Chinese, European leaders seek stable ties

"You can't solve these issues by freezing CAI," Ding said.

He added that the 20th National Congress of the CPC sent a clear signal to Europe and the rest of the world that China will continue its reform and opening-up.

David Dollar, a senior fellow for foreign policy, global economy and development at the Brookings Institution, said "there was a fair amount of material about continuing to open up the economy" in Xi's report at the start of the 20th National Congress.

"I give Xi Jinping credit for making some important moves in terms of opening up the economy over the last 10 years," he said, citing the fact that China joined the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, negotiated CAI with the EU, and applied to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

"So, in terms of their actual external policymaking, I would say things accelerated — liberalization accelerated to some extent under Xi Jinping," said Dollar, a former World Bank country director for China and former US Treasury emissary in Beijing.