China EU Historic Cooperation: Signing The 8-Year Agreement And Making Three Major Decisions

On the evening of September 14, President Xi Jinping held a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, President of the European Council Michel Michelle, and President of the European Commission von der Laine in Beijing on the evening of September 14. The meeting was held in the form of video.

The leaders of China and the EU announced the formal signing of the China EU agreement on geographical indications, which took eight years from negotiation to signing. The two leaders also made three major decisions, namely, the establishment of the China EU high level dialogue on environment and climate and the China EU high level dialogue in the digital field, building a green and digital partnership between China and the EU, speeding up the negotiations on the China EU investment agreement and achieving the completion of the talks within the year The goal of judgment.

Xi Jinping stressed that the new crown pneumonia epidemic has accelerated the evolution of the great changes not seen in a century, and mankind stands at a new crossroads. China and the EU should unswervingly promote the healthy and stable development of the comprehensive strategic partnership and achieve the "four insistences": adhere to peaceful coexistence, adhere to open cooperation, adhere to multilateralism, and adhere to dialogue and consultation.

Historic meeting

On the evening of September 14, President Xi Jinping held a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, President of the European Council Michel Michelle, and President of the European Commission von der Laine in Beijing on the evening of September 14. The meeting was held in the form of video.

At the meeting, a modest but very important document, the China EU agreement on geographical indications, was signed. The negotiation of the agreement started in 2011 and lasted for eight years. At the end of 2019, China and the EU announced the end of the talks. On 6 June 2019, President Xi Jinping held talks with President Marcon, who is on a state visit to China. After the talks, the leaders of the two countries witnessed the signing of a series of outcome documents, including the joint statement on the conclusion of the negotiations on the China EU agreement on geographical indications. The agreement is of great significance to the development of China EU economic and trade relations.

China EU agreement on geographical indications is the first comprehensive and high-level bilateral agreement on the protection of geographical indications signed by China. The agreement will provide a high level of protection for geographical indications of both sides, effectively prevent counterfeiting of geographical indication products, and enable consumers of both sides to eat and use genuine and high-quality goods.

The conclusion of the negotiation on China EU agreement on geographical indications will help deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, further consolidate the economic and trade foundation of China EU comprehensive strategic partnership, and further enhance bilateral political mutual trust. The agreement provides a strong guarantee for China's relevant products to enter the EU market and enhance its market popularity. According to the agreement, China's relevant products have the right to use the official certification mark of the EU, which is conducive to obtaining the recognition of EU consumers and further promoting the export of Chinese related products to Europe.

Heavy negotiations to be completed within the year

The leaders of China and the EU also decided to establish a high-level dialogue on environment and climate and a high-level dialogue in the digital field between China and the EU to create a green and digital partnership between China and the EU. The leaders of China and the EU confirmed that they would speed up the negotiations on the China EU investment agreement and achieve the goal of completing the negotiations within the year.

According to the data, in 2020, China EU investment agreement negotiations were held six times, and positive progress was made in the first five negotiations on the text and negative list. In the 31st round of negotiations held from July 21 to 24, progress and breakthroughs have been made in the text of fair competition rules. The core content of the bilateral investment agreement between China and the EU mainly includes four aspects: investment protection, market access, investment supervision and sustainable operation and development. Compared with the traditional investment agreements, the main differences in the Sino EU investment agreement negotiations are the introduction of pre access national treatment and negative list management system, focusing on the "competitive neutrality" of state-owned enterprises, and promoting the opening up of high-end service industry at a higher level. In the 31st round of negotiations, the EU reiterated its demand for improving China's quotations in the telecommunications and computer sectors, health, biotechnology and new energy vehicles in terms of market access.

EU investment in China accounts for only 4% of the stock of foreign investment, and China's investment only accounts for 2% of the total foreign investment of the EU. Some experts believe that such a huge potential is seriously out of proportion to the current bottleneck faced by both sides in investment. Strategically speaking, China EU cooperation means that the East and west sides of Eurasia have formed the focus of globalization, and are also the insistence on free trade and open cooperation. The stability of China EU relations will undoubtedly bring confidence to the whole Eurasian continent and help to build an open economic order. The negotiation of a high-level investment agreement between China and the EU will stimulate global free trade and upgrade the multilateral trade system represented by WTO. China EU bilateral investment agreement is not only bilateral cooperation, but also the cooperation between EU Member States and China. It is also a practical measure for traditional economic powers and emerging economies to jointly promote globalization.

