The European Union, like the US, wants China to further open its markets to investment.
The FT interviewed EU trade chief Cecilia Malmstrom ahead of the meeting
- EU would not use punitive tariffs to try to force China to the negotiating table
- Europe shared US concerns over China's "massively" subsidised state-owned enterprises
- 5 year long effort to negotiate an EU-China investment treaty … "It's been going for a long time now and we'd hoped that China would be a little more open to do this. We have exchanged offers, that is a step forward, but they are very modest."
- EU is wary of Washington's attempts to introduce "managed trade" policies that violate the spirit of the WTO system
The FT piece is here, may be gated.
