Broad treaty could establish new global trading norms

The European Union has been determined to achieve a level playing field in economic relations with each of its trading partners. Given China's growing importance on the international scene, European companies' trade with and investments in China has risen exponentially over the years, especially since China's entry into the World Trade Organization in 2001.

Since 2013, China has been the world's largest trading nation and the second-biggest consumer nation in the world. It is now the EU's second-largest trading partner (after the United States), while the EU is China's biggest trading partner. Under the leadership of Xi Jinping, China is striving to modernize its economy by liberalizing government-controlled areas - the upcoming liberalization of interest rates, authorization for private banks to be owned entirely by private investors and the contribution of Internet financial services to free up the financial market are just some examples.

Still, investment flows show untapped potential. Although bilateral trade in 2012 accounted for almost 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) a day, Chinese investments into the EU represented only 2.6 percent of total FDI flows into the EU.