BRUSSELS - China
and the European Union are making efforts to map
out a new agreement aimed at establishing a legal
framework for their strategic partnership amid
ever stronger political and economic relations.
On September 9, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao
and European leaders formally announced at the
ninth EU-China Summit in Helsinki that China and
the EU had agreed to start negotiations on a
framework agreement that would encompass the full
scope
of
their bilateral relationship.
The
Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) would
reflect the full "breadth and depth" of the
current comprehensive strategic partnership
between the EU and China, European Commission
President Jose Manuel Barroso said during the
summit.
The new framework agreement will
update a 1985 trade and economic cooperation
agreement between China and the European Economic
Community, the predecessor of the EU.
"This symbolizes that China-EU relations
have entered into a new stage and it has injected
new impetus and vigor into the bilateral ties,"
said Guan Chengyuan, Chinese ambassador to the EU.
European Commissioner for External
Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner hailed it as an
"important breakthrough". Ferrero-Waldner said the
current legal framework for EU-China relations was
a "trade agreement", and it failed to reflect the
reality of current EU-China ties.
EU-China
relations are "much broader" now, said
Ferrero-Waldner, adding that the bilateral ties
comprised many dialogues in the fields of
politics, trade, energy, education and climate
change. "Therefore, the new partnership agreement
would indeed show all the breadth of our relations
with China," the commissioner said.
Guan
said that launching the talks demonstrated the
general maturing of relations between China and
the 25-member bloc.
This year has seen
frequent reciprocal high-level visits by Chinese
and EU leaders.
Wen's tour to the EU-China
summit in September also took him to Britain and
Germany. Quite a few European leaders also visited
China in 2006, including French President Jacques
Chirac, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and
Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, as well as
many commissioners of the EU headquarters.
European Parliament President Josep
Borrell Fontelles traveled to China in July,
marking the first visit by a top EP official to
China in 13 years. Thereafter, Fontelles rebutted
the theory of "China threat" in an article, noting
that there was no reason for Europeans to feel
threatened by an awakening China.
In the
meantime, the vice-ministerial level of strategic
dialogue between China and the EU continued in
2006.
In addition, China and the EU have
conducted very frequent and fruitful coordination
and consultations on international issues,
especially on the Iranian nuclear program.
Bilateral trade continued to boom in 2006.
The EU remained China's No 1 trading partner,
while China continued to be the EU's
second-largest trading partner. Their trade hit
US$218.9 billion in the January-October period,
and is expected to surpass $250 billion for the
whole year.
"Such a rapid pace has
surprised us. It is also beyond the EU's
expectations," Guan said.
The EU's
investments in the Chinese market have so far
exceeded $50 billion.
The EU slapped
anti-dumping taxes on Chinese shoes this year,
which not only triggered a dispute with China, but
also met with opposition from inside. The EU
member states voted No on Trade Commissioner Peter
Mandelson's proposal on imposing punishing taxes,
and a "discounted" proposal was passed with a
narrow vote of 13-12.
"Both the EU and
China should properly handle the trade issue from
a long-term strategic perspective," Guan said.
The economic cooperation between China and
the EU has great potential and complements each
other, he said, noting that seeking mutual benefit
should become recognized as a basic principle when
handling trade disputes.
The EC adopted a
policy paper in October on its relations with
China, vowing to continue to seek "engagement" and
"partnership" with the Asian giant.
The
policy paper, "EU-China: Closer Partners, Growing
Responsibilities", was the sixth of its kind ever
released by the European Commission and the first
ever adopted by the current EC. It said that China
had become the world's fourth-largest economy and
third-largest exporter, as well as an increasingly
important political power.
"The core
message we want to send to Beijing is that we
should continue to engage with China, and deepen
our strategic partnership," Ferrero-Waldner said.
The policy paper was accompanied by a
policy document on trade and investment. The
document, "Competition and Partnership", the first
of its kind ever released by the EC, set out a
number of policy priorities on its trade and
investment with regard to China. It said, among
other things, that the EU would push China to
fulfill its World Trade Organization obligations,
continue to open its market and strengthen the
fight against intellectual property rights
infringements.
The policy paper set the
tone for the talks on the PCA with China, said
Stanley Crosscick, a senior researcher with the
European Policy Center, the EU's think-tank.
Early next month, Ferrero-Waldner will
visit Beijing, where he is scheduled officially to
start talks on the PCA with Chinese Foreign
Minister Li Zhaoxing.
"We are actively
making relevant technical preparations and we have
intensive contacts with the EU," said Guan.
An EC official, who declined to reveal his
name, said previous PCA talks with Central Asian
countries usually took two to three years to
complete.
Guan said such talks
comprehensively cover various areas that are very
large in scale and very wide in scope, so it is
unrealistic to expect to reach a conclusion within
a short time.
"We hope, through the
efforts of both sides, that we can make the
process shortened and finalize the pact as soon as
possible," he said.
