Brussels, 28/09/2015 (Agence Europe) - During an economic and trade dialogue with the EU in Beijing on Monday 28 September, China confirmed its intention to contribute to the Investment Plan for Europe and to cooperate on investment more closely.
The Juncker plan is becoming global as China is the first non-EU country to announce a contribution to the €315 billion investment plan led by the European Commission. The amount China will contribute has not yet been given in figures, but is reportedly “in the upper range” of the contributions announced by some EU member states (that of the UK being the highest at around €8.5 billion), those close to European Commission Vice-President for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness Jyrki Katainen told press on Monday. Katainen was co-chairing the economic and trade dialogue with China's Vice-Premier Ma Kai on Monday.
Alongside this announcement of a Chinese contribution to the Juncker plan, the EU and China agreed to set up a joint working group on strengthening bilateral cooperation on all aspects of investment. This group should bring together experts from the Chinese Silk Road Fund, from the Commission and from the European Investment Bank (EIB).
In addition, the Commission and Chinese government signed a memorandum of understanding on the EU-China Connectivity Platform - a platform that aims to improve the infrastructure and transport links between the two partners by strengthening synergies between China's One Belt One Road initiative for new silk routes and the EU's initiatives for connectivity (such as the Trans-European Transport Network). This platform will encourage cooperation on infrastructure, equipment, technology and technical standards. The EIB will contribute to the initiative.
The Commission also calls for deeper collaboration between China and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), including China's possible membership in the EBRD, in line with the EBRD's rules.
Following on from the last bilateral EU-China summit on 29 June (see EUROPE 11347), the EU and China also decided to agree on the scope of application of their future bilateral investment agreement and to produce an initial joint text by the end of the year. After six rounds of talks, the negotiations are now mid-way and the EU hopes to begin talks soon on market access.
Partnership on 5G. On the sidelines of the economic and trade dialogue, European Commissioner for the Digital Economy and Society Günther Oettinger and China's Minister of Industry and Information Technology Miao Wei signed a technology partnership agreement on 5G communication networks. This agreement commits the EU and China to strengthening their cooperation with a view to a comprehensive agreement - by the end of 2015 - on the concept, basic functions, key technologies and timetable for 5G. The two parties also commit to promoting reciprocity and openness in terms of access to financing for research on 5G networks, market access and the participation of Chinese and European 5G sectoral associations. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)