China News Agency, Beijing, March 1 (Reporter Li Xiaoyu) The China-EU Geographical Indication Protection and Cooperation Agreement formally came into effect on March 1.

This is the first large-scale mutual recognition of geographical indications between China and Europe, with a total of more than 500.

　　Negotiations on the agreement started in 2011 and ended at the end of 2019.

On September 14, 2020, China and the EU formally signed the agreement.

At the end of January 2021, both parties will complete internal legal procedures and notify each other.

　　The China-EU Geographical Indications Protection and Cooperation Agreement is the first comprehensive and high-level bilateral treaty on Geographical Indications signed by China with foreign countries, and it is also the first major trade agreement between China and Europe in recent years.

According to the agreement, the geographical indications that China has included in protection not only involve alcohol, tea, agricultural products, food, etc., but also rice paper, Shu brocade, etc., which represent traditional Chinese culture.

The geographical indications that the two parties have included in the agreement can not only obtain a high level of protection in the other side, but also can use the other side’s official geographical indications, which is conducive to the effective market development of related products.

　　The head of the Department of Treaty and Law of the Ministry of Commerce of China previously stated that the high-level treatment provided by the agreement will help Chinese-related products to be recognized by EU consumers, further promote the export of related products to Europe, promote the development of bilateral GI product trade, and expand the scale of China-EU trade. At the same time, it also provides legal protection for effectively preventing the counterfeiting and forgery of geographical indication products.

　　In recent years, China-EU economic and trade cooperation has become increasingly close.

Last year, China surpassed the United States for the first time to become the EU's largest trading partner.

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