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On December 30, Chinese President Xi Jinping held a video meeting with German Chancellor Merkel, French President Macron, European Council President Michel, and European Commission President Von der Lein. At the meeting, the leaders of China and the EU jointly announced the completion of the China-EU investment agreement negotiations as scheduled. After about 7 years, a total of 35 rounds of negotiations have achieved the expected goal of completion in the year, declaring the ambitions of China and the EU for further economic and trade integration and revitalizing the world economy after the epidemic. Determination and confidence in the future of human society.
Completing the investment agreement negotiations between China and the EU on time is an inevitable choice in the long history of changing times and powers.
The idea for the China-EU Investment Agreement negotiations started at the 15th China-EU Leaders Meeting in 2012. After a year of deliberations and legal proceedings, it was officially launched at the 16th China-EU Leaders Meeting in 2013. The first round of negotiations took place in January 2014. After the serious damage of the 2008 international financial crisis, the economic recovery in the European Union was weak. The European Commission formulated the “Europe 2020: Development Strategy for Flexible, Sustainable and Inclusive Growth” in 2020. European leaders set their sights on emerging economies The country, with a particular focus on rapidly developing China, regards it as one of the most important target countries for European investment, as the key to European economic revitalization.
However, objectively speaking, China at the time was just a promising potential population for the future, and it was difficult to achieve the same level of investment as the EU and keep up with the EU. In 2012, China was a “primary school student” in the field of foreign investment, with a total foreign direct investment of only more than 600 billion US dollars, ranking 11th in the world, which is quite different. of the European Union, which has more than US $ 4 trillion in foreign investment. At that time, the stock of Chinese direct investment in Europe was only US $ 31.5 billion, while the stock of European direct investment in China exceeded 100 billion US dollars. However, as China’s economic strength continues to grow, investment in Europe has increased rapidly. By the end of 2019, the EU had cumulatively invested USD 137.9 billion in direct investment from China, and China’s cumulative direct investment in the EU was USD 102.1 billion. It can be seen that in the field of mutual investment, China and the EU are almost on the same level and the two sides can enter into a dialogue on more equitable terms.
At the same time, China and the EU have become closer in recent years, and mutual understanding and positioning have become clearer. In the process of “strategic awakening”, the EU not only realized that China’s institutional model is different from itself, but also valued China’s position as an indispensable economic and trade partner, growth engine and broad market. . The pragmatic color of his diplomacy with China has become increasingly prominent. China’s position in the EU’s external economic and trade structure has continually improved. This year, China has become the EU’s biggest trading partner and has become Germany’s biggest trading partner for three consecutive years.
While China has entered a new stage of development, it is inseparable from a higher level of openness to the outside world to actively build a new development pattern, and building a new mountain area of openness is inseparable from close cooperation with the European Union, because the European Union is a market with more than 400 million consumers. A unified market is a high-quality investment goal with transparent laws and regulations, comprehensive infrastructure, high job literacy, strong scientific research capabilities, and excellent overall industrial competitiveness. It is an important starting point for Chinese companies to go global and effectively achieve mutual promotion between the country and the international world. At this stage, it is an unavoidable choice to accelerate the China-EU investment agreement negotiations and build a high-level economic, trade and investment relationship.
The completion of the China-EU Investment Agreement negotiations marks the beginning of a new phase in the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and the EU, and marks the beginning of new momentum.
As we all know, there are differences in systems and concepts between China and Europe, and investment is different from simple commodity trading, which will inevitably involve deep-level social issues such as institutional structure and cultural concepts. China and Europe can overcome numerous challenges and finally complete the negotiations successfully. This not only reflects the forward-looking historic decision of the leaders of both sides at the critical moment, but also shows that the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Europe has made deeper progress and more substantial connotations. The China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership will also have a more global impact, especially when the century-old situation is affected by the epidemic in the century, and the international community faces economic collapse, North-South imbalance, governance failure. and social fire. The China-EU Investment Agreement has outgrown The scope of China-EU bilateral trade and economic cooperation provides a new model for different world systems, different cultures and different concepts to overcome difficulties and find each other.
As President Xi Jinping said, the China-EU Investment Agreement “will strongly stimulate the recovery of the world economy in the post-epidemic period, promote the liberalization and facilitation of world trade and investment, and increase community confidence. International in Economic Globalization and Free Trade “. This is a negotiation that shows responsibility, a strong agreement that China and Europe give to the world. It has set a new weather vane on the tide of anti-globalization and has sounded the “position” under the epidemic and depression of all industries. “The Charge” has cast a stable anchor in the future prospects of humanity full of uncertainty and instability, demonstrating the common belief of working together to open a new situation in the destiny of humanity. (Editor-in-charge: Guo Suping)Return to Sohu to see more
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