China, EU to step up talks to seal investment treaty

BEIJING - A third round of talks for the China-EU investment treaty will take place in Beijing early next month. Negotiations on the treaty between are still at the beginning stage, said an official from the Ministry of Commerce, but both sides are committed to achieving a deal.

China and the EU first agreed to launch negotiations for an investment treaty in February 2012, but progress has been slow. The difficulties mainly lie in the degree of market exchange. The EU expects China to open more, and while China expects the same of the EU, EU investment in China is only between two and four per cent of its total investments abroad. Chinese investments in Europe are rising, but from an even lower base.