China- EU talks see key progress

▶ ‘ Very positive’ signal of breakthrough this week

Significant progress has been made on a long- awaited investment treaty between China and the EU, China’s Foreign Ministry revealed on Tuesday, sending a bullish signal for a major breakthrough in the economic and trade relationship between two of the world’s largest economies.

Describing negotiations over the China- EU Bilateral Investment Treaty ( BIT), also known as the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment ( CAI), as the most important agenda for the current China- EU relationship, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told a regular press conference Tuesday that under the two sides’ joint efforts, the CAI talks have made significant progress and the prospects ( of signing the treaty) are in view.

It is hoped the deal will be struck soon to provide a staunch institutional framework for China- EU economic and trade cooperation, creating tangible benefits for businesses and the people from both sides, Wang said.

Since the BIT talks kicked off in 2013, 35 rounds of negotiations have been held, stoking expectations for the two sides to conclude the talks by year’s end, a deadline which has previously been agreed on.

“Wang’s remarks send out a very positive signal that a breakthrough is expected as soon as this week,” Cui Hongjian, director of the Department of European Studies at the China Institute of International Studies, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Echoing Cui, Dong Dengxin, director of the Finance and Securities Institute at the Wuhan University of Science and Technology, said there is a big chance of the two sides clinching the deal in the very near future.

Dong based his optimism on China’s unwavering vow to open up its economy, a beacon of hope for the

EU economy that has taken a battering from a double whammy of the pandemic and US- advocated protectionism.

China and the EU could reach the landmark investment deal this week, “with the 27 countries in the trade bloc unanimously approving the agreement despite earlier reservations,” the South China Morning Post reported late Monday, citing unidentified sources.

The trade accord will purportedly commit China to lifting foreign shareholding limits in the automobile and telecom sectors. It will also increase market access for EU firms in financial services such as banking, according to POLITICO, citing Jörg Wuttke, president of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China.

The reported concessions point to EU firms’ interest in the Chinese market, where a push for greater opening means a bigger role for foreign businesses, experts said.

In the financial arena, China has ramped up the removal of foreign ownership restrictions this year, opening its securities, fund management and futures sectors.

The China- EU bilateral investment agreement talks have made significant progress and the prospects ( of signing the treaty) are in view: FM