efficiency did not come with the dialogues. Given the prominence and the growing
intensity of major cases involving China-EU trade frictions in recent years, it is
essential for both sides to explore the establishment of an effective early-warning
mechanism soon.
With respect to the composition of the roles in dialogues, China-EU dialogues
are conducted mainly between competent departments of governments on an
official-to-official basis, but the dialogue mechanism is unavailable among enter-
prises. Both sides will have to incorporate enterprises into industrial and policy
dialogues as early as possible.
As far as legal mechanisms are concerned, China-EU trade is still governed
simply by the trade agreement signed in 1985. As Partnership and Cooperation
Agreement (PCA) negotiations between the two sides came to a deadlock, renewal
of the trade agreement was thus affected. This thinking paradigm, led by the EU,
under which trade is kidnapped by politics, severely affected the renewal of the
legal framework governing China-EU trade. Recently, the EU proposed carrying
out investment agreement negotiations between the two sides and attempted to
make a fresh start. However, this strategy took more account of the interests of the
EU or the European Commission in a certain sense. The European Commission
intended to materialize the investment agreement negotiation power and function
granted in theTreaty of Lisbonby launching China-EU investment agreement
negotiations.
Looking forward to China-EU relations in the next decade, when handling
economic and trade relations, the Chinese side should reverse the current situation
in which the EU side plays a leading role in the agenda-setting and the Chinese side
passively responds, and it should also abandon the bilateral relation developmental
mode which works more in form than in substance and develop a new thinking
regarding the development of China-EU economic and trade relations.
Negotiation of the EU-China Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) is
based on the EU-led negotiation agenda; this kind of agreement, under which an
economy is kidnapped by politics and political change is pushed forward by
economy and trade, it is designed to impel political democratic and social devel-
opment in the target country and it has a strong ideological framework. Currently,
these negotiations have reached an impasse, while such negotiation thinking on the
part of the EU also obviously fails to meet the practical needs of China-EU rela-
tions. The Chinese side should suggest that political negotiation in the partnership
and cooperation agreement should be re-stripped from economic and trade nego-
tiations and economic and trade negotiations should be incorporated into the
EU-advocated investment agreement negotiation framework so as to launch
China-EU free trade area negotiations. This might break through the shackles of
political negotiation in the partnership and cooperation agreement and also force the
EU to take action to confirm that it does not intend to isolate China in its free trade
area strategy. Using the practice of the EU and the USA for reference, the Chinese
side could advocate the establishment of a China-EU Economic and Trade Council
to duly put in place many dialogue mechanisms between the two sides and push
90 C. Xin