China’s new agreement with EU focusses on local investment promotion
China and the European Union have signed the long-awaited business investment deal under which Brussels seeks to even the playing field for European companies operating in the Chinese market, reports London’s Financial Times.
The EU had been racing to meet a deadline for the deal by the end of the year and has seen the talks as a significant part of managing the tense trade relations with China.
The pact promotes investment in China, allowing joint-venture requirements and caps on foreign equity in specific industries.
Sectors to be covered include manufacturing, financial services, real estate, environmental services, construction, and auxiliary services to support shipping and air transport.
Renewable energy is part of the new China-EU agreement
On the other end, the deal sets existing market-access rights while offering some investment possibilities in renewable energies.
However, the deal is expected to cause tension with the incoming administration from the US president-elect Joe Biden.
Previously, the EU published a transatlantic strategy urging the US to work with the EU to meet the strategic challenge from China.
The Biden administration declared it’ll seek to build a multilateral alliance with the EU and other partners to put pressure on Beijing over practices including industrial subsidies and forced technology transfer that has hindered the global system of rules-based trade.
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