Climate change
Ferrero-Waldner will press China – currently the second largest emitter of carbon-dioxide behind the United States – to do more to cut greenhouse-gas emissions. "China is opening a new coal-fired power station every week and it's clear we can't achieve any of our objectives on emissions without China," a Commission spokeswoman said.
Climate change has become one of the EU's top priorities and, last week, the Commission adopted its new energy policy plans, which call for EU members to endorse a 20% reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions by 2020 (EurActiv 11/01/07). Up till now, under the Kyoto Protocol the EU has committed to an 8% reduction by 2012.
China has signed the Kyoto Protocol but is not tied by any legally binding emissions- reduction targets.
The EU wants to draw all major emitters of greenhouse gases - including the United States, China and India - into a binding pollution-cutting scheme so as not to penalise its own industry against tough foreign competition.
European business associations have repeatedly criticised the EU for "going it alone" on climate change and putting the competitiveness of EU industries under excessive pressure.
The EU and China signed a Partnership Agreement on Climate Change in September 2005 aimed at developing "zero-emissions" coal plants in China, based on EU technology, and at promoting the development and democratisation of new energy technologies. Ferrero-Waldner wants to speed up the implementation of this agreement: "It is very important that we get results from it," she said.
Energy
China's great and increasing appetite for raw materials – including oil and coal – has pushed prices up and is fuelling concern about the long-term availability of energy sources.
In new energy policy plans presented last week, the Commission said it hoped for co-operation, rather than competition, from China in securing future energy supplies.
Arms Embargo
The EU and the US imposed arms embargoes on China after the Beijing government's bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
In recent years, France and Germany have been calling for an end to the ban, arguing that the policy is out-of-date and fails to reflect the EU's growing strategic relationship with Beijing.
Nevertheless, other member states oppose a resumption of weapons sales to China citing human rights concerns. The move is also strongly opposed by the United States.
Human Rights
A report from Human Rights Watch, published on January 2007, stated that human rights conditions in China had "deteriorated significantly" in 2006 as authorities confronted rising social unrest with "stricter controls of the press, internet, academics and lawyers".
The report called for the EU to take the lead in promoting respect for human rights internationally.
However, EU members have often been criticised for setting aside human-rights issues, in favour of maintaining good economic relations with China.
Trade & Investment
Trade volumes have expanded enormously in China's favour in the past decade, causing alarm about the EU’s ability to compete. Concerns about job losses and outsourcing have led some member states and industries to see China's expansion as a threat.
But to many others, despite being a challenge, the strong economic growth of China means cheaper prices for European consumers as well as the expansion of a huge potential market for European companies. Currently, the number of real consumers for EU goods and services in China is estimated at 75 million, but this figure is expected to rise to 700 million in 2015.
EU trade negotiators will be seeking to lower restrictions for European companies investing in sectors such as China's automobile or petrochemicals sectors and to get more access to the country's vast public-procurement market.
