The Czech Republic will be one ofthe countries that has manufactur-ers taking part in one of the mostimportant engineering fairs in the world，the CIMT in Beijing．Their presence atthe fair will have the nature of an officialexhibition，being held under the auspicesof the Czech Republic Ministry of Indus-try and Cornmerce．Ours will be one ofthe smaller exhibitions at the fair，howev-er，the potential of the country from theheart of Europed should not be overlookedby any means．

At the beginning of May 2007，threevears will have passed since the mo-ment when the Czech Republicbecame a member of the Eu-ropean Union，and during thatperiod the Czech economy hasrecorded very positive results．The gross domestic product ofthe Czech Republic increasedby approximately 6% in thepast vear，which is twice therate of the average GDP growthin the EU member countries．Ina European context it is one ofthe best reaults．

Also．the numbers forCzech foreign tracde are excel-lent．Last year the best surpluswas reported in the history ofthe independent Czech Repub-lic．For the second time since1993 Czech foreign trade wasin a surplus and the turnover in2006 was five times the turn-over of the vear 1993．If wecompare last year with 2005，the growth rate of exports andimports was higher and reacheddouble figures-exports 14.6%and imports 14.4%．The balanceof trade was in surplus in all fourquarters of last year.

In terms of the territorialstructure，the trade with EuropeanUnion member countries takesthe largest share in the surplusof Czech foreign trade(it comesto more than 80% of the totalexports)．Thus Czech goods haveproved that they are able to winrecognition in the environmentof the most advanced Europeaneconomies．Particularly machineryand means of transport showedabove-average growth，as exportsof these commodities increased byapproximately US$8.5 billion．

In 2006．Czech industry at-tained the highest dynamics ofproduction growth since 2001-nearly 10%．As regards machinetools and forming machines，production in the Czech Republicincreased by 13.2%，exports by15.4%，and imports by 73%．Thus theexport-import balance is positive andcomes to，dpproxjmately US$17.5 millionfor the Czech Republic．In the area ofmecnanical engineering，the year-on-yeargrowth of the production is evident par-ticularly with machining centres，sigle-purpose machines and lines，lathes，ma-chines for grinding，sharpening，honingand lapping，and machines for drilling，milling and thread cutting．

While with the European states theCzech Republic maintains a balance oftrade surplus with European countries，imports still predominate over exportsin the case of China．The deficit is par-ticularly due to the import of computerequipment，telecommunications equip-ment and electrical equipment and appli-ances．

In common with their competitors，Czech businessmen are well aware ofthe potential of China as one of the mostimportant markets on a global scale．Success on the Chinese market is a pri-orlty for a number of Czech companiesand they are learning to co-operatewith Chinese partners．They can offertheir Chinese partners favourable co-operation，top products and state-of-the-art technologies．

One of the problems of the Czechproducers in China is low familiarity withtheir products on the local market．Thegood reputation that the Czech productsgained in China during recent decadeshas been，in a number of cases，lost duringthe several years，which the companiesneeded for restructuring after the transi-tion of our country to a market econonmy．Thus even the traditional manufacturershave to convince especially the voungergeneration of Chinese managers of theirqualities again during negotiations．How-ever，a number of examples of successfulco-operation between Chinese and Czechcornpanies testify that they are successfulin doing so．

The joint venture of TOS Varns-dorf and Kunming Machine Tools，forinstance，had a turnover of about EUR4m．million last year and this year they ex-pect a turnover of EUR 6.5 to 7 million．At the same time，the joint assembly fac-tory of TOS Kunming also testifies thatbusiness can be done in China withoutdelays and administrative problems thata number of foreign investors fear．Thejoint venture was estahlished in a meresix months，from finding the partner tothe final formalities．

A number of activities supportingenterprise that the Czech Republic car-ries out directly in China testify that theChinese market is a priority not onlyfor Czech companies but also for theCzech Republic itself. The agencies ofCzechTrade and Czechinvest．whichpromote the Czech economy and Czechmanufacturers，operate within Chineseterritory．CzechTrade Agency helpsCzech companies with their trading onChinese terrifory but，at the same time，itis ahle to give information to the Chineseinterested parties about the possmilitiesof co-operation with Czech subjects．Czechinvest gives a helping hand to per-sons interested in investing in the CzechRepuhlic．

Thanks to the official participationof the Czech Republic in the CIMT 2007Fair，the interested parties have the op-portunity to acquaint themselves withthe production of Czech companies inthe sphere of machine tools and formingmachines and to see for themselves theirqualities and possibilities for co-opera-tion．Owing to the presence of represen-tatives of the Czech Republic administrd-tion，it is also an excellent opportunity toget general as well as specific informa-tion about the business possibilities thatthe Czech Republic offers．

For more detailed information．referto the following websites：

CzechTrade Agency office in Shang-hai-http://www.czechtradeoffices.com/

Czechinvest Agency office in HongKong-http://www.czechinvest.org/en/foreign-offices

Embassy of the Czech Republic inChina-http://www.mzv.cz/beijing