China and the EU share common interests in safeguarding multilateralism

In fact, unlike the United States, China and the EU have had many successful cases of cooperation this year. At the most difficult moment in China's fight against the epidemic, many European countries donated anti epidemic materials to China. European folk also provided valuable support to China through concerts, charity sales and other forms. After the rapid spread of the epidemic in Europe, China has also mobilized a large number of materials to assist European countries, sharing unreservedly the anti epidemic experience, and successively sent several batches of medical expert teams to go to the most serious areas of Italy to help fight the epidemic.

Michael Schumann, chairman of the German Federal Association for economic development and foreign trade, said that EU countries have not been affected by conspiracy theories and anti intellectualism in their anti epidemic cooperation with China, but have adhered to the scientific and pragmatic spirit, which is the proper attitude to face the global challenges, Xinhua reported. The head of the EU delegation to China and the 27 EU ambassadors to China jointly published an article saying that the only way out for the epidemic is unity and cooperation. The same is true of many other areas of global affairs that require Europe and China to work together.

At present, Chinese enterprises are trying to maintain the stability and smoothness of global industrial chain and supply chain. Since the outbreak of the epidemic, the number of China EU trains has risen against the trend. As of July, it has run more than 1000 trains a month for three consecutive months. It has played an important role in ensuring smooth logistics and stable material supply in China, Europe and countries along the belt and road, and has become a "bond of destiny" for all countries to join hands in fighting the epidemic.

COSCO Shipping Group has enhanced the competitiveness of Piraeus port in Greece, and many goods from Asia to Europe are transshipped here, which enhances the port's ability to withstand the impact of the epidemic, and its throughput decline is smaller than that of other European ports.

Gu Xuewu, director of the global research center at the University of Bonn in Germany, pointed out that there are many cooperation projects between China and the EU in 5g network construction, the combination of industry 4.0 and digital economy, big health, green environmental protection and African investment and construction. China and Europe cooperate with each other in terms of products, technology and market, and learn from each other's strong points to offset their weaknesses. This will help to rebuild the global industrial chain, which has broken point due to the epidemic situation and the United States launching a trade war, so as to drive global economic growth.

In July this year, Germany began to assume the rotating presidency of the European Union. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has repeatedly said that she wants to lead the EU to more dialogue and cooperation with China. The German government recently released the foreign policy guidance document "Indo Pacific Policy: jointly shaping the 21st century". This 72 page document mentions China 59 times, pointing out the potential and opportunities for cooperation and interaction with China in different fields, including clean coal combustion, nuclear non-proliferation, strengthening the role of the United Nations, and higher education.

In his speech at the French Institute of international relations on August 30, Wang Yi, State Councilor and foreign minister, pointed out that unilateral bullying is becoming more and more serious and has become the biggest challenge facing the international multilateral order. "China regards the EU as an important force in the process of world multipolarization and is willing to work with the EU to safeguard the effectiveness and authority of the multilateral system and safeguard fairness, justice and international order."

At a meeting with Wang Yi at the end of August, French Foreign Minister ledrion said that France hopes to work with China to promote the success of the Marseilles World Conference on conservation of nature and the 15th Conference of the parties to the Convention on biological diversity in Kunming, strengthen international cooperation in addressing climate change, jointly promote the development of global digital economy, and demonstrate the exemplary role of France in safeguarding multilateralism.

Falkel chapuk, honorary chairman of the Prussian Association in Berlin, Germany, said that since the US trump administration came to power, unilateral bullying has intensified. It has not only suppressed the normal operation of Chinese enterprises, but also suppressed European enterprises, such as the "beixi-2" natural gas pipeline project. The European Union's multilateral policy is also a victim of China's unilateralism.