European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told Chinese leader Xi Jinping that the bloc’s ties with his country “have reached an inflection point,” opening a summit shadowed by tensions spanning trade to the war in Ukraine.
“As our cooperation has deepened, so have the imbalances,” von der Leyen said on Thursday, according to her prepared remarks. “Rebalancing our bilateral relation is essential. Because to be sustainable, the relations need to be mutually beneficial.”
The first in-person EU-China summit since 2023 is exposing a divide between the bloc and Beijing just months after earlier signs of a possible detente. In his opening remarks, Xi said their ties are “at a historical juncture,” urging stronger trust and communication amid global uncertainty, state broadcaster CCTV reported.
The messages come as the two sides mark the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic ties. The meeting has been cut short from two days to one at Beijing’s request, Bloomberg News has reported, with the venue changed from Brussels to the Chinese capital after Xi refused to travel to Europe for the talks.
Von der Leyen and the head of the European Council, Antonio Costa, met the Chinese leader following the EU’s summit with Japan held in Tokyo Wednesday.
While there are no plans to issue a joint communique, the EU intends to release a statement listing the main messages it delivered, according to people familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The two sides are also preparing a landmark declaration on climate cooperation. Top officials will sign the document in Beijing on Thursday, according to people familiar with the plans, likely committing both parties to further emissions cuts and to deliver their climate plans to the United Nations before the COP30 summit in Brazil later this year.
The tensions on display this week contrast with hope at the height of the trade war unleashed by Donald Trump for China to repair ties with the EU. Back then, Beijing appeared to be positioning itself as a more reliable partner as Trump alienated the bloc. Now, deep disagreements are once again marring the relationship.
The strains flared into view in April with Beijing’s decision to impose export controls on rare earth magnets, which shook European car companies and other sectors.
Brussels also takes issue with what it considers as Beijing’s support for Moscow. The EU on Friday sanctioned two Chinese banks and five China-based companies as part of its latest measures against Russia.
Trade ties are another source of frustration. The Asian nation’s goods trade surplus reached almost $143 billion in the first half of this year, a record for any six-month period, according to data released last week.
The EU inflamed trade tensions when it imposed tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles last year in a bid to ward off a flood of cheap imports. In response, China launched anti-dumping probes into European brandy, dairy and pork.
“I don’t think that any of us are too optimistic in terms of any sort of grand agreement being reached — and I don’t think that this is really what we should aspire to,” Jens Eskelund, president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, said on Bloomberg TV Thursday.
The 50th anniversary of ties offers an opportunity to ask how to “ensure that we have a relationship going forward that continues to deliver benefits from both sides,” he said. “And what we are seeing right now is this increase in trade tension and this perception in particular in Europe, that the benefits of the relationship are no longer being distributed in an equitable manner.”
With assistance from Iain Rogers, Jorge Valero, Fran Wang, David Ingles, Yvonne Man and John Ainger.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
