The EU’s top officials, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Council President’s António Costa High Representative Kaya Kallas, visited Beijing today meeting with their counterparts including President Xi Jinping and in a separate meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang. The EU delegation’s visit also commemorates the 50th anniversary of China’s and the EU’s relationship and was preceded with a visit to Japan.
Topics in the discussion included trade, export controls, Russia, and carbon emissions. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated at the beginning of the meeting with Premier Li that the trading relationship between Europe and China is imbalanced in China’s favour, and that efforts should be made to rebalance it by ensuring greater market access for European companies. Council President António Costa also reiterated the same point saying that the trade relationship is one-sided and stressed that this rebalancing will ensuring a sustained relationship with China in the future. The Commissioner President reiterated that export controls should be reduced with negotiated solutions.
In the plenary session of Strasbourg’s parliamentary session earlier this month, President Ursula von der Leyen stated that Europe’s relationship with China will be managed based on how China acts in relation to Russia’s war in Ukraine. In Japan, EU High Commissioner Kaja Kallas announced that Europe and Japan will strengthen their cooperation in their defence industries.
President Ursula von der Leyen also praised the EU’s and China’s strong cooperation on climate-related initiatives stating that there is an excellent dialogue on a potential collaboration on carbon-emission trading systems and also waste.
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