Negotiations on the investment agreement were completed as scheduled-
China and Europe play an important role model for global economic recovery
Our reporter Weng Donghui
On September 2, 2020, the X8074 "Yixin Europe" China-Europe train departed from Yiwu, Zhejiang.
According to data from Yiwu Tianmeng Industrial Investment Co., Ltd., the operator of the "Yixinou" China-Europe Express, the train is the 529th "Yixinou" China-Europe Express to be launched in 2020. So far, "Yixinou" China Europe The freight train has exceeded the annual shipment volume of 528 trains in 2019.
Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Cui Li
The successful completion of China-EU investment agreement negotiations shows that only by expanding two-way opening on the basis of equality, reciprocity and mutual respect can China and the EU be able to achieve mutual benefit and win-win results.
A more stable and mature China-EU relationship that is moving to a higher level is of great significance to the prosperity and stability of both parties and the world.
As the President of the European Commission von der Lein said, “the world needs a strong relationship between the EU and China”.
On December 30, 2020, the seven-year China-EU investment agreement negotiations were finally completed as scheduled.
The China-EU Investment Agreement is a comprehensive, balanced and high-level agreement that is based on international high-level economic and trade rules and focuses on institutional openness.
The agreement will not only bring broad market investment opportunities for China and the European Union, two important trading partners of each other, and enhance the level of bilateral economic and trade cooperation to achieve mutual benefit and win-win results. More importantly, it will also provide opportunities for the next five years. The 10-year development plan for China-EU economic and trade relations has established a timetable and roadmap to promote China-EU economic and trade cooperation to a new level.
Not only that, the completion of investment agreement negotiations between China and the EU on schedule has released important positive signals, setting an example and confidence for the recovery of the global economy and maintaining an open international trade and investment environment, and has played an important demonstration effect.
Increased political trust
In November 2013, the China-EU bilateral investment agreement negotiations were officially launched at the 16th China-EU Leaders’ Meeting.
In April 2019, the two sides set the goal of "reaching an investment agreement by 2020" in the joint statement of the 21st China-EU Leaders' Meeting.
Since 2020, major agendas such as the China-Germany-European Leaders’ Video Meeting and the 22nd China-EU Leaders’ Meeting have progressed smoothly. The China-EU High-Level Dialogue on Environment and Climate and the Digital High-Level Dialogue have been established successively, injecting the development of China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership. New momentum.
The new crown pneumonia epidemic is accelerating the evolution of the international landscape, and it also tests how and where China-EU relations are positioned under the new situation.
The leaders of China and the EU held meetings in the form of video, conducted strategic communication and achieved important results, sending a positive signal to deepen China-EU cooperation and build a more influential comprehensive partnership in the world.
We can clearly see that China-EU relations have been further enriched and developed under the leadership of the leaders' multiple video meetings and telephone exchanges.
The first is the strengthening of political mutual trust.
Both China and the EU advocate strengthening contacts, exchanges, and maintaining dialogue and communication on the basis of mutual respect and equal treatment; both advocate deepening openness and cooperation and oppose isolation and decoupling; both advocate multilateralism and unilateralism.
The second is to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation.
In 2020, the "China-EU Geographical Indications Agreement" was officially signed. The two sides also agreed to establish a high-level dialogue on environment and climate and a high-level digital dialogue to build a China-EU green partnership and digital partnership, and further expand the dimensions of China-EU cooperation.
Third, it points out the direction for China-EU cooperation.
The two sides must jointly fight the epidemic, work together to restore the economy, maintain international order and the free trade system, and implement multilateralism.
Cooperation will come naturally
With a major change unseen in a century and an epidemic unseen in the century, globalization and the multilateral trading system are facing daunting challenges.
In this process, strengthening China-EU cooperation will surely play a key leading role.
Further deepening of cooperation with China will help the European economy to climb the hurdles, and it will also provide opportunities to help the world economy recover and jointly maintain an open trade and investment environment.
At a critical moment, China and the EU persisted in cooperating to overcome the difficulties, reversed the downward trend of bilateral trade, and became a bright spot in the global economic haze.
According to statistics from the General Administration of Customs, in the first 11 months of 2020, the total value of trade between my country and the EU was 4.05 trillion yuan, an increase of 4.7%, accounting for 13.9% of China's total foreign trade value.
Among them, China’s exports to the EU were 2.45 trillion yuan, an increase of 7%; imports from the EU were 1.6 trillion yuan, an increase of 1.3%; the trade surplus with the EU was 840.19 billion yuan, an increase of 19.9%.
China is the EU's largest trading partner, largest source of imports, and third largest export market, accounting for 16.0%, 22.2%, and 10.3% respectively.
The economic and trade exchanges between China and the EU have grown against the trend during the epidemic, indicating that win-win cooperation has always been the main tone of China and EU economic and trade cooperation. It also reflects the sound China-EU bilateral relations and complementary economic advantages.
China and the European Union are each other's important economic and trade partners. Both sides have strong economic complementarities, wide areas of cooperation and great potential.
More open and inclusive
The China-EU investment agreement is not only an important part of China's reform to promote opening up strategy, but also meets the development needs of Europe.
Unlike China-EU trade relations, which rely on each other, China-EU mutual investment is lower than the scale of China-EU trade.
Therefore, how to make up for shortcomings and lay a solid foundation for future development has become an important content of the China-EU investment agreement negotiations.
Nowadays, with the completion of the investment agreement negotiations, mutual direct investment will surely usher in great development. The ever-strengthening investment ties will play a role together with the original strong economic and trade ties, and the huge ship of China-EU economic and trade cooperation will also proceed steadily.
The EU-China Investment Agreement mainly covers market access, a level playing field, and sustainable development.
The agreement will help create a fairer and more just foreign investment environment for Chinese companies.
At the same time, investment facilitation, liberalization and other terms will also effectively reduce the cost of Chinese enterprises' outward investment, and greatly promote the sustained and stable development of China's outward direct investment.
In addition, EU countries have long been eager to reach an agreement to expand EU companies' access to the Chinese market.
The new agreement will help European companies enter the Chinese market more smoothly, and China's investment environment will also be further improved.
The successful completion of the China-EU Investment Agreement negotiations shows that both China and the EU have the need to keep the trade and investment markets open, relax various export restrictions, not only to facilitate trade in goods and services, but also to promote bilateral technological exchanges.
Only by expanding two-way opening up on the basis of equality, mutual benefit and mutual respect can China and the EU be able to achieve mutual benefit and win-win results.
At the same time, as the world's two major forces, two major markets, and two major civilizations, China and the EU should join hands to uphold multilateralism, oppose unilateralism, maintain the international order and system with the United Nations at its core, and promote political solutions to international and regional hotspot issues.
A more stable and mature China-EU relationship that is moving to a higher level is of great significance to the prosperity and stability of both parties and the world.
Peace and development are still the themes of our times.
European Commission President Von der Lein said: "The world needs a strong relationship between the EU and China." German industry appreciates the China-EU investment agreement.
Joachim, chairman of the Federation of German Industries, said that increasing market openness and optimizing competitive conditions in both directions are of great benefit to German, European and Chinese companies.