（Article Source: China Daily Global |Author：By Xiao Huilin | Updated: 2021-01-13 09:18）
The EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment, which had been negotiated for seven years and was officially signed on Dec 30, will help accelerate China's "dual circulation" development paradigm.
The agreement comes just when the world is undergoing momentous changes not seen in a century amid the COVID-19 pandemic, when countries have locked down and the global economy is sluggish.
In addition, the rise of anti-globalization, unilateralism, trade protectionism and Sino-US trade friction has increased the instability of the international environment.
Against this complex international background, adhering to the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind and actively seeking mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation is the only right path for national development.
As far as the domestic environment is concerned, the Chinese economy has grown rapidly in recent years and has become the world's second largest. It has proposed the new economic pattern of dual circulation－in which the domestic market is the mainstay and the domestic and international markets support each other－and has gained a competitive advantage in a dynamic and complex international environment and taken the lead to restore economic and social development.
On the other hand, China has not fully recovered from the impacts of the pandemic.
The intensification of China-United States relations may well increase economic risks in the future. Actively seeking economic partners outside the US has become an inevitable choice for China. Based on the aforementioned new changes, the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment emerges at the right time.
When it comes to the agreement, it is also worth mentioning the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which was signed by 15 countries including Japan, South Korea and Australia. The core of the RCEP is tariff exemption, and the key is to promote multilateral trade. The Comprehensive Agreement on Investment focuses on investment and establishes a unified legal framework for China-EU investment relations to replace the original bilateral investment treaties with 26 member states.
The aims of the investment agreement and the RCEP are not the same, but both use negative lists to deal with cross-border investment issues. A strong linkage effect formed between them can therefore promote healthy development of China's international circulation.
In terms of spatial layout, the investment agreement and the RCEP correspond to the two routes of the Belt and Road Initiative－onshore and sea, connecting the strategic achievements of the BRI and conducive to domestic circulation.
In the field of international economics, the signing members of the investment agreement and the RCEP cover three of the top four economies, which is conducive to strengthening China's voice in the formulation of international economic and trade rules, and also conducive to jointly building a future global investment framework. With regard to the impact on domestic circulation, the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment will help China be introduced to advanced European management experience and capital. At the same time, the RCEP will help the transfer or upgrade of traditional domestic backward industries. These two agreements and domestic circulation build a bridge for China's capacity upgrade.
The emergence of the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment is needed at this time, as current bilateral investment flows between China and the EU do not match the highly developed trade relations. From 2004 to 2019, the EU was China's largest trading partner, and China was the EU's second-largest trading partner. However, in terms of investment, EU investment in China only accounts for about 5 percent of China's total foreign investment, while China's investment in the EU accounts for merely 3.4 percent, which is inconsistent with the increasingly close investment exchanges and highly developed trade relations between China and the EU.
China-EU bilateral investment also needs a better and unified legal framework. Since 1982, China has signed bilateral investment agreements with EU members such as Germany, France, and Italy. However, the Lisbon Treaty, which came into force in 2009, gave the EU powers in foreign direct investment and, to some extent, weakened the legal effect of these agreements. In addition, bilateral investment agreements signed between China and different members of the EU are quite different in arbitration matters and compensation issues, resulting in an incoherence of policies and inconsistencies in standards.
China and the EU have the same needs in promoting economic and trade development. The signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment is not only an important part of China's creation of an investment cycle that spans the east and west ends of Eurasia, but also meets the development needs of Europe. During the COVID-19 pandemic, China became the EU's largest trading partner for the first time last year. Moreover, both China and the EU attach importance to innovation to lead economic development, which means there is plenty of space for cooperation in high-tech industries such as biomedicine and cloud services.
The investment agreement will exert a profound impact on China's development, especially in terms of accelerating the construction of the new dual circulation development paradigm.
In terms of China's domestic circulation, increasing investment cooperation between China and Europe can provide more investment opportunities to stimulate China's investment demand. Additionally, the employment level can be increased and may lead to the growth of residents' income levels and consumption capacities, expand consumption demand and activate China's domestic circulation. At the same time, the introduction of high-quality foreign talent and technologies will also help inject more fresh blood into the development of China's domestic circulation, enhance China's technological innovation capabilities and promote the rapid flow of production factors.
The signing of the investment agreement also facilitates China's international circulation. Although the COVID-19 pandemic has slowed down the world economy, the agreement and the RCEP have created a sound institutional environment for both China and Europe and the recovery of the world economy.
