GI agreement fosters stability in China-EU relations

The China-EU agreement on geographical indications (GI) has fostered greater stability in economic and trade cooperation between China and the EU, Pan Feng, a vice president of the China-Europe Association for Technical and Economic Cooperation, told the Global Times on Sunday during the 4th China International Consumer Products Expo (CICPE) in South China’s Hainan Province.

In effect since March 2021, the agreement, as China’s first comprehensive and high-level deal on GI, has brought significant benefits to both sides by facilitating high-level economic exchanges, Pan said, expecting the two sides to push for further elevation of economic relations.

The expo represents the third time that the agreement has been introduced as an important topic at the CICPE.

Pan noted that the two sides have maintained high-level dialogue on the GI agreement in recent years, while revealing plans for further bilateral dialogues in May involving Chinese and EU companies.

This high-level agreement is a milestone in China-EU economic cooperation. “Since its implementation, both sides have made great joint efforts, resulting in 200 GI food products from each side such as liquor, tea and other food items being protected so far,” Pan said.

Conor O’Sullivan, China manager of the Irish Food Board, said that Ireland has brought more than 50 brands and more than 200 products to Hainan this year, with food making up the majority. He highlighted the clear trend in China toward higher-value and added-value products during an interview with the Global Times on Monday.

As the country of honor of this year’s CICPE, Ireland is attending the event for the fourth year. The country has seen a steady rise in attendees and exhibitors each year, showing the event’s increasing global importance, O’Sullivan said.

“We’re very optimistic about the prospects of the event,” he said. “We’re increasingly confident that the range of opportunities will grow over the next five to 10 years.”

Pan stressed that last year represented a challenging yet opportunity-filled year for China-EU trade. Despite global economic uncertainty, China’s agricultural exports to the EU stood at $1.86 billion last year, ranking as the bloc’s third-largest destination for agricultural exports, while the EU’s exports to China also increased.

The China-EU GI agreement was signed on September 14, 2020 after 22 rounds of official negotiations that began in 2011. The agreement seeks to protect 100 EU GIs in China and 100 Chinese GIs in the EU against imitation and usurpation.

GI is a label used for identifying the geographical origin of a product and is an important intellectual property right, according to China’s Ministry of Commerce.