A European Commission delegation, led by the Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Karmenu Vella, is in Beijing (April 1-3) to deepen bilateral cooperation in the environment sector during the 7th EU-China Environment Dialogue.
This EU/China ministerial meeting will launch two high-level dialogues, one on water protection – as a continuation of the political dialogue launched on this topic in September 2017 (see EUROPE 11868/5) – and the other on the circular economy as part of the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding, signed in July 2018 (see EUROPE 12063/2).
These are two of the shared priorities when addressing common challenges together; the Commissioner's talks with Chinese ministers will, however, also focus on the protection of forests and wildlife. Biodiversity will be high on the agenda of this meeting in the run-up to the 15th Conference of the Parties to Biological Diversity (COP 15), which is to be hosted by China in 2020.
An initial EU/China Forum on the Circular Economy organised by the European Commission was held in November 2016, in Beijing, to enable European and Chinese business leaders to lay the foundations for increased cooperation, and to seize business and investment opportunities in innovative industrial solutions that are offered as a result of a more resource-efficient economic model (see EUROPE 11672/9). (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)