Meeting with Chairs and Vice-Chairs of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with the People’s Republic of China

2015-04-08 | Beijing

The European Chamber President first provided an overview of the political and economic status quo in China. Politically, the anti-corruption campaign in particular has been followed through with paticular resolve, Xi Jinping has generally widespread political support. Economically, China's growth is at around 7% - there is a general imbalance in the real estate sector. 

The European Chamber President then gave a status update on how European businesses are doing in China - the growth potential within various industries varies greatly. 

The overall questions posed by the MEPs was how to best approach the comprehensive agreement on investments (CAI) and to develop a roadmap for moving forward in implementing it. Issues such as investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) and potential sustainability clauses were also raised, and the European Chamber President provided a general assessment of the opportunities and issues surrounding the Silk Road project. 

The European Chamber President pointed at that the CAI is the second real opportunity for market economy access since China's WTO accession - we shouldn't hurry our efforts and rather focus on a robust Treaty with quality and content. 

All parties agreed that the European Parliament and the European Commission needs a clearer idea of European leverage in negotiations for the CAI - the publications and insights by the European Chamber should also made be avaialble much sooner in the year and circulated more effectively across media and political outlets to ensure maximum impact.