On June 25 in Beijing, in the
presence of the Presidents of the Russian Federation and the People's Republic
China, the Member of the Board - Minister in charge of Trade of the Eurasian
Economic Commission Veronika Nikishina and the Minister of Commerce of the
People's Republic of China Gao Hucheng signed a joint declaration on transition
to the negotiation stage for development of the Agreement on Trade and Economic
Cooperation between the Eurasian Economic Union (the EAEU) and the PRC.
"We
have completed the phase of preparation for negotiations, the delegations of
the EAEU and China have received the necessary mandate and will sit at the
negotiating table already in the coming months," Veronika
Nikishina explained after the meeting. “The joint declaration reflects
the agenda of future negotiations: The parties plan to comprehensively develop
bilateral trade rules in a number of key areas, including technical
regulations, customs regulations, intellectual property and others. In
addition, we intend to create new multi-level institutions for cooperation,
support and development of trade and cooperation."
At the meeting preceding the signing of
the joint declaration, the Ministers discussed the issues of arrangement of
negotiation process and preparation of the Agreement text.
The negotiations will be attended by
representatives of the Eurasian Economic Commission, the national governments
of the countries of the Eurasian Union, various departments of the Chinese
Government.
Sections of the future Agreement will be
elaborated by several working groups divided according to the regulatory
principle, as well as a working group focused on the matters of industrial
cooperation, promotion of cooperation projects.
The Ministers agreed that already in July they
hold the first meeting of the experts of the negotiating delegations.