China set to make new offer to EU as agriculture chief Phil Hogan admits there has been ‘limited progress’ on investment deal
- Next Brussels trade chief urges both sides to redouble efforts to reinvigorate negotiations to seal ‘ambitious’ investment agreement
- Hogan insists ‘I got a sense China wants to work with Europe closely’ but admits a number of key issues still need to be resolved
China will make a new offer to the European Union next month as the two sides seek to reinvigorate talks on an investment agreement that a senior EU official admitted had “made limited progress” on some key aspects.
Phil Hogan, currently the EU Agriculture Commissioner, said on Thursday that both sides needed to redouble their efforts to reach a deal next year.
“I got a sense during my visit that China wants to work with Europe closely and I will bring the message back to Brussels”, he told reporters at a press conference in Beijing.
Both sides held the 24th round of talks on a comprehensive agreement on investment this week, with topics including industrial subsidies, technology transfer and market access, he said.
Hogan, who is set to become trade commissioner in the new Brussels administration, said he expected that the two sides could reach an “ambitious” investment treaty and China’s revised market access offer “that will be made in December” would provide a significant signal.