Economic relations

Inside this type of relations, we are going to mainly focus, in the commerce and the freight transport.

The commercial relations between the European Economic Community and China are governed by the Trade and Commercial Cooperation Agreement, signed the 21^st May 1985; but it doesn´t entered into force until the 1^st of October 1985. 

In the commercial aspect, it is an agreement based in the clause of the Most Favoured Nation. 

This clause, it is considered one of the principles of the commerce system, consists in that countries can´t stablish discriminations between their various commercial interlocutors. If they give a special advantage to a country, it has to be done the same with the others. 

This clause is bilaterally applied to the custom duty and taxes of all nature applied to the importation, exportation, re-exportation or transit of products; to the regulations, procedures and formalities related to the customs clearance, transit, storage and transhipment of the imported and exported products; the taxes and all internal charges that grave directly or indirectly the products and imported and exported services; the administrative formalities for the granting of the importation and exportation licences. 

On the other hand, it is not applied to the advantages granted by the EEC or China to: the states which form part of one customs union or free trade zone with EEC or China and to the neighbouring countries when the measures have as object to facilitate the border trade. 

The measures that the EEC or China could adopt to face their obligations derived from the international agreements about base products.

In the economic level it is accorded the cooperation in the sectors: industrial and mining, agricultural, science and technology, energy, transports and communications, environment and cooperation in third countries.

On January 2007, they started the negotiations to conclude a new Trade and Commercial Cooperation Agreement much wider that the one signed in 1985, even it will have the same non-preferential character and it will refrain to include practical undertakens for accessing to the market.

About the implementation of the Agreement, we have to highlight the redaction and publication by the Council of a Regulation (nº 2616/85, of 16^th September 1985) previous to the entering into force of the Agreement, as well as the Strategic Cooperation Agenda redacted and updated regularly by the Council.

In respect of the freight transport, we have to mention one agreement signed by the European Union and China the 6^th December 2002 about the marine transport in which are established the conditions for the operations which affect the goods with origin and destination in both parties. The signed document place the bilateral agreements between the Member States in China within an European framework and, according to the European Commission, it allows to reach a major level of market opening than the obtained with them. It has the objective of improving the conditions in the marine transportation of goods for the benefit of the economic operators of the parties. It is based on the principles of freedom of marine services and free access in the charges and also to the trade routes, access without restrictions to ports and services and non-discriminatory treatment.

This Agreement had an effect of five years, and it was renewed the 21^st December 2008; entering into force according to the article 15 of the same, on the first day of the next month as of the date in which the Parties have notified to each other the fulfilment of their respective obligations.  

 European currency (euro)

 Chinese currency (yuan)