EU-US trade agreement worries China

China has signaled concern over a planned EU-US free trade agreement, fearing the transatlantic pact could be a step towards protectionism, Reuters reported. Officials from the United States and European Union are set to start negotiations that are expected to last until June, 2015. An EU official that spoke to the press anonymously said the deal has spooked China on the potential that it would “insulate the transatlantic economy from the rest of the world,” a claim that the official denied. Officials from China, the EU’s largest trading partner, have raised the possibility of an EU-China FTA, something that the EU official did not rule out in the medium to long term.