Coronavirus ‘dents plans’ for EU-China investment deal by September

European trade chief says bloc’s new leadership also unlikely to meet Chinese premier in Beijing next month

Parties still to reach agreement on key issues such as forced technology transfer, official says

Reading Time:2 minutes

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (left) and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang meet in Beijing last year. Some observers say Merkel has been too keen to reach a deal with China. Photo: AP

Published: 4:59pm, 21 Feb 2020Updated: 4:58pm, 21 Feb 2020

The coronavirus epidemic has reduced prospects for China and the European Union reaching a landmark investment deal in time for a September summit, the EU’s top trade official said on Wednesday.

Phil Hogan, the EU’s trade commissioner, also said that a planned meeting between the EU’s new leadership and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang would probably not happen in Beijing in March.

Beijing had hoped that a deal could be reached with Brussels in time for President Xi Jinping to present it when he meets – for the first time – all 27 heads of EU states in the German city of Leipzig in September.

“There’s a lot of time lost now and going to be lost because of the coronavirus. A lot of meetings have been cancelled,” Hogan told the European Parliament on Wednesday.

“If we were going to get a deal by the Leipzig summit we would have to largely have it completed by July.”

The EU trade chief, who has vowed to use trade as part of the EU’s “toolbox” in achieving geopolitical aims, also said there were still differences on major issues.