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China expects a “push” from the Portuguese presidency of the European Union (EU), in order to speed up the ratification process of the investment agreement between Beijing and Brussels, considering that it will also allow more Chinese investment in Portugal.
“We hope that Portugal, while assuming the rotating presidency of the EU, can give a ‘push’ to the process and, ideally, we hope that in the first half of this year we can sign these documents” preliminarily, says Ambassador Zhang Ming, head of China’s mission to the EU, in an interview with the Lusa agency and other Portuguese media in Brussels.
Questioned at the time by Lusa about the main investment agreement reached between Brussels and Beijing at the end of last year, which has not yet been ratified, the official pointed out that “after signing, the documents will be delivered to the parliaments of both blocs for ratification ”.
“In an ideal scenario, the agreement will be formally finalized at the end of this year or early next year and will come into effect there,” Zhang Ming estimates.
The Chinese bloc’s representative for community space says that, at the moment, the two sides are “dealing with legal scrutiny and translation.”
“It is not about restarting the negotiations, we are just dealing and finalizing the details,” he adds.
Stressing that “China and Portugal are good and close partners,” Zhang Ming tells Lusa and other Portuguese media in this interview that “Portugal, as a member state, will definitely benefit from this agreement.”
“The agreement will facilitate the access of Chinese and European investors to these markets”, so “there will be more European investment in China and also more Chinese investment in the EU, including Portugal”, concludes the official.
At the end of 2020, Brussels and Beijing reached a preliminary consensus for an EU-China global investment agreement, after seven years of negotiations (started in November 2013).
The objective is, through this investment agreement, to mutually protect European investments in China and Chinese investments in the EU, that is, to make it easier for European investors to buy stakes in Chinese companies, so that it becomes a mutual relationship.
The group of 27 also demands greater respect for intellectual property, an end to forced technology transfers imposed on foreign companies in China, and the excessive subsidies attributed to Chinese public companies.
Low Chinese labor standards, and in particular the issue of forced labor, were, for several EU member states, the main obstacle to concluding an agreement with Beijing.
The text of the agreement must now be finalized by the parties and approved by the Council (Member States) and the European Parliament.
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