China, European Union to step up talks to seal an investment treaty

He added that the US will probably "remain strict on some new issues, such as standards, during the talks".

The EU is China's leading investment destination among developed economies. From January to April this year, China's outward direct investment in the bloc rose 2.2 percent to $700 million, Sun said.

The two-way investment between the world's two key economic blocs lags their bilateral trade. The value of goods and services traded daily between the EU and China are worth well over billion euros. The EU is also China's largest trade partner.

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"China-EU trade has done well in the first four months of this year, which drove up overall trade. We hope bilateral trade expands 10 percent this year, which will help China reach its 7.5-percent growth target of overall trade for the year," Sun said.

Bilateral trade between China and the EU increased 11.3 percent year-on-year to $188 billion in the first four months, while China's overall trade declined 0.5 percent, according to the General Administration of Customs.

Sun attributed it to the EU's economic improvement since last year, which increased demand for Chinese exports. In addition, China is further opening its market to European products.

"Bilateral trade will continue to grow as long as we control trade friction," Sun said. "Both sides are willing to resolve friction through discussion. We are in the process of setting up an early warning mechanism overseen by the trade ministers," he added.

The mechanism will be responsible for looking into reports of export surges and low pricing. Industrial representatives from both sides will monitor unordered export growth or low pricing competition through consultations and information exchange.

In addition to the EU, China is also strengthening economic ties with the 16 countries in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), of which 11 are also EU members. China and the CEE will hold a ministerial meeting on economic promotion and trade from June 8-9 and an expo of products from the CEE will run from June 8-11 in Ningbo, Zhejiang province.

China's trade with the CEE, which rose 5.9 percent year-on-year to $55.1 billion in 2013, "has great potential and is likely to surpass $60 billion this year", Sun said. China's investment in the 16 countries has reached $5 billion, covering such things as machinery, chemicals and agriculture.

 

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