China-EU investment treaty talks ‘better than expected’ as Beijing woos US allies
- Meetings about Comprehensive Agreement on Investment go ‘deeper than normal’, European diplomat says
- China also signs significant deals with Britain as it shores up alliances during trade war with US
Negotiations between China and Europe on reciprocal investment access went better than expected as Beijing stepped up efforts to woo allies of the United States affected by the China-US trade and tech disputes, diplomatic sources said.
Officials from China and the European Union concluded their latest round of talks on an investment treaty – the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment – last week in Beijing. The five days of talks – longer than their previous meetings – saw some “good” discussions and progress being made on some of the details of the scheme, a European diplomat said.
The talks also went “deeper than normal” and the parties agreed to hold further meetings each month from July to speed up the process, a European diplomatic source said.
The EU wants more access than is granted by the national “negative list” – sectors off-limits to foreign investors – the latest version of which Beijing is due to unveil at the end of this month. The talks covered sectors China was unwilling to open to the EU, the source said.