On Wednesday 9 May, following their visit to China last week, the heads of the delegation of the 'international trade' committee of the European Parliament welcomed the political commitment of the Chinese authorities to give European businesses with better access to the Chinese market.
“I am more optimistic today than I was three days ago (…) about the fact that we can build on our cooperative approach with our trade relations”, said the rapporteur for relations with China, Iuliu Winkler (EPP, Romania), reported by Chinese daily South China Morning Post.
According to Winkler, Parliament's delegation also noted progress in negotiations on an investment agreement, which are stumbling over market access (see EUROPE 11801).
This dossier and all bilateral economic matters will be discussed at a meeting between the Vice-President of the European Commission with responsibility for economic matters, Jyrki Katainen, and the Chinese Deputy Prime Minister, Liu He, as part of the high-level dialogue on the economy and trade, at a date that has yet to be decided upon, with a view to a forthcoming bilateral summit, possibly in Beijing on 16 and 17 July.
Accusing the United States of “undermining the world trade system with tariffs and its rule of power”, Germany's Bernd Lange (S&D) welcomed the joint commitment of the EU and China to support the multilateral trade system. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)