China-EU investment treaty talks hit crunch time, as Europeans bemoan seven years of ‘promise fatigue’ from Beijing
- The clock is ticking on China-EU investment talks, with the two sides said to be far apart from agreement on key issues
- Brussels wants a level playing field for its firms in China, while Beijing fears being isolated from a future plurilateral trading system
This is the first in a series of five articles analysing the potential for an EU-China investment treaty, looking at negotiating positions, sticking points and geopolitical tensions. You can read part two here, part three here, part four here and part five here.
It is approaching crunch time for the European Union’s relationship with China.
After seven years and more than 30 rounds of talks, China’s Vice-Premier Liu He and the European Commission's executive vice-president in charge of economic policy Valdis Dombrovskis are expected to speak on the phone next week in a last-ditch effort to salvage an investment treaty, on which they cannot even agree the name, but which may lay a marker for the future dynamic between two of the world’s three largest economies.
For Beijing, it is called the China-EU Bilateral Investment Treaty. For Brussels, it is the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment. And for those familiar with the talks, therein lies the rub.
Meeting halfway will not work for the EU. Our markets are largely open, probably the most open in the world
At the beginning of the year, European Union trade commissioner Phil Hogan slapped down suggestions that the bloc would “meet China in the middle”.