[{"bbox": [85, 153, 1145, 261], "category": "Text", "text": "multilateral environmental agreements and fora, including the Paris Agreement, the Convention on Biological Diversity and the implementation of the Kunming Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, and exchanges in the context of the UN Environmental Assembly and other global environmental fora, as well as initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions."}, {"bbox": [85, 287, 1146, 632], "category": "Text", "text": "The action will contribute to operationalising the higher-level, punctual policy discussions through frequent, concrete joint activities, focusing on agreed priorities across the aforementioned areas. These activities will allow for regular exchanges between EU and Chinese officials and experts to promote a common understanding of key issues, as well as to deliver feasibility studies and research papers to substantiate those exchanges and provide technical grounding to approximation efforts. These efforts will aim to promote greater regulatory convergence of China's environmental regulations with EU standards adopted or planned under the European Green Deal. Engagement will also seek to increase awareness of and compliance with EU legislation and strengthen cooperation at the multilateral level based on frameworks such as the Paris Agreement. This could contribute towards improving the level playing field as regards environmental requirements for circular economy, deforestation, biodiversity for businesses in China. The action will ensure continuity and build on progress achieved in its two previous phases through effective engagement with relevant Chinese authorities and outputs linked to China's work under relevant global and regional fora and processes (e.g. G20, UNEA5, CBD COPs, Basel Convention on Hazardous Waste)."}, {"bbox": [85, 657, 1145, 763], "category": "Text", "text": "This component will build on the progress achieved in the previous two phases in deepening engagement with China on the EU's environmental policy priorities and ensure synergies with the action on 'Reducing plastic waste and marine litter in China- Supporting a transition to a circular economy' (under the China Annual Action Plan 2022)."}, {"bbox": [85, 789, 1089, 817], "category": "Section-header", "text": "## Component 2 – China's Champions of Change II: Addressing the Demand for Illegal Wildlife Products"}, {"bbox": [85, 842, 1145, 1108], "category": "Text", "text": "This action aims to improve the level playing field between the EU and China on environmental requirements through reinforced policy dialogues and cooperation in tackling illegal wildlife trade. The lucrative global market in illegal wildlife trade contributes to the depletion or extinction of entire species and furthers zoonotic diseases (which spread between animals and humans). China is a destination market, a hub for trafficking in transit to other regions and, for some species, the source region for illegal wildlife trade. For instance, rosewood is the world's most trafficked endangered species by value and nearly all rosewood logs are sent to China, fuelling a USD 26 billion market for furniture. China is also a major destination market for trafficked endangered European eel (Anguilla anguilla). Therefore, working with China is crucial to advance the policy objectives of the EU Action Plan Against Wildlife Trafficking and the Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework."}, {"bbox": [85, 1146, 1145, 1333], "category": "Text", "text": "The action will build upon progress achieved in a previous phase of China's Champions of Change (March 2018-February 2021), which focused on protection of endangered wildlife, in particular those more relevant to Chinese lifestyle or consumption behaviours through improved governance capacity and public behaviour changing. Effective collaboration with the National Forest and Grassland Administration (administrated by the Ministry of Natural Resources) to address timber legality issues was also strengthened. This component will also ensure synergies and coordination with a global action by the European Commission aimed at reducing the trafficking of wildlife and forest products, with a focus on organized crimes operating globally."}, {"bbox": [85, 1364, 703, 1392], "category": "Section-header", "text": "## Component 3 – EU-China International Development Platform"}, {"bbox": [85, 1417, 1145, 1630], "category": "Text", "text": "This action aims to improve the EU's capacity to understand, analyse and engage with China on global development issues in support of the implementation of international commitments such as the 2030 Agenda, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement, also in line with the NDICI partnership area of cooperation. It is crucial that the EU, working together with Member States in a Team Europe approach, has a detailed and evidence-based understanding of China's impact on global development, that the EU and China have channels for exchange of information and best practice at technical level, and that the EU is able to promote its own inclusive and value-based approaches to global development to Chinese stakeholders and opinion leaders. This would underpin any political engagement on international development to promote EU interests and positions. In"}, {"bbox": [1038, 1682, 1145, 1706], "category": "Page-footer", "text": "Page 6 of 26"}]