European Parliament
Jim Higgins  (PPE ).
– Mr President, I welcome this report. I voted for it and I commend the rapporteur. It focuses on the glaring trade imbalances and the need to update the 1985 agreement. However, if we do get binding rules under a new agreement, and a level playing field, the potential for EU exports to China is absolutely huge.
A number of weeks ago, the Chinese Vice-President spent three days in Ireland. He was extremely interested in our farming methodology. A week later, the Irish Prime Minister, Enda Kenny, visited China. What is obvious is that there is a huge potential food export market for EU farmers under the new common agricultural policy: a population in China of 1.3 billion people and growing. The Chinese are extremely health conscious and, with top-quality, clean food, the possibilities for EU farming and agriculture are endless.

