The China-EU Geographical Indications Agreement officially entered into force today (March 1). The agreement is the first comprehensive and high-level geographical indication agreement signed by China with foreign companies. The entry into force of the agreement will further strengthen China-EU economic and trade cooperation and benefit consumers and businesses on both sides.

Geographical indications are signs that identify the origin of a product in a certain region, and the quality and reputation of the product depend on the natural and human factors of this specific region, such as China’s "Pu'er tea" or EU's "champagne". Both China and the European Union have rich resources of geographical indications. In order to strengthen the protection and cooperation of geographical indications and promote the trade of geographical indication products, the two parties initiated the negotiation of the China-EU Geographical Indications Agreement in 2011. The negotiations have gone through 8 years and 22 rounds of formal negotiations and hundreds of informal consultations. On September 14, 2020, the two parties formally signed the agreement. On January 29, 2021, the two parties completed the internal approval procedures and notified each other. On March 1, the Agreement officially entered into force.