China pledges expanded trade with EU but stops short on market access concessions
- Virtual summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and leaders of European trading bloc leaves much work still to do
- Focus on investment treaty derailed by exchange on human rights record including Hong Kong and Xinjiang
But, in a press conference after the virtual meeting, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen could hardly conceal her disappointment – mirroring the bloc’s harder stance towards China on a range of issues. “I want to caution that a lot – a lot – still remains to be done,” she said, citing market access and sustainability.
“With market access, it is not a question of meeting halfway, it is a question of rebalancing the asymmetry and a question of openness of our respective markets,” she said. “China has to convince us that it is worth having an investment agreement.”
An agreement between the EU and China aimed at creating a level playing field and removing market access barriers for European investors in China is supposed to be concluded this year. Xi agreed to “expedite” treaty talks to get a deal completed on time and Von der Leyen confirmed that progress had been made on several other fronts, including state subsidies and state-owned enterprises.