GUANGZHOU -- Some 200 representatives from Chinese and European small and medium-sized enterprises attended a forum to discuss the mutual cooperative potential in the southern Chinese metropolis of Guangzhou on Wednesday.

The China-Europe Forum on Sustainable Development of SMEs was held by the German Chambers of Commerce Abroad (AHKs) Greater China.

In 2022 alone, the China-Europe trade volume reached $847.3 billion. China and Europe have developed a strong economic symbiotic relationship, according to Jia Hongwei, an official from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Recent surveys conducted by the German Chamber of Commerce in China show that 55 percent of some 300 surveyed German companies plan to further increase their investment in China within the next two years to maintain their competitiveness in the Chinese market and to benefit from the growth potential of the Chinese market, according to Xu Jingbo, vice president of AHK Greater China.