Is the European Union’s investment agreement with China underrated? Bruegel

 

The European Union-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment binds Chinese liberalisation of its foreign investment regulations under an international treaty and includes improvements on subsidies, state-owned enterprises, technology transfer and transparency.

''The CAI has been met in some quarters with scepticism on economic and geopolitical grounds. The main criticism is that it provides little new market access in China, and that this small economic gain for the EU comes at the price of breaking ranks with its main political ally, the United States. Our assessment, which focuses on the economic implications, is different. It is true the CAI provides only modest new market access in China, but this is because China has already made progress in recent years in liberalising its foreign investment regulations unilaterally. The CAI binds this progress under an international treaty, marking an improvement for EU firms insofar as their market access rights can be effectively enforced..''

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