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Why is the “gold content” of the China-EU signing of investment agreements so high?
CCTV News Client 2020-12-31
On December 30, 2020, the leaders of China and the EU jointly announced the completion of the China-EU investment agreement negotiations as scheduled. Since its inception in 2013, 35 negotiation rounds have been held so far, up to 7 …
On December 30, 2020, the leaders of China and the EU jointly announced the completion of the China-EU investment agreement negotiations as scheduled. Since its inception in 2013, to date 35 rounds of negotiations have been held over 7 years.
The China-EU investment agreement covers areas that go far beyond traditional bilateral investment agreements. The results of the negotiations cover four aspects: market access commitments, fair competition rules, sustainable development and dispute resolution. The China-EU Investment Agreement will vigorously stimulate the recovery of the world economy in the post-epidemic period, promote the liberalization and facilitation of global trade and investment, strengthen the confidence of the international community in economic globalization and free trade and will make an important contribution to building an open world economy in the two main markets of China and Europe. .
Today, the EU is China’s second largest trading partner after ASEAN. This year, China has become the most important trade partner of the EU. Why is the China-EU Investment Agreement so important? What benefits will it bring to Chinese and European companies?
Benefiting almost a quarter of the world’s population
According to statistics, China’s population is currently about 1.4 billion, the EU population is 440 million (October 2020 statistics), and the total population of Central Europe exceeds 1.8 billion, representing more than 24%. of the world population. The signing of the China-EU Investment Agreement will benefit almost a quarter of the world’s population.
China’s trade “gold content” continues to rise
△ Note: EU trade and investment data for 2019 and earlier in the chart above includes all of the UK.
Before Britain leaves the European Union on January 31, 2020, the EU has been China’s largest trading partner and source of imports for 16 consecutive years. Since China’s accession to the WTO in 2001, trade in goods between China and Europe has increased from US $ 76.6 billion to US $ 705.1 billion in 2019. Average trade volume now exceeds one million US dollars per minute. From January to November 2020, trade between China and the EU bucked the trend and grew by 3.5% amid the epidemic, showing strong resistance.
In the first 11 months of 2020, the total trade value between China and the EU was 4.05 trillion yuan, an increase of 4.7%, which represents 13.9% of our total foreign trade value. Among them, exports to the EU were 2.45 trillion yuan, an increase of 7%; EU imports were 1.6 trillion yuan, an increase of 1.3%.
The win-win cooperation between China and the EU has a good foundation, great potential and new opportunities. Institutional agreements such as the China-EU Investment Agreement will surely further enhance the level of trade and investment facilitation between the two sides and unleash new potential.
China’s cumulative direct investment in the EU exceeds $ 80 billion
△ Note: EU trade and investment data for 2019 and earlier in the chart above includes all of the UK.
As of November 2020, the 27 EU countries have actually invested $ 117.98 billion in China and the cumulative number of investment projects has exceeded 38,000. According to a survey by the European Chamber of Commerce in China, the epidemic has not affected the confidence of European companies to invest in China. 89% of European companies surveyed are willing to stay in China, and 2/3 of European companies surveyed included China as the top 3 investment destinations. European companies such as Volkswagen, BASF, BMW and Allianz continue to increase investment in China.
China’s investment in the European Union came out of nowhere and its annual investment has grown to nearly tens of billions of dollars. As of November 2020, China has accumulated more than US $ 80 billion in direct investment in the 27 EU countries. Huawei, ByteDance and Honeycomb Energy announced new factories and data centers in Europe, showing the development trend of Chinese-funded companies taking root in Europe.
China-Europe express trains break ten thousand since 2020
The “Belt and Road” jointly built by China and the EU has yielded fruitful results: the port of Piraeus in Greece and the Hungary-Serbia railway line under construction have become important links for deepening China-EU connectivity. The China-Europe Mutual Investment Fund, the China-Central and Eastern Europe Investment Cooperation Fund, the China-Europe International Exchange have expanded financial channels between Europe and Asia, and projects such as the Hinkley Point Nuclear Power Plant in the United Kingdom and the Pelješac Bridge in Croatia have given rise to new models of trilateral cooperation. In the context of the epidemic, the “steel camel team” China-Europe Express has set a “new speed”. Since 2020, the number of trains has exceeded 10,000. It has become an important channel for China-Europe interconnection and the sustenance of material transportation against the epidemic.
What are the benefits for Chinese and European companies?
The China-EU Investment Agreement focuses on institutional openness. The promise of high-level market access will provide more investment opportunities for both companies. High-level fair competition rules will provide a better business environment for bilateral investment.
In terms of market access, the agreement adopts pre-access national treatment plus a negative list model. For the first time, China has made a negative list commitment across all industries, including service and non-service industries, to achieve full integration with the foreign investment negative list management system established by the Foreign Investment Law. . The European side also promised me a higher level of market access in the deal.
In addition, in response to market access restrictions that do not discriminate against foreign investment but have a significant impact on the establishment and operation of companies, the two parties will also undertake not to affect the number of companies, production, volume of businesses, directors and senior management, local R&D, export performance and export performance in most economic fields. Restrictions are imposed on the establishment of headquarters and foreign exchange transfers related to investment and the entry and stay of personnel are permitted.
With respect to the rules of fair competition, the two parties are based on the creation of a business environment governed by law and reached a consensus on issues closely related to corporate operations, such as state-owned companies, transparency of subsidies, technology transfer, standard setting, administrative law enforcement and financial supervision.
The head of the Department of Treaty and Law of the Ministry of Commerce said: Once the negotiation is finished, the two parties must carry out technical works such as legal review and translation of the text as soon as possible to promote the early signing of the agreement. Once the agreement is signed, it will take effect after both parties complete their internal approval procedures.
2021 is coming
China and Europe are two major economies in the world
It will further deepen economic and trade cooperation
Also bring new business opportunities to the world
It will surely promote the recovery of the world economy after the epidemic
Publisher: Bao She
