€1.9bn trade imbalance with China ‘does not represent complete picture’
Ireland imported goods worth €2.58bn from China last year and exported just €640 million in merchandise to China, creating a trade gap of €1.9bn between the two countries.
Mr Ahern said that while in terms of merchandise trade Ireland runs a substantial deficit with China, he hopes that we will be able to bring a little more balance to the relationship over coming years. He was speaking at the Competitiveness through China seminar, in Cork yesterday.
“However, I don’t think that we should be too fixated by the merchandise trade balance with any one country. And certainly, in the case of China the merchandise imbalance does not represent the full complexity of our relations.
“For instance, the increasing level of services exports to China is not captured in the merchandise trade figures. So the increasing levels of commercial activity in the education sector, as an example, are not reflected. And nor is most of the activity in the IT sector captured,” he said.
Mr Ahern said the emergence of China as a centre of production offers opportunities for Irish companies.
“In the first place, the large multinationals now active in China need suppliers and services, and many Irish companies which have gained considerable experience dealing with the multinationals in Ireland can take advantage of that and provide similar services in China.
"There are already a number of examples of this, principally Irish suppliers following their multinational customers to China,” he said.
There are also Irish companies using China as a regional base for manufacturing or even service provision.
“We fully recognise that often the best way to access markets is to open regional production centres rather than exporting directly from Ireland, and through Enterprise Ireland we can support this.
“This kind of activity lends strength to the Irish company, and usually helps to create high-paid jobs in Ireland in areas such as design, marketing and management. So again, this is an area of opportunity which needs to be examined,” he added.
Ireland also recognises the role which sourcing in China can play in keeping companies competitive.
