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The Council of the EU on Monday authorized the signing of a landmark bilateral trade agreement between the EU and China that will protect the hundreds of geographical indications (GIs) of agricultural products from both sides, in a move that, Chinese experts say, sends a positive signal for the China-EU bilateral investment deal amid China-US and China-UK tensions.

"This is the first significant bilateral trade agreement signed between the EU and China," said a press release from the Delegation of the EU to China sent to the Global Times on Monday.

The agreement, which was reached by the two side last year after years of negotiations, would protect 100 EU agricultural products such as Mozzarella di Bufala Campana, Languedoc wine, Polska Wódka or Elia Kalamatas in the Chinese market as well as 100 Chinese products such as Pixian Dou Ban (Pixian Bean Paste) and Anji Bai Cha (Anji White Tea) in the EU market.

The date and place the agreement will be signed has not been set. After it is signed, the agreement will still need to obtain the consent of the European Parliament before it takes effect, according to the press release.

Coming at a time when tensions between China and the US and the UK are on the rise, the EU's move on Monday sent a positive signal that bodes well for a much broader bilateral investment treaty, said Cui Hongjian, director of EU Studies at the China Institute of International Studies.

"Against the backdrop of the China-US and China-UK tensions, there is some clear meaning behind the EU's move. It wants to send a positive signal so that China will also adopt a positive attitude in the negotiations for the bilateral investment treaty agreement," Cui told the Global Times on Monday.  

The progress on the agreement, whose negotiations process also faced "interference" from the US, could also inject fresh momentum for the talks on the investment deal, Cui added.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday that during a meeting, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and French President's foreign policy advisor Emmanuel Bonne agreed that the two sides would advance negotiations on the China-EU investment treaty and work for the early signing of the agreement on GIs.