The pact, which is still expected to take months to be finalised and fully ratified as a legal text, boosts ties between two of the world’s biggest economies.
[Reuter] European Union and Chinese leaders meet by videoconference Wednesday to approve a major investment pact that Brussels hopes will open up lucrative opportunities despite concerns about Beijing’s rights record.
The EU said its chiefs Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel will talk with China’s President Xi Jinping to “conclude in principle the negotiations” on the accord, after seven years of painstaking bargaining.
After the EU leaders’ meeting, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and France’s President Emmanuel Macron will join the call with Xi for what a European official described as “an exchange of views”.
The pact, which is still expected to take months to be finalised and fully ratified as a legal text, boosts ties between two of the world’s biggest economies.
But the end of year rush to conclude the political part of the agreement could upset US President-elect Joe Biden as he prepares to enter the White House, hoping to coordinate with his western allies.