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BRUSSELS — The EU and China are working to organise a joint summit this year, despite an ongoing tariff spat and the looming impact of Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
An EU official confirmed the plans on Tuesday after a phone call between European Council President António Costa and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“Both sides confirmed the importance of EU-China relations, agreeing that the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties could be a good opportunity for a successful EU-China Summit later in the year,” the EU official said.
Leaders of the European Commission and the European Council regularly hold annual summits with China, but did not in 2024. The most recent summit, held in December 2023, had already been overshadowed by looming tensions over trade measures.
Those tensions remain high as both sides are locked in an exchange of tit-for-tat measures over the EU’s tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and Beijing’s retaliation on other sectors.
The Xi-Costa call came amid the latest exchange of fire between both sides as the EU on Tuesday accused China of discriminating against European medical device producers in public contracts in the latest commercial tensions.
However, despite the ongoing dispute, Beijing said it urged the EU to be a “trustworthy partner” amid US tensions, coming a week before Trump’s inauguration.
China and the U.S. have been trading barbs and tit-for-tat measures to limit the exports of tech and critical materials to each other, with Trump having warned Europeans they should align with Washington’s tougher line on Beijing or face consequences.
According to the Chinese readout, Xi stressed that China and Europe have “no fundamental conflicts of interest or geopolitical contradictions” and were “partners of mutual achievement.”
China and Europe should enhance mutual trust as the international situation becomes more severe and complex, Xi said.
Economic and trade cooperation between the two sides is complementary and mutually beneficial, and they should create new points for expanding cooperation, Xi said.
While agreeing that cooperation is preferable to competition, Costa stressed the “need to ensure a level playing field and to rebalance the existing trade and economic imbalances,” the EU official said.
Over the past year, Brussels had become more confrontational towards Beijing over its close ties with Russia and potential aid to Moscow’s war effort.
According to the EU official, Costa did call on China to “contribute to a just, comprehensive and lasting peace in Ukraine” and to ensure that no dual-use goods – that could have a military application – are provided to Russia.
[Edited by Owen Morgan]
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