81. Hopes that China will uncouple economic growth from ecological degradation, by
incorporating biodiversity protection into its ongoing global strategies, facilitating the
achievement of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the SDGs, and
implementing the ivory trade ban effectively; acknowledges the work done by the EUChina Bilateral Coordination Mechanism (BCM) on Forest Law Enforcement and
Governance (FLEG) to tackle illegal logging globally; urges China, however, to
investigate the significant undocumented trade in timber between the FLEGT Voluntary
Partnership Agreement signatory states and China;
82. Recommends the adoption of mandatory Chinese policy guidelines on responsible
overseas forestry investments to be implemented jointly with the supplier countries,
involving Chinese companies in tackling the illegal timber trade;
83. Welcomes the fact that China and the EU have signed a Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU) on water policy, with the aim of enhancing dialogue on the development and
enforcement of legislation to protect water; strongly supports the September 2017 Turku
Declaration signed by the EU and China, which stressed that good water governance
should give priority to ecology and green development, to putting water conservation in a
prominent position and to restoring water ecosystems; underlines that the MOU on
establishing an EU-China Water Policy Dialogue not only enriches the contents of ChinaEU strategic partnership, but also specifies the direction, scope, methodology and
financial arrangements for cooperation;
84. Recognises the key role of the Commission-funded cooperation project between European
and Chinese organisations, implemented in 2014-2017 under the auspices of the
Instrument for Nuclear Safety Cooperation (INSC), in assessing the standards and
arrangements for radiological and nuclear emergency management in China and in
enhancing the capabilities of the Chinese Nuclear Power Technology Research Institute in
the area of severe accident management guidelines;
85. Encourages Chinese and European investors to adopt better global standards of social and
environmental responsibility and to improve the safety standards of their extractive
industries worldwide; reiterates that, with regard to negotiations on a Comprehensive
Agreement on Investment (CAI) with China, the European Union must lend support to
sustainable development initiatives by encouraging responsible investment and promoting
core environmental and labour standards; asks the Chinese and European authorities to put
in place incentives to encourage Chinese and European mining companies to conduct their
activities in developing countries in conformity with international human rights standards
and to encourage investment in capacity-building for knowledge and technology transfer
and local recruitment;
86. Welcomes the announcement by China in the context of the One Planet Summit in
December 2017 to make the environmental impacts of companies in China and of Chinese
investment abroad more transparent; is concerned that infrastructure projects such as the
One Belt One Road (OBOR) Initiative by China might have a negative impact on the
environment and climate and could lead to the increased use of fossil fuels in other
countries involved or affected by the infrastructure development; calls for the EU
institutions and Member States to perform environmental impact assessments and to
include sustainability clauses in any cooperation project within the OBOR framework;
insists on the establishment of a joint committee, composed of representatives of involved
countries and third parties, to supervise the impact on the environment and climate;