻拦。　　由于西班牙陶瓷产业不景气，西班牙所在的欧盟为保护自身产业为由，掀起的欧盟对华瓷砖反倾销成为了中国陶瓷企业心中永远的痛。尽管西班牙陶瓷制造商协会(ASCER)于2011年9月20日公布的2011年上半年该国瓷砖出口数据显示，该国上半年的出口总额比去年同期增长10.1%，瓷砖行业呈现复苏趋势，但由于受经济危机的影响，作为其最大的出口地区———欧盟地区的增长率仅比同期增长1.8%，需求仍旧疲软。

　　欧盟反倾销终裁向中国的涉案瓷砖产品征收的反倾销税率共有5类，分别为26.3%、29.3%、36.5%、30.6%、69.7%，“这影响到中西两国之间的贸易活动。”David表示，反倾销不仅影响中国瓷砖出口西班牙，还将影响西班牙的原料和技术出口中国。根据中国海关统计显示，欧盟作为中国瓷砖的第三大出口地区，出口量占我国瓷砖总出口量的8%-9.5%、出口总值的10%-12%。

　　中西合作助中国陶企走出困局

　　中国陶瓷企业应如何积极应对欧洲市场困局?David指出：“中国产品的价格优势已逐渐消失，双方价格差在20%-30%左右。”他表示，反倾销影响了双方利益，西班牙商会将积极帮助中国与西班牙在此劣势中找到平衡。据了解，西班牙商会率领的采购团将于今年4月组织西班牙企业前往中国佛山采购产品。

　　西班牙商会一直致力于中西两国商贸以及政府之间的沟通往来。“我们将在今年广交会举办一系列活动，因为该展览会对于西班牙企业来说是一个极好的贸易机会。”David说道，“很多中国观众已经确认参加西班牙瓦伦西亚陶瓷瓷砖及卫浴展(CEVISAMA)，这将进一步加强两国企业和协会组织的沟通与合作，并有利于解决欧盟反倾销问题。”

　　David还为即将出口欧盟市场的陶瓷企业提出了几点建议。他认为，如果新出口商需要往欧洲市场出口陶瓷，可向欧洲政府申请对该单位的考核调查，考核时间不会超过9个月，一般为4-5个月;如审核通过，新出口商可拿到30.6%的较低税率。“中国陶瓷企业要想开拓国外市场必须重新审核产品价格，多寻求与欧洲本土企业的合作机会，以及从设计和工艺等方面提升产品的附加值。”