Ambassador Zhang Ming's Exclusive Interview with the Financial Times

　　2019年12月19日，驻欧盟使团团长张明大使接受英国《金融时报》布鲁塞尔分社长弗莱明（Sam Flemming）和记者皮尔（Michael Peel）专访。实录如下：

　　金融时报（以下简称FT）：首先非常感谢您接受我们的采访。

　　张明：谢谢。

On 19 December, 2019, Ambassador Zhang Ming, Head of the Chinese Mission to the EU sat down with Sam Flemming, Brussels Bureau Chief of the Financial Times (FT), and Michael Peel, FT's European diplomatic correspondent, for an exclusive interview. The following are extracts:

FT: First of all, thank you for seeing us.

Zhang: My pleasure.

　　FT：我们有许多问题。第一个问题同欧中关系有关。考虑到明年将在德国莱比锡举行欧中峰会，当前欧中关系正处于关键阶段。大家都很关注今年上半年欧中领导人会晤的成果落实情况。欧盟委员会贸易总司长韦恩德女士此前谈到欧中投资协定谈判，表示谈判进展不如欧方预想的那样顺利，也不像中方对外宣称的那么好。您能否澄清一下谈判的实际进展？韦恩德女士的看法错了吗？

　　张明：中欧双方都高度重视发展中欧关系。今年4月，第21次中欧领导人会晤成功举行。会后双方发表了联合声明，内容十分丰富。会晤至今已有8个月，这段时间我和同事们都非常忙碌，忙于落实联合声明，努力将其转化为行动。

FT: We have a lot to talk about. So maybe I start the questions. This is an important time obviously for European Union-China relations ahead of the Summit in Leipzig just coming up next year. And there's clearly a lot of attention on the EU-China Summit goals from earlier this year. We heard from Commission Director-General Sabine Weyand earlier this year about the investment treaty talks. We are interested in asking you about this, because she certainly suggested that these talks have not been going as well as the European Union had expected and she suggested not as well as China's communications have suggested. I wonder if you could clarify where we are on this, and do you think she's wrong?

Zhang: Both China and the EU attach great importance to cooperation between the two sides. Last April, we had a successful China-EU Summit. We did it together. After the summit, we published a very substantial joint statement. In the past eight months, my colleagues and I have been busy in turning the joint statement into concrete actions.

　　今年5月，中欧签署了两份航空安全协定。这两份协定具有重要意义，预计未来8年将为双方创造1.1万个就业岗位。上个月，双方在北京草签了中欧地理标志协定，这是中欧合作又一项重要成果。这也是中国对外商签的第一个全面、高水平的地理标志保护双边协定，纳入了双方270多项地理标志产品。我参加了签字仪式，现任欧委会贸易委员霍根代表欧方签署了协定，我至今仍清楚记得我和霍根委员当时的喜悦之情。

　　关于韦恩德女士前天提到的中欧投资协定谈判，这是当前双方工作的重中之重。目前谈判正加速进行。就在韦恩德女士表态的第2天，也就是12月18日，中欧双方在布鲁塞尔举行了第25轮谈判，目前谈判仍在进行之中。根据双方约定，第26轮谈判将在下月中旬举行。我对中欧投资协定谈判如期取得进展持乐观态度，这基于以下两点理由：一是双方高层都给予了充分的政治支持。你可能注意到，习近平主席近期在多个场合提到，中欧双方要努力达成一份高水平的、平衡的投资协定。二是达成这样一份协议符合双方的共同利益，何乐而不为？

In May, just one month after the summit, the two sides signed two civil aviation safety agreements. This is a meaningful step. The agreements are foreseen to create 11,000 job opportunities for both sides in the coming eight years. Last month in Beijing, the two sides initially signed the geographical indications agreement. This is another meaningful step we have taken together. This is China's first high-standard and comprehensive GI bilateral agreement signed with another entity. It includes over 270 GI products. I was there at the signing ceremony and Commissioner Phil Hogan signed this agreement on the EU's behalf. Even today I could clearly remember our excitement on that day.

The negotiation of the investment agreement tops our economic agenda. The negotiation is speeding up now. DG Weyand made the remarks you mentioned on 17 December, and the next day, on 18 December, another formal round of negotiation took place in Brussels. The negotiation is still going on, as we speak. According to the schedule, in the middle of next month, there will be another formal round of talks. Personally, I am optimistic about the future prospects of the negotiation. The reasons are as follows:

First of all, high-level leaders from both sides have given sufficient political commitment to this. You may have noticed that on many occasions in the past months, President Xi Jinping has reiterated that it is important for both sides to work together to reach a high-quality and balanced investment agreement. The second reason for my optimism is that such an agreement serves the interests of both sides. So why not do that?