DHAKA: China and the European Union began talks on a landmark investment agreement on Thursday, the EU’s president said, a positive move amid lingering trade tensions between the two sides.

‘We have made a substantial step forward today by launching negotiations on an investment agreement, covering both investment protection and market access,’ said Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council, reports The Straits Times.

‘Both the EU and China believe that it is the right time to go ahead,’ he said at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing after a China-EU summit.

Van Rompuy said that the accord would help boost investment flows.

BDST: 1945 HRS, NOV 20, 2013
RoR/JCK