Commentary
China and the European Union (EU) are about to try once more to reach an agreement on trade or perhaps investments. The parties came close in late 2020 when they signed an ambitious investment agreement, but it failed to go forward.
The two parties tried again this past April in talks that the EU’s chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, described depressingly as a “dialog of the deaf.” Now they are trying again, but prospects look bleak. Failure with the EU will likely go hard in Beijing, especially given the growing tension between the United States and China.
The high point of Sino-EU relations came late in 2020 when the two sides signed a long-awaited investment treaty, much to Washington’s chagrin. Each side went home happy, praising the potential of the agreement. But things quickly fell apart….