EU trade relations with China

The European Union, China and the USA are the world's three largest trading partners.

The EU is committed to open trading relations with China. China is expected to conform to fair trade practices, to respect intellectual property rights, and to meet its obligations as a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

On 30 December 2020, the EU and China concluded in principle the negotiations on the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI). The agreement grants EU investors a greater level of access to China's market. The CAI has not yet been ratified. It has therefore not yet entered into force.

The EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment in focus.

Being adopted or ratified

When China joined the WTO in 2001, China agreed to reform and to liberalise significant parts of its economy. While China has made progress and continues to liberalise various non-sensitive industries, problems remain:

The EU's engagement with China on trade is guided by the 2019 EU Strategic Outlook, which promotes reciprocity, a level playing field and fair competition.

The strategy includes a strong focus on improving market access opportunities. It also refers to problems of over-capacity. It calls for ambitious engagement from China at multilateral levels.

The EU-China Investment Agreement is central to the EU's long-term bilateral relations with China. Negotiations for the Investment Agreement began in 2013. On 30 December 2020, the EU and China concluded in principle the negotiations on the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI). The agreement grants EU investors a greater level of access to China's market.

In the agreement, China commits to ensuring fairer treatment for EU companies in China, allowing them to compete on a more level playing field. These commitments cover state-owned enterprises, transparency of subsidies, and rules against forced technology transfer. The rules negotiated in the CAI set a high benchmark in terms of transparency, a level playing field, market access commitments and sustainable development. The EU's work on planned autonomous measures in areas such as subsidies or due diligence continues as a matter of priority.

China has agreed to provisions on sustainable development, including commitments on climate and forced labour.

Both sides agreed to continue negotiations on investment protection and investment dispute settlement, to be completed within two years of the signature of the agreement. For more information:

The EU and China discuss policies and issues regarding trade and investment in a range of dialogues:

Today, the European Commission adopted two Regulations which together renew, adjust and extend the scope of the existing measures on imports of high tenacity yarn of polyester (HTYP) from China.

Today, Executive Vice-President and Commissioner for Trade, Valdis Dombrovskis met with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao.

The European Commission renewed the anti-dumping measures on imports of stainless steel tube and pipe butt-welding fittings ('SSTPF') from China and Taiwan for another five years.