Cars are parked at the harbor CuxPort at the North Sea in Cuxhaven, northern Germany, on Dec 8, 2020. (PATRIK STOLLARZ / AFP)

BEIJING - With joint efforts from both parties, China-EU investment agreement negotiations have recently made major progress with promising prospects, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Tuesday.

READ MORE: China-EU investment deal to secure open and fair markets for both sides

Spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the remarks at a press briefing in response to a query about the latest development of the negotiations.

"I hope that the agreement can be reached as soon as possible to provide a solid institutional framework for China-EU economic and trade cooperation and bring tangible benefits to the enterprises and peoples on both sides," said Wang.  

I hope that the agreement can be reached as soon as possible to provide a solid institutional framework for China-EU economic and trade cooperation and bring tangible benefits to the enterprises and peoples on both sides.

Wang Wenbin, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson 

European officials said on Monday that China and the European Union are likely to clinch a deal this week.

“The talks are about to be concluded. It’s looking good. There are only some minor details left which need to be hammered out,” an EU official with knowledge of the talks told Reuters.

“As things stand now, the political agreement between the EU and China will be sealed on Wednesday.”

European officials said the deal would give EU firms better access to the Chinese market, improve competition conditions and protect EU investment in China.

“We get much better market access and the protection of our investments in China. Better market access is something we have been working for for many years, and the Chinese have made quite a big step towards us,” a senior EU official said.

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If there is political agreement on the deal on Wednesday, its transposition into legal texts could take several months. Together with the ratification process, that could mean it will be about year before it is implemented, officials said.

Ambassadors of EU governments in Brussels discussed the agreement on Monday, and no country had any major problems with it, the officials said.

Poland suggested the EU should wait to discuss the deal with the new US administration of President-elect Joe Biden, they added, but other countries did not share this view.

With Reuters inputs