Chinese Premier Li Keqiang attends a high-level virtual dialogue with European business leaders in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 5, 2021. (Xinhua/Ding Lin)

European executives who attended a teleconference with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Friday expressed their bullish view toward the Chinese economy on Saturday, with a positive stance on the China-EU Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI) trade talks, which concluded at the end of last year.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said China would push for further improvement of its business environment and create a level playing field when he talked to nealy 30 European business leaders in a virtual dialogue on Friday.

Many expressed their bullish view on the Chinese economy.

"As one of the participants of the Europe-China Dialogue, I believe last night's teleconference was very fruitful. The dialogue helped trigger closer cooperation between China and Europe in the future," Philippe Varin, chairman of French water and waste management company SUEZ, shared his thoughts with the Global Times in a statement sent on Saturday. 

With the CAI and all its provisions, I believe there are many areas for Europe to cooperate with China, the chairman said, noting that China's vision and proactive pledge to tackle climate challenges will surely provide companies such as SUEZ with more opportunities to introduce their global expertise and solutions to support China in reaching its ambitious environmental goals.

"Our ambition here is very simple: To be the country's best environmental company. We are determined to increase by 50 percent our investment in research and development, innovation and digitalization by 2023, to bring more innovative and customized solutions for China," Varin said. 

Jean-Paul Agon, the chairman and CEO of L'Oréal Group, said at Friday's conference that consumption is key to economic recovery and China's impressive rebound sets a great example.

"We are happy to welcome the new investment agreement between China and the EU," Agon said.

Such views are also shared by European companies in general.

"As a foreign-invested company standing at the connecting point of China's newly introduced 'dual circulation' growth model, our company looks to bring foreign experience in the setting up of Chinese standards, and promotes Chinese technological standards in the world market," said Chen Hui, IKEA PLA manager. The Swedish furniture maker has over 400 suppliers in China.

"Policy support, relatively complete supply chain, strong economic performance, and strengthened confidence are among the reasons for IKEA to continue to plow deeper into the Chinese market," Chen said.

China and the EU announced on December 30 the completion of negotiations on the bilateral investment treaty after seven years of talks and 35 rounds of negotiations. 

Merchandise trade between China and the EU in 2020 was 4.5 trillion yuan ($696.3 billion), up 5.3 percent on a yearly basis, making the EU the nation's second-largest trading partner, according to China Customs data. 

As of November, direct investment in China from the 27 EU countries was $117.98 billion, and China's investment in the EU was $80 billion, totaling $197.98 billion.