Xinhua recently reported that, on October 18, the European Council officially authorized the EU Commission to start negotiations with China on an Investment Agreement. The EU Commission announced later that the negotiations are expected to start at the China-EU Leadership Summit next month. The plan is to complete the negotiations in two and a half years. The Investment Agreement focuses on the mutual protection of market access and investments. The EU Commission announcement also mentioned that the trade volume between China and the EU is substantial. The daily business volume in goods and services has reached at least 1 billion Euros (US$1.37 billion). However the bilateral investment level is still very low. The EU direct investments in China are holding at only 2.1 percent of the EU’s total international investments. Chinese investments in EU shares are less than 1 percent of the total of all foreign investments that the EU has received. Those investments received from the United States are holding at 21 percent.
Source: Xinhua, October 18, 2013
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2013-10/18/c_117782393.htm