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The conclusion and suspension of the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI) between the EU and China have been drawing substantial international academic attention over the last two years. To add to the ongoing debate, this article asks how one can best explain the conclusion and the suspension by the EU of the ratification of the CAI? And, secondly, the article focuses on the lessons which the EU can draw from the suspension of the CAI. By looking at the CAI background, negotiations and early ratification phase, the article sets out conceptually and empirically how a compartmentalisation and geo-politicisation of EU trade and investment policy contributed to the rise and fall of the CAI. Moreover, the article points to important lessons for future coherent and strategic investment policies. More specifically, it shows the need to bring together increasing investment flows with a sustained EU commitment to its very own founding values.

The aim of this article is threefold. Based on academic literature in the field, the first step is to understand the link between 'soft power', 'public diplomacy' and 'soft diplomacy' tools in order to set out the criteria necessary to define what 'soft diplomacy' is and assess whether the P2P is indeed a soft diplomacy tool in the EU-China relationship. Second, a close examination of the diplomatic toolboxes of both the EU and China will demonstrate the benefits of using soft diplomatic instruments to consolidate and further expand the EU-China Strategic Partnership. Third, as the P2P appears as a complementary new tool rather than as a substitute for 'hard diplomacy', it will be evaluated as a precious tool used by the EU and China to try and shape cooperation through governmental as well as non-governmental relations.

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