EU pushes China to speed up process of opening markets to agricultural products
Both Brussels and Beijing hope for progress in latest summit as China seeks allies in US trade war
China and the European Union are expected to seek substantial progress on increasing agricultural trade and accelerating investment treaty talks during a meeting on Monday in Beijing, the EU ambassador to China, Hans Dietmar Schweisgut, has told the South China Morning Post.
The 20th annual China-EU summit comes as the trade war between China and the US is escalating, which may plunge the world into an economic cold war and disrupt global trade patterns. Meanwhile, observers say China is keen on building alliances with the EU to counter Washington’s threats.
Because of frictions over issues including China’s demands for market economy status and the EU’s concern about China’s steel overcapacity, Beijing and Brussels failed to release joint statements on the summits in 2016 and 2017.
But both sides are likely to issue a joint statement this year, Schweisgut said.
He said he expected the EU and China to move closer to completion of the Geographic Indications Agreement (GIS), which “would present the first trade agreement ever between China and the European Union”.
