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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


Europe’s disunity over China deepens
France, Germany and EU institutions are at odds over whether to revive the stalled Comprehensive Agreement on Investment with China.
German business calls for renegotiation of China investment agreement
The Federation of German Industry effectively called for a renegotiation of the frozen EU-China investment deal in a somewhat surprising statement.
China pushes for resurrection of EU investment deal
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.
EU sets Uyghur and Hong Kong conditions for investment agreement
The conditions have been listed in a draft report prepared by foreign affairs committee of the European Parliament.
Unpacking an empty box? The EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment
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?
CAI rears its ugly head again
Hope for the EU-China comprehensive agreement on investment (CAI) springs eternal, after Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel had another call with Xi Jinping.
Taking the EU reins, Slovenia plans to press ahead on China investment deal
Technical work will continue to ready the deal if it is enacted, even though the European Parliament froze its consideration after Beijing sanctioned several of its members, Slovenian ambassador says.
China’s embrace of sanctions costs it an investment deal with EU
European lawmakers overwhelmingly approved a resolution to withhold ratification of the investment deal with China, so long as its “baseless and arbitrary” penalties were in place.
European Parliament to vote on freezing China deal
Draft calls on EU to work with US on China, and to plan deals with Taiwan.
EU says not seeking escalation with China, working on investment deal
The situation is less dramatic than people seem to think. The EU is still working very closely with China’s Ministry of Commerce, the bloc’s ambassador in Beijing said.