21. Notes that EU outward foreign direct investment (FDI) in the PRC has steadily decreased since 2012, particularly in the traditional manufacturing sector, with a parallel increase in investment in high-tech services, utilities, and agricultural and construction services, while the PRC’s investment in the EU has grown exponentially over the past few years; acknowledges that since 2016 the PRC has become a net investor in the EU; takes note of the fact that in 2017, 68 % of Chinese investments into Europe came from state-owned enterprises; is concerned about state-orchestrated acquisitions that might hinder European strategic interests, public security objectives, competitiveness and employment; 22. Welcomes the Commission’s proposal on an FDI screening mechanism in the areas of security and public order, which represents one of the EU’s endeavours to adapt to a changing global environment, without specifically targeting any one of the EU’s international trade partners; cautions that the mechanism should not lead to protectionism in disguise; calls, nonetheless, for its swift adoption; 23. Welcomes the commitments made by President Xi Jinping to further open up the Chinese market to foreign investors and improve the investment environment, to complete the revision of the negative list on foreign investment and lift restrictions for European companies, and to strengthen the protection of intellectual property rights and level the playing field by making the PRC’s market more transparent and better regulated; calls for the fulfilment of these commitments; 24. Reiterates the importance of ceasing all discriminatory practices against foreign investors; recalls, in this respect, that such reforms will benefit both Chinese and European businesses, especially micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs); 25. Calls on the Commission to promote the Union’s new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) as a gold standard in its trade relations with China; points out the need for a systematic dialogue with China and other WTO partners on regulatory requirements relating to the digitisation of our economies and its multifaceted impact on: trade, production chains, cross-border digital services, 3D printing, consumption patterns, payments, taxes, the protection of personal data, property rights issues, the provision and protection of audiovisual services, the media and people-to-people contacts; 26. Calls on the PRC to accelerate the process of joining the WTO Government Procurement Agreement and to submit an accession offer so as to give European companies access to its market on an equivalent basis to the access that Chinese companies already enjoy in the EU; regrets the fact that the Chinese public procurement market remains largely closed to foreign suppliers, with European businesses suffering from discrimination and a lack of access to the Chinese market; calls on the PRC to allow non-discriminatory access to European businesses and workers on public procurement; calls on the Council to swiftly adopt the International Procurement Instrument; calls on the Commission to be vigilant against contracts awarded to foreign enterprises suspected of dumping practices and to take action where necessary; 27. Calls for coordinated cooperation with the PRC on the Belt and Road Initiative on the basis of reciprocity, sustainable development, good governance, and open and transparent rules, in particular as regards public procurement; regrets, in this respect, the fact that the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the European Investment Fund and the PRC’s Silk Road Fund (SRF) and that signed by the European Investment Bank (EIB), the Asian Development Bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the European Bank for