bilaterals.org logo
bilaterals.org logo

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


Beijing seeks free trade agreement talks with European Union
Beijing wants Brussels to set the ambitious goal of launching free trade agreement talks in a bid to maximize the potential benefits for both sides while China implements its new five-year (2016-20) social and economic program.
China ’willing’ to seek EU investment treaty
"China is willing to push forward talks for a bilateral investment treaty" with the EU, Premier Li Keqiang said, adding that it would include a "negative list" of areas off-limits to European investors.
Service trade with China set to be new impetus for EU recovery: expert
Brussels and Beijing should speed up negotiation of a Sino-EU Bilateral Investment Treaty and strive to sign it within this year, a Chinese think-tank argues
Interview: Finnish PM calls for EU-China FTA
"Now we are working very much on trying to agree on a bilateral investment treaty between the EU and China, then hopefully ... get a free trade agreement (FTA) as well," Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb told Xinhua in an interview.
Europe should have FTA with China: Italian official
Italy’s Deputy Economic Development Minister Carlo Calenda said he pushed for the start of FTA negotiations with China when he chaired a European trade ministers’ meeting in November in Brussels.
Evaluating foreign investment restraints in China
The EU commissioned a review of hundreds of thousands of measures that limit market access and business activities of foreign-owned companies in China.
EU-China investment treaty talks may face bumpy road
The EU and China are discussing their planned bilateral investment treaty on the sidelines of the Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Italy this week.
China attempts to split EU and US
President Xi Jinping’s proposal that China and the European Union explore a free trade agreement is a sign of Europe’s pivotal role in the trilateral economic relationship among the United States, the European Union and China.
China’s Xi wins EU pledge to consider free-trade deal
Chinese President Xi Jinping won a promise from the European Union on Monday to consider a multi-billion-dollar free-trade deal with his country, a long-held goal for Beijing which divides Europe.
China’s top diplomat wants free-trade deal with Europe
Beijing’s top diplomat called on Monday for China and the European Union to consider a multi-billion-dollar free-trade deal, a once unthinkable step that shows a big improvement in relations between two of the world’s largest markets.