Germany’s Angela Merkel says ‘political will’ exists to wrap up EU-China investment deal
- Chancellor’s comments come after a virtual summit meeting between EU leaders and Chinese President Xi Jinping, who says the talks will be ‘expedited’
- Head of the European Commission, which is handling the negotiations, says there is still ‘a lot to do’ on market access and sustainable development standards
EU leaders expressed cautious optimism about concluding protracted talks on easing European investors’ access to Chinese markets after a virtual summit with China’s president, Xi Jinping, on Monday.
“The political will must be there to have this investment agreement. And that political will is there on both sides,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said.
Xi agreed with the EU leaders that the pace of the talks would be “expedited” so the negotiations could be concluded by the end of December, state media Xinhua reported.
But there remains “a lot to do” on market access and sustainable development standards before the self-imposed end-of-year deadline, said Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, which is handling the EU-China investment deal negotiations.
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“China has to convince us that it is worth having a comprehensive agreement on investment,” von der Leyen said.