【Text/Observer Network Liu Chenghui】
"We must not be able to develop in Lithuania now, we really don't want to give up the Chinese market." Relations with China are at a time when relations with China are at a time when the risk of Lithuania being abandoned by domestic and foreign companies is growing dramatically.
Comprehensive Reuters and Lithuanian "15 Minutes" news network reported on the 21st that in order to reduce losses, many large enterprises at home and abroad are planning to abandon their domestic business and transfer production to other countries. The heads of these companies confessed that they had hoped that the government would improve relations with China, but from now on there is little hope. They urged the government to resume relations with China as soon as possible, otherwise for the sake of long-term interests, companies will have no choice but to shut down production lines in Lithuania.
Lithuanian "15 Minutes" News Network: Lithuanian enterprises are being affected by the turmoil in relations with China
Kazimieras Kaminskas, CEO of Klasmann Deilmann, the world's largest peat matrix and biofuel producer, revealed that at a time when relations between Lizhong have not improved substantially, they are planning to transfer some production in Lithuania to other EU countries.
"We had plans to start production in Lithuania, but now we plan to move to Latvia." "The Chinese market accounts for about 15 percent of the sales volume of our lithuanian businesses, and we really don't want to give up on that market," Cuminskas noted. He said the company exports goods to 70 countries around the world, and the Chinese market is particularly important for it, and it is difficult to find a replacement.
Kaminskas said he had hoped that Lithuanian-Chinese relations would get back on track, but he now realizes that "nothing will change."
"I got the latest news from the news and made a decision." "We have to look to the future and try to reduce losses first," Cummingskas said. ”
Stanislovas Grušas, head of another nonwovens factory with 2,600 employees in Lithuania, has developed a similar plan. He said the company was looking for opportunities to relocate its production lines in Lithuania to neighbouring countries, such as Latvia or Poland.
Of the 27 EU countries, Lithuania is the only one that no longer has a global market, the official said. Although the company is not short of funds, it does need a global market.
Kristijonas Vizbaras, founder of Lithuanian tech group Brolis, similarly revealed that the company is planning to abandon the idea of building a new production line in Lithuania, given political risks.
"We have to look to the future and develop our production in other countries." Vizbarras said.
Reuters: Big German companies are putting pressure on Lithuania on China
It's not just the Lithuanian media that has discovered the crisis that businesses will "flee". Reuters also pointed out in a report on the 21st that more and more European companies are worried about the continuing stalemate in relations between China and China. The German-Baltic Chamber of Commerce recently urged the government to resume relations with China as soon as possible, otherwise some European companies may have no choice but to shut down production lines in Lithuania.
According to the letter obtained by Reuters, the German-Baltic Chamber of Commerce sent a direct letter to the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry and Economy Minister, calling on the two ministers to come up with a "constructive solution" to solve the dilemma of relations with China.
Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte met with business leaders last month to hear their concerns about the current situation, a person familiar with the matter said. Business people complained to Himmonit that the entire industry had suffered losses of hundreds of millions of euros, and the situation would worsen if the dispute with China continued to affect global production, people familiar with the matter said.
Lithuanian President Nauceda has not escaped business complaints. Another person familiar with the matter said that when Nauseda held talks with business executives this week, he was urged to "immediately ease tensions".
It is worth mentioning that as early as the middle and late last month, the news that Lithuanian and even European enterprises have been affected by the storm of The Relationship between Lithuania and Europe has been continuously reported. The Chinese side also clarified this clearly - some media speculated that China removed Lithuania from the customs declaration system, suspended Lithuania's import trade license from China, and pressured multinational enterprises not to use Lithuanian-produced parts, which are not true.
However, the dilemma facing the Lithuanian government today is also a real problem at hand. Lithuanian media quoted domestic banks as saying that Lithuania's economic growth may slow by 0.1 to 0.5 percentage points in 2022 due to the turmoil in relations with China.
Germany's Continental stores, which have previously been reported to be forced to abandon Lithuanian-made parts (Pictured from Continental)
Regrettably, since Lithuania openly approved the establishment of the so-called "Taiwan Representative Office" and re-established China-China relations in November last year, the cube has never taken practical measures to improve bilateral relations, and has even begged the United States and Europe to enter the game on many occasions.
Until January 4, Lithuanian President Nauseda confessed that the country was allowed to open a representative office in the name of "Taiwan"; two days later, Nauseda asked Foreign Minister Landsbergis to come up with a specific plan to "ease the situation" with China.
On the 19th, Nauseda presided over a meeting at the Presidential Palace to discuss the crisis in relations with China. After the meeting, he said that the diplomatic relations between Li and China have caused commercial losses, Lithuania needs to implement a "cooling plan", and Foreign Minister Lands Bergis has come up with a plan as required, and said that Lizhong is expected to meet in the near future.
But in fact, from the information revealed by Landsbergis in an interview with the media on the 20th, the "cooling plan" he submitted can be described as very absurd.
While claiming that Lithuania and China are expected to hold a summit in the near future, the foreign minister insisted that the government would not budge, suggesting that China was the only one to "escalate the situation" and even threatened to coordinate with the European Union and "most likely" sue China to the WTO.
Lithuanian National Radio (LRT): Lithuania's foreign minister said on the 20th that it would not make concessions to China on the issue of name change
All kinds of rhetoric can be called "lifting oil to put out fires". For the Lithuanian side, whether it admits its mistake or stubbornly sticks to the end, if it wants to get out of the current predicament and even bring the Lizhong relations back to the right track, I am afraid it is not as simple as moving its lips.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian pointed out at a regular press conference held on the 21st that the door of communication between China and Lithuania has always been open. If Lithuania is really interested in improving the current situation, it should show its sincerity to the Chinese side and take concrete actions.
Zhao Lijian said that the root cause of the problems in neutral relations is that the Lithuanian authorities insist on taking wrong actions on Taiwan-related issues, harming China's core interests and undermining the basic norms governing international relations. The international community has its own public opinion on who is the initiator of the deterioration of neutral relations and the escalation of the situation step by step.
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