China welcomes EU signature of GI agreement

China welcomed the European Union's (EU's) decision to authorize the signature on a China-EU agreement on geographical indications (GI), Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a press briefing on Wednesday.

It was reported that the European Council on Monday adopted a decision on the signature of the GI agreement, the first major bilateral trade agreement that will protect each side's 100 geographical indications.

Since the two sides concluded their negotiations on the agreement in October 2019, China and the EU have been respectively going through internal procedures for ratification, and China has completed the procedures, Wang said.

This is China's first comprehensive, high-level bilateral agreement on GIs, and the first major trade agreement between China and the EU in recent years, which is "monumental," he said.

Wang said it will deepen trade cooperation, deliver greater benefits to Chinese and European people, and demonstrate the Chinese government's resolve in advancing high-level opening-up and the protection of IPRs.

China is ready to work with the EU to expand two-way openness, deepen practical cooperation, achieve win-win outcomes and contribute to economic recovery in China, the EU and beyond, he said.