China and the European Union (EU) are making efforts to map out
a new agreement, aimed at nailing down their strategic partnership
into legal framework amid ever stronger political and economic
relations.
Talks on PCA announced
On Sept. 9, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and EU leaders formally announced at
the 9th EU-China Summit in Helsinki that China and the EU had
agreed to launch negotiations on a framework agreement, which would
encompass the full scope of their bilateral relationship.
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The new framework agreement, or the Partnership and Cooperation
Agreement (PCA) in EU terminology, would reflect the full "breadth
and depth" of the current comprehensive strategic partnership
between the EU and China, European Commission (EC) 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 the China-EU relations have entered into a
new stage and it has injected new impetus and vigor into the
bilateral ties," Guan Chengyuan, Chinese ambassador to the EU, told
Xinhua in a recent interview.
European Commissioner for External Relations Benita
Ferrero-Waldner hailed it as an "important breakthrough."
Ferrero-Waldner said the current legal framework for the
EU-China relations was a "trade agreement," and it failed to
reflect the reality of the current EU-China ties.
The EU-China relations were "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 maturing of
the relations between China and the 25-member bloc in an all-around
manner.
Political ties reinforced
The year 2006 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 (EP) 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 the 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.
Trade soars despite disputes about shoes
Bilateral trade continued to boom in 2006. The EU remained the
No.1 trading partner of China, while China continued to be the
second largest trading partner of the EU.
Their trade hit US$218.9 billion in the Jan.-Oct. period, and is
expected to surpass US$250 billion for the whole year.
"Such a rapid pace has surprised us. It is also beyond the EU's
expectation," Guan said.
The EU's investments in the Chinese market have so far exceeded
US$50 billion.
EU slapped anti-dumping taxes on Chinese shoes this year. The
action not only triggered a dispute with China, but also met
opposition from inside.
The EU member states voted "no" on EU Trade Commissioner Peter
Mandelson's proposal on imposing punishing taxes and a "discounted"
proposal was passed with a narrow margin of 13 to 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 had great
potential and complemented each other, he said, noting that seeking
mutual benefit should become a basic principle to handle trade
disputes.
Policy paper sets PCA tune
The EC adopted a policy paper in October on its relations with
China, vowing to continue to seek "engagement" and "partnership"
with China.
The policy paper, titled "EU-China: Closer partners, growing
responsibilities", was the sixth of its kind ever released by the
EC and the first ever adopted by the current EC.
It said that China had become the world's 4th largest economy
and 3rd 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 with a policy document on trade
and investment.
The document titled "Competition and Partnership", 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.
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It said, among other things, that the EU would push China to
fulfill its WTO obligations, continue to open its market and
strengthen the fight against intellectual property rights
infringements.
The policy paper, as a matter of fact, had set tune for the
talks on the PCA with China, said Stanley Crosscick, a senior
researcher with the European Policy Center, which is the EU's think
tank.
Intense diplomacy ahead
In early January, Ferrero-Waldner will visit Beijing where he is
scheduled to officially start the 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 covered various areas comprehensively,
which are very large in scale and very wide in scope, so it is
unrealistic to seek a conclusion within a short period of time.
"We hope, through the efforts from both sides, we can make the
process shortened and finalize the pact as soon as possible," he
said.
(Xinhua News Agency December 11, 2006)
