China, EU complete investment agreement negotiations

Abstract : Chinese President Xi Jinping and European leaders on Wednesday announced that the two sides have completed investment agreement negotiations as scheduled.

Chinese President
Xi Jinping meets with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President
Emmanuel Macron, President of the European Council Charles Michel and
President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen via video link
in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 30, 2020. During the meeting, Xi and
the European leaders announced that the two sides have completed
investment agreement negotiations as scheduled. (Xinhua/Li Xueren)

BEIJING, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) — Chinese President Xi Jinping and
European leaders on Wednesday announced that the two sides have
completed investment agreement negotiations as scheduled.

The announcement was made during a meeting between Xi and German
Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron, President of
the European Council Charles Michel and President of the European
Commission Ursula von der Leyen via video link.

Calling the investment agreement between China and the European Union
(EU) as “balanced, high-standard and mutually beneficial,” Xi said the
treaty has shown China’s determination and confidence to push high-level
opening up.

“The agreement will provide greater market access, higher level of
business environment, stronger institutional guarantees and brighter
cooperation prospects for mutual investment,” Xi said.

The treaty will also greatly boost world economic recovery in the
post-pandemic era, enhance the international community’s confidence in
economic globalization and free trade, making significant contributions
to the building of an open world economy, the Chinese president said.

Stressing China’s commitment to fostering a new development paradigm
will provide more market opportunities and cooperation potential for the
EU and the world at large, Xi called on the EU to uphold free trade and
multilateralism, and provide an open, fair and non-discriminatory
business environment for Chinese investors.

Against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic and changes rarely
seen in a century, Xi said, China and the EU, through tiding over
difficulties and working hand-in-hand, have made fruitful achievements
in advancing ties in 2020.

In the upcoming year of 2021, China and Europe, as two major global
forces, markets and civilizations, should demonstrate a sense of
responsibility and take active steps to contribute to global peace and
progress, he said.

Xi urged the two sides to enhance dialogue and mutual trust, deepen
cooperation, properly manage differences, and work together to nurture
new opportunities and open up new prospects.

First, Xi called for coordinated actions of pandemic response to
ensure the equal distribution of COVID-19 vaccines as global public
goods, especially to make sure the move benefits developing countries.

Second, Xi urged joint efforts to promote economic recovery, adding
the two sides should step up policy coordination and uphold building an
open world economy to bring global industrial and supply chains back on
track as soon as possible.

Third, Xi called on the two sides to synergize development
strategies, urging intensified efforts in policy coordination, better
synergy between the Belt and Road Initiative and the Eurasian
interconnection strategy, and discussions about cooperation in the
digital sector.

Fourth, Xi called for speeding up green development, urging the two
sides to give full play to their high-level dialogue mechanism on
environment and climate, and give mutual support to each other in
hosting international conferences on biodiversity, climate change, and
conservation of nature.

Fifth, Xi urged multilateral cooperation, adding China and Europe
should enhance coordination and cooperation within frameworks including
the United Nations, the Group of Twenty (G20), the World Trade
Organization, and the World Health Organization, facilitate political
settlement of international and regional hotspot issues, actively
implement the G20 debt service suspension initiative, and support
pandemic response and development in Africa, to promote world
development and prosperity.

The European leaders said that despite the impact of COVID-19, Europe
and China had maintained close high-level communication this year and
made important progress on a series of issues including the agreement on
geographical indications.

They said the completion of the investment agreement negotiations was
an important milestone in the development of EU-China relations and
will also help promote the recovery and growth of the world economy.

The achievements once again showed to the world that although Europe
and China have differences on some issues, both sides have the political
will to strengthen dialogue and deepen cooperation on the basis of
mutual respect to achieve mutual benefit and win-win results, they said.

The investment agreement is a high-level one, they said. The European
side appreciates China’s further opening up and active moves to promote
trade liberalization and investment facilitation.

Both sides support multilateralism, and a strong EU-China
relationship is conducive to solving global challenges, according to the
leaders.

The European side appreciates China’s major moves in addressing
climate change and helping Africa fight the pandemic, and hopes to
continue to coordinate and cooperate closely with China on issues such
as global anti-pandemic, climate change, biodiversity conservation,
sustainable development, and WTO reform.

The Chinese and European leaders exchanged New Year greetings and
jointly stated that they will maintain close communication in the
upcoming new year, jointly advance the agenda of major exchanges between
the two sides, and promote the continuous development of China-EU
comprehensive strategic partnership. Enditem

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Source: China, EU complete investment agreement negotiations