Closing Date: 5 July 2011
Trade between China and the EU continues to increase, but investment flows between the two regions remain limited in comparison. European investors identify China repeatedly as a location that holds great untapped potential. However, China's growth, and the prospects that it offers for foreign investors, have been accompanied by growing concerns on the part of European investors about the lack of a level playing field in China because of persistent barriers and an uncertain business environment.
In the context of an Executive-to-Executive meeting on 29 April 2010, European Commission President Manuel Barroso and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao instructed their respective teams to study the options for enhancing the bilateral investment relationship between the EU and China. To this end, a "Joint EU-China Investment Task Force" was launched in summer of 2010 to explore the scope for deeper cooperation on investment, including considerations of a possible standalone investment agreement.
In this context, the European Commission is launching a broad public consultation to gather views from relevant stakeholders regarding the future EU-China investment relationship. The consultation is open to all stakeholders within the EU and in third countries.
The Commission services will prepare a report on the consultation which will be published on the Directorate General for Trade website. All contributions will be published in a document attached to the report, to the exception of those from respondents who indicate that they do not wish their contribution to be made public or as indicated in the questionnaire wish to keep certain information confidential.
The questionnaire is available at :
http://trade.ec.europa.eu/consultations/?consul_id=153