China said talks with the European Union on a bilateral investment deal are in the final stages, citing progress among negotiators pushing for an agreement before the end date of the year.
“Now the negotiations are in the final stages,” Wang Wenbin, spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry, said at a briefing in Beijing on Friday. “I believe that as long as both sides can take care of each other’s concerns and walk towards each other, we will be able to achieve the goals set by our leaders.”
Earlier, the South China Morning Post reported that the two sides have reached an “ in principle ” agreement after receiving support from German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron. Germany has said the deal will be discussed Friday among the 27 representatives of the EU bloc, the report said.
“We are not quite there yet, but it is certainly feasible that if things move forward as they do now, we can still make a decision this year,” said Valdis Dombrovskis, executive vice president in charge of economic affairs at the European Commission, the De The EU’s executive arm in Brussels, Bloomberg Television told Friday.
Dombrovskis added, “We need to rebalance the economic and investment relationship with China, as Europe is currently significantly more open to Chinese investment than China to EU investment.”
‘Significant progress’
The targeted deal – known as the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment – has the potential to reform the economic ties between China and the EU, even if political divisions persist. Bilateral trade amounted to more than $ 650 billion last year, and the new agreement aims to build on that.
On Thursday, Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesman Gao Feng told a regular briefing that the two sides had consulted focusing on the remaining issues and made “significant progress”. “Both teams will continue to work hard to achieve the negotiating goals of the leaders of both parties,” he said.
The agreement would be the second major bilateral economic agreement between the EU and China this year after reaching agreement on geographical indications in July 2020, said Joerg Wuttke, president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China.
“The CAI should increase access for European companies to the world’s fastest growing market and provide a framework that allows them to compete on a level playing field while ensuring the same for Chinese companies in their largest market – the EU,” said Wuttke earlier. this week.
Human Rights
While the deal represents a diplomatic victory for both sides, it will be especially welcomed by Beijing as it offers an opportunity to re-establish ties with the EU that have become increasingly cool in recent years.
Brussels has become more empowered criticized China on a range of issues, from alleged human rights violations in the predominantly Muslim region of Xinjiang to the increasing militarization of the South China Sea. The EU has also expressed concern about a new Hong Kong national security law restricting freedoms in former British territory.
It was not easy to come to an agreement. The talks that started in 2013 drafted provisions to open up the Chinese market and end what the EU regarded as discriminatory practices.
The EU had also asked for commitments from China on sustainable development, including labor issues – an area that had become a major obstacle to closing the deal.
– Assisted by Colum Murphy, Lin Zhu, Jing Li, James Mayger, Jonathan Stearns and Maria Tadeo
(Updates with comments from EU’s Dombrovskis in the fourth, fifth paragraph)