EU, China strike initial agreement on investment accord | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Epaper
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Banking
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Friday
May 30, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Epaper
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Banking
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
FRIDAY, MAY 30, 2025
EU, China strike initial agreement on investment accord

Global Economy

Reuters
30 December, 2020, 07:20 pm
Last modified: 30 December, 2020, 10:36 pm

Related News

  • China forms new global mediation group with dozens of countries
  • Customs seizes consignment of 23 exotic animals at Dhaka airport
  • EU lauds Bangladeshi UN peacekeepers
  • Trust in European Union at highest since 2007: poll
  • Commerce minister's visit to elevate Dhaka-Beijing comprehensive ties to new heights: Ambassador Yao

EU, China strike initial agreement on investment accord

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a tweet that the two parties had concluded principle negotiations for an agreement to ensure more balanced trade and business opportunities

Reuters
30 December, 2020, 07:20 pm
Last modified: 30 December, 2020, 10:36 pm
Photo: Reuters
Photo: Reuters

The European Union and China agreed on Wednesday to an investment deal that will give European companies greater access to Chinese markets and help redress what Europe sees as unbalanced economic ties.

The agreement has been nearly seven years in the making and is likely to take at least another year to enter into force. It forms part of a new relationship with China, which the EU views as both a partner and a systemic rival.

European firms will gain permission to operate in China in sectors including electric cars, private hospitals, real estate, advertising, the maritime industry, telecom cloud services, airline reservation systems and ground handling. Some requirements that companies operate as part of joint ventures with Chinese partners will be lifted.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

Xi says China, EU investment deal will offer better business environment

China will ban the forced transfer of technology from foreign companies, and has pledged to be more transparent on subsidies and bar state-owned enterprises from discriminating against foreign investors.

The deal brings Europe a degree of parity with the United States, which has struck a "Phase I" trade deal with China. Jake Sullivan, President-elect Joe Biden's pick as national security adviser, tweeted last week that the new US administration would welcome early consultations with Europe on China's economic practices.

The deal includes commitments on climate change and labour rights. Commitments are reciprocal, but the EU market is already far more open. Brussels has given some ground in energy, but says its offer to China consists chiefly of guaranteeing the existing openness.

Hosuk Lee-Makiyama, director of trade think tank ECIPE, said that although there was little obvious benefit for Beijing in the text, China wouldn't have signed up without some promise of advantage.

China says EU investment deal gives legally binding market-access commitments

"No major power, not least China, gives anything for free, so there will be a trade-off. It's just not in the agreement," he said.

Compared with a trade deal, which might include retaliatory tariffs, such an investment deal is also more difficult to enforce, Lee-Makiyama said, noting that the EU would be unlikely, for example, to seize Chinese assets.

The EU has been keen to portray the agreement as a step towards forging multilateral rules. It still does not cover issues including trade flows or public procurement for the likes of telecoms equipment maker Huawei.

The bloc intends to push through laws securing greater reciprocity in public procurement and tighter control of foreign subsidies.

Top News / World+Biz / South Asia

China / European Union (EU) / investment / agreement

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Representational image. Photo: Collected
    'Heavy to very heavy' rainfall expected across country as land depression weakens further
  • Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus speaks at a roundtable discussion organised by the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) at its office in Tokyo on 30 May. Photo: UNB
    Prof Yunus seeks Japanese investment to boost Bangladesh’s recovery drive
  • News of The Day, 30 MAY 2025
    News of The Day, 30 MAY 2025

MOST VIEWED

  • Photo: Courtesy
    New notes featuring historic, archaeological structures of Bangladesh to be circulated from 1 June
  • Two Memoranda of Understanding were signed at the seminar titled “Bangladesh Seminar on Human Resources,” in Tokyo on 29 May 2025. Photo: CA Press Wing
    Japan to recruit 100,000 Bangladeshi workers over next 5 years
  • BAT Bangladesh has to vacate Mohakhali HQ as SC rejects lease appeal
    BAT Bangladesh has to vacate Mohakhali HQ as SC rejects lease appeal
  • Representational Photo: Collected
    Country's all jewellery shops to remain indefinitely closed in protest of VP Reponul's arrest: Bajus
  • Khondoker Rashed Maqsood. File Photo: Collected
    Investors urge removal of BSEC chairman in meeting with CA’s special assistant, submit list of demands
  • Illustration: TBS
    Bangladesh repays $3.5b foreign debt in 10 months of FY25

Related News

  • China forms new global mediation group with dozens of countries
  • Customs seizes consignment of 23 exotic animals at Dhaka airport
  • EU lauds Bangladeshi UN peacekeepers
  • Trust in European Union at highest since 2007: poll
  • Commerce minister's visit to elevate Dhaka-Beijing comprehensive ties to new heights: Ambassador Yao

Features

Babar Ali, Ikramul Hasan Shakil, and Wasfia Nazreen are leading a bold resurgence in Bangladeshi mountaineering, scaling eight-thousanders like Everest, Annapurna I, and K2. Photos: Collected

Back to 8000 metres: How Bangladesh’s mountaineers emerged from a decade-long pause

3h | Panorama
Photos: Courtesy

Behind the looks: Bangladeshi designers shaping celebrity fashion

5h | Mode
Photo collage of the sailors and their catch. Photos: Shahid Sarkar

Between sky and sea: The thrilling life afloat on a fishing ship

9h | Features
For hundreds of small fishermen living near this delicate area, sustainable fishing is a necessity for their survival. Photo: Syed Zakir Hossain

World Ocean Day: Bangladesh’s ‘Silent Island’ provides a fisheries model for the future

1d | The Big Picture

More Videos from TBS

Six Lakh Sacrificial Animals Ready in Sirajganj for Eid-ul-Adha

Six Lakh Sacrificial Animals Ready in Sirajganj for Eid-ul-Adha

Now | TBS Stories
Six MoUs signed during Chief Advisor's visit to Japan

Six MoUs signed during Chief Advisor's visit to Japan

3h | TBS Today
Record migrant deaths in 2024

Record migrant deaths in 2024

22h | Podcast
Govt likely to trim subsidies in new budget

Govt likely to trim subsidies in new budget

7h | TBS Insight
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net