ChinaTalk with Jyrki Katainen (former Vice President of EC)

There has been much debate in Europe about the content, value and effects of the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI), signed between China and the EU, on the eve of the New Year 2021. As of now, the document with annexes is far from being finalized, and even further from being ratified by each of the EU member states. With the new American President in office and prospects of closer transatlantic cooperation in dealing with China, the EU’s CAI negotiations have been put in a different context.

We will be interviewing one of the EU’s negotiators of CAI , Mr. Jyrki Katainen, the former European Commission Vice-President for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness (2014-2019). We will ask him to present the EU’s priorities that were paramount at the start of the CAI negotiations with China 7 years ago, and tell us whether these priorities have been achieved. We hope he will also reveal the ups and downs of the negotiation process. We will ask about the importance of CAI in the EU relations with China, and its significance in the process of rebuilding the transatlantic relations. More specifically, we will ponder whether it is possible to achieve an unanimous EU agreement, and why CAI omits the issue of goods and services trade with China.

The meeting will be hosted by Associate Professor Marcin Jacoby, Head of the Department of Asian Studies at SWPS University, and Zbigniew Niesobędzki, Ph.D., President of the Polish-Chinese Business Council - a partner of the ChinaTalk series.

ChinaTalk is a series of interviews with leading global experts on China and East Asia, produced jointly by the Polish Chinese Business Council (PCBC) and SWPS University. Interviews are hosted by PCBC President, Mr. Zbigniew Niesiobędzki, and Professor Marcin Jacoby, Head of the Department of Asian Studies at SWPS University.

ChinaTalk brings you the latest knowledge on the economy, social issues, management, and politics of China and East Asia. Our guest interpret the current developments and trends in the Chinese economy, and predict global, regional and bilateral outcomes of political decisions.

Chinese relations with the European Union, and Poland in particular, constitute an important context of these discussions. The expert insights provide valuable input for business practitioners, analysts, as well as researchers and students interested in macroeconomics and global trade.