Xi says both sides must pursue healthy, steady growth of their relationship China and the European Union reaffirmed their goal of concluding
talks on the bilateral investment agreement before year's end and agreed
to bolster cooperation on green development and the digital sector
during a leaders' meeting on Monday. The meeting, held via video link, was co-chaired by President Xi
Jinping, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose country currently holds
the EU's rotating presidency, European Council President Charles Michel
and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The two sides agreed to accelerate talks on the investment agreement.
Negotiating teams have had 31 rounds of talks on the agreement since
negotiations were launched in 2014. China and the EU will establish a high-level dialogue on the
environment and climate and work together in the digital sector to build
green and digital cooperative partnerships, according to a decision at
the meeting. In his remarks at the meeting, Xi underlined the need for the two
sides to unwaveringly pursue the healthy and steady growth of the
China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership while adhering to the
principles of peaceful coexistence, openness and cooperation,
multilateralism as well as dialogue and consultation. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the profound changes unseen in a
century, and mankind is standing at a new crossroads, he said. China and the EU, as important trading and investment partners,
should enhance the coordination of macro policies and come up with more
measures to unleash more cooperative opportunities, Xi said. With China proposing a global data security initiative, Xi said it is
his hope that the EU will work with China to promote the creation of
standards and rules on the governance of the global digital economy. He said China has been closely following the recent moves made by the
EU in the areas of 5G, examination of foreign investment, government
procurement and competition policies, and he hopes the EU will maintain
the openness of its trade and investment markets and create an open,
fair and nondiscriminatory business environment to ensure the legitimate
interests of Chinese firms. Xi underlined the importance of enhanced bilateral cooperation on the
research and development of COVID-19 vaccines and making them global
public goods that are beneficial and available for all, especially
people in developing countries. He also stressed that the issues involving the Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region and the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region are in
essence matters regarding the defense of China's national sovereignty,
security and unity and the protection of rights for the people to live
safe and happy lives. Beijing will resolutely oppose any inpidual or forces trying to
instigate instability, pision or chaos in the country, and firmly
object to the intervention in China's internal affairs by any country,
he added. As for human rights, China will not accept lectures from other
countries and will object to the practice of double standards, he said. The leaders also announced the signing of a bilateral agreement on
geographical indications on food products. The agreement was hailed by
the council of the EU as "the first significant bilateral trade
agreement signed between the EU and China". It will ensure that 100 EU agrifood geographical indications such as
Mozzarella di Bufala Campana cheese or Elia Kalamatas olives get
protection on the Chinese market. Likewise, 100 Chinese products will be
protected in the EU, thereby ensuring mutual recognition of
agricultural traditions, the council said in a statement in July. China's trade volume with the EU reached $705.1 billion last year,
which increased by 3.4 percent from the previous year. China is the EU's
biggest source of imports and its second-biggest export market. In
2019, China was the third-largest partner for EU exports of goods and
the largest partner for EU imports of goods. The EU had been China's largest trading partner for 16 consecutive
years as of 2019. However, the bloc's position as China's largest
trading partner has been taken by the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations in the first half of this year, according to the Ministry of
Commerce.
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