The negotiation of a bilateral investment treaty (BIT) between China and the EU was a watershed event in global investment treaty practice which is apparent from the size and importance of the China-EU bilateral investment relationship, the leading role played by both the parties in the global spread of BITs and the issues raised and lessons drawn from the PRC-EU case which have ramifications well beyond China and Europe. In the context of this global fragmentation, a BIT between China and the EU was a seminal event in global investment treaty practice. The BIT between the PRC and the EU covered the investment activity of two billion people, easily making it one of the most influential international investment treaties in the world. Concluding such a treaty required coordination and agreement among the positions of twenty-eight states of differing legal, cultural, political, and economic traditions.