China, EU to start investment talks

Negotiations for a China-EU investment agreement will begin next week, said European Union Ambassador to China Markus Ederer at a news conference on Friday.

The negotiation was decided at last year's 16th EU-China summit in Beijing.

Bilateral trade totaled more than 430 billion euros ($584 billion) in 2012, quadruple what it was a decade ago. The two sides also decided in 2013 to increase bilateral trade to $1 trillion by 2020.

Ederer said that in the past three years of his tenure, trade relationship between the EU and China grew, as the biggest trade dispute was resolved last year, and he believes that China's current reform agenda will provide huge potential for Europe.

Joao Aguiar Machado, deputy director general at the European Commission Directorate General for Trade, commented on the agreement in an earlier report that it will be a test case and will provide assurances for the two sides' free trade agreement in the future.

Settlement of the solar panel trade dispute was significant for a good future relationship, and urbanization, international security and other new platforms will be the new emphases for cooperation, Ederer said.

Last year was the 10th anniversary of the China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership. The EU has been China's biggest economic partner for the past 10 years.