The View | China must address EU concerns on market access, sustainable growth – and Hong Kong – in talks on an investment agreement
- A comprehensive pact, now years in the making, is crucial for spurring growth and job creation
- Beijing should make genuine efforts to level the playing field for doing business in China, improve environmental and labour standards, and honour its commitments on ‘one country, two systems’ in Hong Kong
It is clear to everyone that a single EU-China investment agreement, which will replace the bilateral investment treaties all EU member states – except Ireland – have concluded with China, will be crucial to accelerate future economic, trade and investment cooperation.
Chinese foreign direct investment in the EU has increased by almost 50 times in only eight years, from less than US$840 million in 2008 to a record high of US$42 billion in 2016. Since 2000, 70 per cent of Chinese FDI has been concentrated in only four countries – the UK, France, Germany and Italy. But the EU’s stock of investment in China represents only 4 per cent of its global overseas direct investment, and China’s FDI in Europe amounts to only 2 per cent of the stock of foreign investment inside the EU.
At the same time, European companies in China feel heavily disadvantaged by current market restrictions.