EU, China in free trade deal prep
Agreement to ease investment expected first
EU, China in free trade deal prep
17/09/2013 - 7:08pm
The is set to begin talks with China on a pact that is likely to pave the way for a free trade deal between two of the world's biggest markets by making it easier to do buiness, EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gught said on September 17.
"We are ready and China says it is also ready. We are waiting to get started," De Gucht told business leaders, officials and diplomats in Brussels.
Reuters news agency reported that diplomats it interviewed said EU member states will give the Commission the power to negotiate an "investment agreement" during the October 18 Council meeting.
The news comes after EU and China nearly found themselves engaged in a trade war this summer over the price of Chinese solar panels and the punitive imposition of sanctions by the EU and then China on each other's products.
Trade between the two has doubled in a decade and is worth more than €1 billion a day, but, REuters reports, China receives just 2 percent of the EU's investment abroad.
European companies complain of poor treatment in China, such as being pushed into joint ventures and forced to share sensitive know-how to win access to Chinese funding and local contracts.
EU trade chief De Gucht said it was in both sides' interest to deepen trade ties, even if EU member countries such as France and Italy are very distrustful of China's trade practices.
"Over time, there will be a free-trade agreement between China and Europe. I am sure about that," De Gucht said. new europe
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