“Progress on the comprehensive investment agreement – even though there are still major obstacles to reaching a deal – is one of the only tangibly constructive developments between the two sides in the last couple of years,” Andrew Small, an EU-China expert with the US-based German Marshall Fund, said.
The exception, Small said, was Angela Merkel, the German chancellor who also attended the summit, “holding out hopes for progress”. Mikko Huotari, executive director of the Mercator Institute for China Studies, a Berlin-based think tank, warned European officials against focusing entirely on trade and investment while handling relations with China.
Without mentioning the US, Xi urged the EU, which refers to China as a “systemic rival”, to respect China’s “peaceful coexistence” with the rest of the world – the first of his four principles for the EU.