Top leaders from China and the EU are to hold a summit in Beijing this week, as the major economic powers seek to smooth over disputes ranging from trade to the Ukraine conflict.
Beijing and Brussels have been gearing up to mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties, but a suite of squabbles over state subsidies, market access and wartime sanctions have dampened the festivities.
A spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday confirmed that European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen would visit on Thursday.
Photo: Reuters
The statement came after the EU on Friday last week said that the pair would attend the EU-China summit in Beijing following the conclusion of separate meetings in Japan on Wednesday.
Costa and Von der Leyen are to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), with whom they are to “discuss EU-China relations and current geopolitical challenges, including Russia’s war in Ukraine,” the EU statement said.
With Chinese Premier Li Qiang (李強), they are to “cover in more detail the trade and economic aspects of the relationship,” it said.
The summit “is an opportunity to engage with China at the highest level and have frank, constructive discussions on issues that matter to both of us,” Costa said.
“We want dialogue, real engagement and concrete progress. We aim for a fair, balanced relationship that delivers for both sides,” he said.
Trade tensions have cast a shadow over preparations for the meetings, with Bloomberg News reporting this month that China would cancel part of what was originally supposed to be a two-day summit.
The two sides have criticized each other for what each sees as breaches of the principle of fair trade.
Von der Leyen this month said that the EU would look to address its yawning trade deficit with Beijing, which stood at US$357 billion last year.
She said Brussels would also demand that China eases market access for European companies and loosens export controls on strategically crucial rare earths.
Beijing, for its part, has said the EU must change its mentality and “properly handle divergences and frictions.”
Adding to the strain, an Irish regulator helping police EU data privacy this month said that it had launched an investigation into TikTok over its alleged storage of European users’ personal data on servers in China.
The Irish Data Protection Commission already fined TikTok, whose parent company ByteDance is Chinese, 530 million euros (US$617 million) in May over sending personal data to China.
TikTok has said it plans to appeal the fine, and Beijing has denied ever asking Chinese firms to “illegally” collect and store users’ personal data.
The EU has also imposed hefty tariffs on electric vehicles imported from China, arguing that Beijing’s industrial subsidies are unfairly undercutting European competitors.
Beijing has repudiated that claim as well, and announced what were widely seen as retaliatory probes into imported European pork, brandy and dairy products.
Meanwhile, the war in Ukraine has been another bone of contention, with the EU taking the view that China has been tacitly supporting Russia’s invasion — an allegation that Beijing denies.
Brussels last week announced a new package of sanctions aimed at hobbling Russia’s oil revenues, banking sector and military capabilities, and which also included some Chinese firms and financial institutions.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce yesterday slammed the move, saying they “have had a serious negative impact on China-EU economic and trade relations.”
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