Country's products to enjoy greater protection(2)

As part of the agreement, some 200 iconic Chinese and European agri-food names, including Anxi Tieguanyin tea, Shaoxing wine, Prosciutto di Parma and Champagne, are protected against usurpation (the unlawful assumption of the use of property that belongs to someone else) and imitation in each other's market.

The agreement will be expanded to cover an additional 350 GI products from both sides — including Xuan paper from Anhui province — within four years of it taking effect. This is the first time the EU has included non-agricultural GI in the deal.

Joan Valadou, French consul general in Shanghai, said the role played by GI has been recognized in France. "It can ensure high-quality products, enhance consumers' trust, and help producers and small and medium-sized enterprises gain a stable income," he added.

Signing the agreement means that people in China can now buy online and in physical stores various GI products from France and other European countries, Valadou said.

Wang Yi, secretary-general of the Ningxia Goji Association, said, "Mutual GI recognition and protection between China and the EU has opened opportunities for China's premium products to enter the European market and be sold at higher prices."

Chinese products may enjoy easier access to markets in third countries, because those listed in the agreement will be allowed to use official European symbols that identify a product's place of origin, he added.

The association is responsible for promoting the development of the goji berry industry in the Ningxia Hui autonomous region.

Noting that some Chinese GI products such as goji berries from Ningxia are produced in economically less-developed areas, Wang said the agreement will provide strong support in promoting rural revitalization and achieving sustainable economic development in these regions.

Hu, from the China National Intellectual Property Administration, said that since the agreement was implemented, the first batch of Chinese GI products — Xinghua chives, Fenghuang Single Cluster (a kind of oolong tea) and Shaoxing rice wine, have entered the European market. Meanwhile, Chinese consumers have shown a positive and open attitude toward high-quality European GI products such as wine, milk and meat.

The administration has also introduced a series of measures to aggressively crack down on GI counterfeiting and infringement violations involving Bordeaux wine from France and Munchner Bier from Germany, as listed in the agreement, Hu said.

Martha Mavrommatis, the Cyprus ambassador to China, said frequent GI exchanges between China and the EU over the years have increased mutual understanding and helped the two sides maintain sound interactions.

"Cyprus is looking forward to the list being expanded in the near future. Apart from the economic aspects, the agreement plays a crucial role in cultivating cooperation and synergies in various other fields," she said.

Shi Shiwei, a senior research fellow at the University of International Business and Economics' Research Center for China-EU Economic Cooperation, said the agreement reflects the openness and adherence of both sides to rules-based trade relations.

"Despite distractions for political purposes, it is also a concrete example of China-EU cooperation," he said.

Shi added that China and the EU have developed a mutually beneficial trade relationship through long-term cooperation, and the two sides enjoy huge potential in areas such as the automobile industry.

"It is important that the European business community can withstand political interference and enable China-EU economic and trade cooperation to play a stabilizing role in developing bilateral ties," he said.