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The decision of Commerce Minister Bo Xilai and EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson (inset) to kick off negotiations on framework documents on bilateral trade will help the two sides tackle new aspects of trade relations. [File photo]

China and the European Union agreed to kick off negotiations to improve the framework documents on bilateral economic and trade relationship, according to a senior trade official.

"The two sides have agreed to officially launch negotiations toward adjustment of the Sino-EU agreement on trade and economic cooperation inked in 1985," Yao Shenhong, a spokesman of the Ministry of Commerce, said yesterday.

The decision was made by Commerce Minister Bo Xilai and EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson in their latest meeting in Brussels.

The previous agreement was part of the legal framework on Sino-EU relations. Both China and the European economic bloc have undergone such significant changes in the past two decades that the current agreement is not enough to manage all the issues between the two.

Yao said the ministry will head the Chinese negotiating party but declined to give a detailed timetable of the negotiations.

The decision to launch the talks was among the over 10 consensuses reached by Bo and his EU counterpart. Others include new talks on steel trade, facilitating EU's exports to China and the EU's reopening of its market to Chinese poultry.

According to the European Commission, Bo and Mendelson reviewed bilateral trade relations discussing a wide range of issues, from textile, steel and intellectual property rights to China's market economy status.

Related readings:  EU trade experts seek to drop China duties  China-EU trade hits US$272.3 billion in 2006  Trade: Europe deficit with China hits new high  EU, China to launch new trade talks

Mandelson urged Beijing to address barriers to EU exporters and investors in the Chinese market and to protect EU businesses in China from intellectual property theft.

In its updated assessment on China's progress toward market economy status, the European Commission said China has met only one of the five technical criteria for the status.

In response, Yao said the EU "criteria" are too critical and the European Commission did not treat information from Chinese government and other sources equally in the assessment procedure. He added the EU side should assess China's efforts objectively and grant China the market economy status as soon as possible.

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