China-EU

Since 2012, China has been trying to get the European Union to agree to initiate bilateral free trade agreement talks. China is absent from both the transpacific (TPP) and the transatlantic (TTIP) trade deals and wants "in" on a similarly large pact itself in order to avoid losing out on trade flows or to have to follow new "global" standards set by others. European firms, for their part, want greater openings into China and a more even playing field with domestic companies, especially State-owned enterprises.

In March 2014, Brussels agreed that once an EU-China investment treaty is concluded it will consider broader trade talks with Beijing. The investment treaty negotiations began just a few months prior, in November 2013. Once finalised, this BIT willl replace the 26 existing BITs that China has signed over the years with individual EU member states.

The EU is China’s largest trading partner, while China is the EU’s second export market.

July 2014
Photo: European External Action Service - EEAS / CC BY-NC 2.0


Euractiv | 6-Apr-2023
The Federation of German Industry effectively called for a renegotiation of the frozen EU-China investment deal in a somewhat surprising statement.
Nikkei Asia | 27-Feb-2023
China has stepped up lobbying of European Union decision-makers to revive a planned investment deal in its latest effort to improve ties with the Brussels-based bloc, but big hurdles remain to put the accord back on track.
Explique moi le commerce | 24-Nov-2021
Que va-t-il changer? Va-t-il être ratifié? Peut-il renforcer les droits humains en Chine? etc.
Hindustan Times | 16-Jul-2021
The conditions have been listed in a draft report prepared by foreign affairs committee of the European Parliament.
SOMO | 15-Jul-2021
The recent tit-for-tat sanctions between the EU and China have cast a shadow over the deal’s future and frozen talks for the time being. But if the agreement reaches the finish line, what is at stake?
Euro Intelligence | 6-Jul-2021
Hope for the EU-China comprehensive agreement on investment (CAI) springs eternal, after Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel had another call with Xi Jinping.