Brussels, 30/06/2015 (Agence Europe) - During the 17th EU-China summit in Brussels on Monday 29 June, European and Chinese leaders agreed to strengthen the investment connection between the two partners through their respective initiatives - the Investment Plan for Europe and the One Road, One Belt Chinese initiative for new silk routes.
“Both sides confirmed their strong interest in each other's flagship initiatives (…) Leaders decided to support synergies between these initiatives”, the EU and China say in a joint statement. The investment opportunities and the parties' mutual participation in each other's programmes will be assessed in detail at the next economic and trade dialogue session in Beijing on 28 September. The European Commission delegation at this session will be led by Commission Vice-President for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness Jyrki Katainen. European and Chinese leaders expect the session “to develop practical avenues” for mutually beneficial cooperation, including through a possible “China-EU co-investment vehicle”.
Both parties also agreed on the creation of an EU-China connectivity platform to improve infrastructure and transport links.
Furthermore, the European and Chinese leaders reaffirmed their support for the ongoing negotiations for a bilateral agreement on investment, which will guarantee the legal protection of both partners' investments and will ensure reciprocal market access for their investors. “The two sides are determined to intensify their efforts aiming at the expeditious conclusion of an ambitious agreement (…) The priority for the negotiating teams is now to seek convergence on the scope of the agreement and establish a joint text by the end of 2015”, the summit conclusions state. After six rounds of technical level talks since January 2014, the negotiations are now midway and the EU hopes to begin discussions soon on market access. On Monday, the two parties confirmed that they plan to negotiate a free trade agreement in the long term, after the conclusion of the agreement on investment and if the conditions are fulfilled.
Overall, the EU and China strengthened their ten-year strategic agenda adopted at the previous summit at the end of 2013 (see EUROPE 10968). “We decided to reinforce our EU-China 2020 strategic agenda (…) We have also agreed with Premier Li the priorities for the upcoming year. This is an impressive list. It ranges from trade and investment to human rights and migration; from security and defence to climate change and development. And beyond”, European Council President Donald Tusk said at a joint press conference with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and China's Prime Minister Li Keqiang.
During this first press conference at the end of the EU-China summit in Brussels, Tusk said he also discussed the means for strengthening bilateral cooperation on human rights at the bilateral and international levels, as promised. “I expressed our concerns on freedom of expression and association in China, including the situation of the persons belonging to minorities such as Tibetans and Uighurs. In that context, I have encouraged China to resume a meaningful dialogue with the Dalai Lama's representatives”, he said. Tusk also said he was “glad” that the two parties could agree that the next round of the human rights dialogue and the second visit to China of Stavros Lambrinidis, the EU special representative for human rights, would both take place in November.
On Monday, European and Chinese leaders also agreed to step up their cooperation on the fight against climate change, with a view to an ambitious agreement at the UN conference in Paris in December (COP 21). This rapprochement is sealed in a separate joint statement (see other article).
In addition, the EU and China also signed half a dozen sectoral cooperation agreements, including a memorandum of understanding on reinforcing the EU-China intellectual property dialogue mechanism. (Emmanuel Hagry)