China-EU investment deal will not be a panacea for troubled relationship, observers say
- While an agreement looks imminent, ‘it remains to be seen how China addresses the EU’s many long-standing concerns’, academic says
- By agreeing to an investment deal with China, the EU is ‘showing Washington it must do more to draw Brussels into its camp’, researcher says
According to people with knowledge of the talks, the comprehensive investment agreement, which has been seven years in the making, has won widespread but conditional backing from most EU member states.
The European Commission (EC), which is in charge of the talks, has secured breakthroughs, with China agreeing to further open up its markets to European firms, and has also demanded Beijing make a commitment to ending the use of forced labour, the sources said.
Pang Zhongying, a professor of international affairs at the Ocean University of China, said: “While the EU is keen to see progress in the trade talks with China in a bid to offset the losses as a result of Brexit, it would mean a lot for China too.”
The coronavirus pandemic has brought the tensions between China and major Western powers into the open, with Beijing’s increasingly assertive diplomacy, its unfair trade practices and repressive domestic policies coming under tighter international scrutiny.
China’s traditionally trade-driven relations with the EU have also worsened after the EC last year referred to Beijing as a systemic rival for the first time.
“But it remains to be seen how China addresses the many long-standing concerns the EU has voiced over the years and what major concessions Beijing may make to ensure a deal is reached,” Pang said.
