The sides are expected to exchange lists of sectors they will seek to exclude from the deal and that won't be open to foreign investment — the so-called negative lists — already before this year is out, China’s Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng announced Saturday.
The Bilateral Investment Treaty provides for a set of mutually-guaranteed rules of investment activity in each country. It would grant American companies better access to the Chinese market and equal rights with the local firms.
"The sides have all but agreed the text of the BIT agreement and will exchange negative lists already this year,” Gao Hucheng told a news briefing held on the sidelines of an annual session of the Chinese parliament.
He described the planned exchange as a “challenge for both countries,” underscoring the existing differences between the US and Chinese economies.
The minister also hoped that the agreement would have a significant impact on the global foreign investment rules.
