On Friday 27 January, European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström hailed China's resolve to ensure a leading role for the multilateral trade system, while calling for continued vigilance as regards reforms expected from Beijing on market opening.
"If you ask a European company what it thinks (of China's commitment to free trade, promised by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the World Economic Forum in Davos in mid-January, instead of that of Donald Trumps's USA), she will tell you that it is not simple to do business in China. It is not a country with a reliable legal system, where human rights are respected. State-owned enterprises enjoy many benefits and remain opaque", Malmström says in an interview with French daily newspaper Le Monde.
"It is important to stay vigilant. China has a lot of self-confidence at the moment. It notices that there is a void to be filled. It wants to show that it is ready to take leadership. I believe it is being sincere when it says it wants to defend the multilateral system", Malmström adds, praising China's involvement in the negotiations for the international climate agreement concluded in Paris in 2015.
She also speaks of "progress" in the EU-China negotiations started in 2014 for an investment agreement, admitting however that "the discussions are not simple".
During the last session of their high-level dialogue on economy and trade in October 2016, the EU and China agreed to come to an arrangement "swiftly" on the basic arrangements needed for an exchange of offers on market access (see EUROPE 11649). In January 2016, the two parties agreed on the scope of their future agreement (see EUROPE 114569). (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)