The investment agreement also will have a crucial impact on China's domestic development. For example, China can promote further development in Europe of high-speed rail and photovoltaics－areas in which the country has advantages. At the same time, it is possible to better stimulate China's economy and employment, release the potential of the domestic market, and improve social development.
This will enable China to better invest in Europe, learn from Europe's advanced experience and technology, further develop various technologies in China, upgrade China's manufacturing level, and improve foreign trade capabilities.
The author is vice-dean of the School of International Development and Cooperation at the University of International Business and Economics and deputy secretary-general of the China Association of International Trade of the Ministry of Commerce. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
中欧投资协定签署恰逢其时
2020年12月30日，历经7年谈判的中欧投资合作协定正式签订。恰逢2020年，世界正处于百年未有之大变局，新冠病毒全球大流行，疫情期间各国处于相对封闭状态，经济发展遭受巨大冲击，全球经济萎靡。此外，逆全球化、单边主义、贸易保护主义抬头、中美贸易摩擦也增加了国际环境的不稳定性。在此复杂国际背景下，只有秉持人类命运共同体的理念，积极寻求互利共赢的合作才是国家发展的正道。就国内背景而言，一方面，近年来我国经济快速增长，成为世界第二大经济体；及时提出加快构建“双循环”新发展格局，在动态复杂的国际环境中取得竞争优势，率先从新冠疫情走出来，经济复苏相对较好，具有发展合作的经济环境与实力。但另一方面，我国尚未完全从疫情的冲击中恢复过来，加之中美关系激化将在未来一段时间内给我国增加经济风险，积极寻找美国以外的经济合作伙伴成为我国的一个历史必然选择。基于以上国际国内形势的新变化，中欧投资协定顺势而生。
提到中欧投资协定，就不得不提及区域全面经济伙伴关系协定（RCEP），RCEP主要是与日、韩、东盟、澳洲等签订的协定，其核心是免税，关键是促进多边贸易往来。中欧投资协定则将关键点放在投资上，为中欧投资关系搭建一个统一的法律框架，来取代原有与26个成员国的双边投资条约。中欧投资协定与RCEP的着力点并不相同，但两者都是以“负面清单”来处理跨境投资问题。两者之间能形成强大的联动效应，促进我国“外循环”的健康发展。
在空间布局上，中欧投资协定与RCEP刚好对应了“一带一路”倡议的两条线路——“陆上”与“海上”，对接一带一路的战略成果，也有利于内循环的发展。在国际经贸领域上，中欧投资协定与RCEP的签署成员中，涵盖了前四大经济体中的三个，有利于加强中国在国际经贸规则制订上的话语权，也有利于共同构建未来全球投资体制的基本框架。对国内“内循环”的影响，中欧投资协定有助于国内引进欧洲先进的管理经验、资本等，同时，RCEP有助于国内传统落后的产业逐渐转移或升级。这两者与国内“内循环”巧妙的搭建起我国产能升级的桥梁。
中欧投资协定的应运而生是时代发展的需要。主要原因有：一是当前双边投资流动与高度发达的贸易关系不匹配。2004-2019年间，欧盟一直是我国第一大贸易伙伴，我国也是欧盟第二大贸易伙伴，但在投资方面，欧盟对我国投资只占我国吸收外资总量的5%左右，而我国对欧盟投资也仅占其吸收外资总量的3.4%，这与目前中欧双方贸易日益密切的投资往来和高度发达的贸易关系并不相符。二是中欧双边投资缺乏更加完善统一的法律框架。1982年起，中国已与德国、法国、意大利等欧盟成员国签订了双边投资协定，但2009年生效的《里斯本条约》赋予了欧盟在外国直接投资方面的权能，因而一定程度上削弱了这些协定的法律效力。此外，中国与欧盟不同成员国签订的双边投资协定在仲裁事项、补偿问题等方面存在较大差异, 导致了政策不一致、标准不统一等系列问题。三是双方互利共赢，推动经济贸易发展的需求一致。中欧投资协定的签订既是中国打造横跨欧亚大陆东西两端的投资循环圈的重要组成部分，也符合欧洲的发展需求。在新冠肺炎疫情之下，中国经济呈逆势增长态势，2020年首次成为欧盟最大贸易伙伴。此外，中国和欧盟都重视创新引领经济发展，在生物医药、云服务等高新技术产业存在大量合作空间。中国强调经济高质量发展和打造“新基建”工程，欧盟则将加速落实“绿色+数字”双核驱动战略促进经济复苏。
附：原文链接
https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202101/13/WS5ffe4a6ea31024ad0baa234c.html
