The EU and China have "concluded in principle" the negotiations on a broad agreement on investments, announced the president of the European Commission and her counterpart of the Council.

Beijing promises to offer "unprecedented access" to European companies while strengthening its efforts against forced labor.

The European Union and China on Wednesday approved the conclusion "in principle" of a broad investment deal, with Beijing promising to offer "unprecedented access" to European companies while boosting its efforts against forced labor, but without defusing criticism.

After seven years of talks, this political deal was sealed during a video conference between Chinese President Xi Jinping, EU leaders Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel, as well as German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron.

Its official signature will only take place later.

According to Brussels, the agreement "will help to rebalance" relations deemed "asymmetrical" between a single European market widely open to Chinese companies and an Asian giant which is closing entire sectors to foreign investors while pushing its national giants.

"Better prospects for cooperation" for the EU

This treaty "will considerably improve the equality of market conditions" for entrepreneurs in China, underlines the European press release.

It must therefore better guarantee respect for intellectual property, prohibit forced technology transfers and strengthen the transparency of subsidies to Chinese public enterprises.

For his part, Xi Jinping said the agreement "demonstrates China's determination to promote a high degree of openness" by granting Europeans in particular "stronger institutional guarantees" and "better prospects for cooperation", according to the new China state agency.

"The EU has the largest single market in the world. We are open for business but committed to reciprocity, fair competition and our values," said the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on Twitter. .

The EU has the largest single market in the world.



We are open for business but committed to reciprocity, fair competition and our values.



and reached an agreement in principle on investments, for more balanced trade and opportunities.

pic.twitter.com/mDZvLFgKYG

- Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) December 30, 2020

China makes commitments on forced labor

The sums at stake are considerable.

The stock of investments of Europeans (excluding the United Kingdom) in China amounts to nearly 150 billion euros, and that of the Chinese in the EU to 113 billion.

This text will open up crucial Chinese markets: clean vehicles, the "cloud", finance or health, we are assured in Brussels.

But it will only be signed after a legal and technical finalization of the text, which could take many months.

It will also have to be approved by the European Parliament before being ratified, which promises to be complex.

A sensitive point: experts and NGOs accuse the communist regime of having interned in Xinjiang (western China) more than a million members of the Uyghur Muslim minority in "re-education camps", subjecting them to forced labor.

According to an American study, at least 570,000 Uyghurs have been enlisted in a coercive cotton collection program.

However, the agreement provides that China "undertakes (...) to work for the ratification of the fundamental conventions of the International Labor Organization (ILO), including those (banning) forced labor", the European press release said.

Angela Merkel, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency until the end of December, made the political agreement a priority.

Brussels will "take stock" of the development of its relations with China in 2022, when Paris takes over the presidency of the EU.