EU signs deals with China as pact talks proceed

BEIJING, Jan 17 (Reuters) The European Union today announced a new law school in China and other projects intended to expand ties with Beijing as the two powers begin talks on a new treaty to steer their relationship.

The European Commissioner for External Relations, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, signed agreements to create a Europe-China law school, expand cooperation on protection of intellectual property, and provide training to Chinese managers, said an announcement from the EU's embassy in Beijing.

''The projects we have agreed today will help boost good governance and the rule of law, as well as social and economic reform, key priorities for the EU in its cooperation with China,'' Ferrero-Waldner said, according to the announcement.

The EU will provide 37.2 million euros for the projects, with the remainder of the 62.7 million euro package coming from China.

Ferrero-Waldner has been in Beijing this week to begin negotiations over a new treaty between the two powers.

The proposed Partnership and Cooperation Agreement will replace a pact signed more than 20 years ago, covering political and trade ties, as well as security, environmental and other concerns.

Brussels has regularly complained that China does too little to protect patents and copyrights, exposing European companies to commercial pirates copying films, software, fashion and machinery.

But Ferrero-Waldner has said that another priority in the talks is global warming and the EU hopes that China will do more to contain its ballooning output of greenhouse gases, which is threatening to dangerously upset the world's climate.

The EU proposed the 27-nation bloc cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20 percent by 2020 from 1990 levels, with the possibility of going to 30 percent if other developed countries joined in.

But before heading to Beijing, Ferrero-Waldner said that the bigger cut cannot be met without China coming on board with its own reductions.

China, the world's fourth-largest economy and second-biggest energy user, has set a goal to cut energy consumption per unit of national income by 20 percent by 2010.

But with coal-fired stations generating over 80 percent of China's electricity, China is on course to overtake the United States by 2009 as the biggest creator of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas generated by human activity.

Reuters BDP GC1229