EU warns China: No business investment deal if sanctions remain

China imposed the sanctions on European officials and institutions in March after the European Union – along with the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States – sanctioned Chinese officials over human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region.

The European Parliament warned China on Thursday that it won’t ratify a long-awaited business investment deal as long as sanctions against European Union legislators remain in place. EU lawmakers adopted a resolution in which they condemned “the baseless and arbitrary sanctions” imposed by Beijing on European individuals and institutions in March. The European Parliament’s criticism was echoed by European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis, who said after a meeting of EU trade ministers that China’s sanctions haven’t created a favourable environment for a deal to be concluded.