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2006-11-09 | All chapters

China, EU Officials Vow to Push Forward Talks
Jiang Wei, China Daily, 9th November 2006

China and the European Union have agreed to accelerate preparations for bilateral talks on a new partnership framework agreement, according to China's commerce ministry.

During the 21st China-EU Economic and Trade Joint Committee meeting, co-chaired by China's Minister of Commerce Bo Xilai and EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson, the two sides agreed to make full preparations for updating and improving the 1985 Trade and Economic Co-operation Agreement, the commerce ministry said yesterday in a statement.

It added they expected to reach a consensus this year on certain aspects and would push forward the accomplishment of the agreement.

"The 1985 agreement is outdated but our trade relations are growing week by week," Mandelson told a press conference yesterday. "As for the negotiations on a wider partnership and co-operation agreement, Bo and I will be negotiating the updating of the agreement."

The four-page document dating back to 1985 forms the foundation for the Sino-EU relationship in nearly every aspect from economics to politics.

According to the commerce ministry, the two trade officials reached agreement on a number of issues, including: settlement of trade friction through friendly consultation; exchanges on intellectual property rights protection; the establishment of a China-EU trade co-operation website; co-operation between small- and medium-sized companies; department-level exchanges and dialogue on services trade; and informal dialogue on iron and steel trade.

The EU trade chief yesterday visited the State Intellectual Property Office, pressing China for greater efforts on intellectual property rights protection.

Mandelson urged Beijing to toughen its criminal sanctions for intellectual property rights violations, to lower the thresholds for prosecutable intellectual property rights offences, and to clean up street markets that sell pirated European goods.

The European Chamber of Commerce in China signed a joint memorandum with China's Ministry of Commerce, in which the European Commission agreed to provide technical assistance to 50 intellectual property rights complaints centres established by the Chinese Government to offer practical assistance for companies in identifying and addressing cases of intellectual property theft.

"I welcome the establishment of the Chinese Intellectual Property Complaints Centres network, which will be a useful tool for European companies seeking practical advice and assistance on intellectual property theft," Mandelson said.

Mandelson and Bo spoke highly of the two-way trade between China and European Union countries, which hit US$194.4 billion in the first nine months of this year.

China is the European Union's second-largest trading partner after the United States, while Europe is China's top trading partner.

The European Union's exports to China increased by more than 100 per cent between 2000 and 2005, much faster than its exports to the rest of the world. In terms of services trade, the European Union's exports to China expanded sixfold in the period from 1994 to 2004.

Mandelson travelled to Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, yesterday for an event matching small- and medium-sized enterprises from China and European Union countries.

He said around 8,000 tie-ups would be arranged there and expected around 30 per cent of them to lead to contracts or joint ventures.

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