EU representatives will discuss a range of issues with Chinese leaders from the war in Ukraine to trade co-operation at a summit on Thursday, Reuters reports.
European Council President Charles Michel, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in the morning and Premier Li Qiang of the Chinese State Council in the afternoon as part of their one-day visit to China.
EU officials do not expect concrete results from the first face-to-face EU-China summit since 2019. One EU official said:
There’s not a single outstanding deliverable that will be crowning the summit.
In contrast to that summit, Xi’s November meeting with US President Joe Biden in California resulted in agreements, although differences remain between them, especially on Taiwan.
The European Union will also have questions about China’s intentions regarding Taiwan. The EU is also concerned about what it considers an “unbalanced” economic relationship, saying a trade deficit with China of about 400 billion euros ($431.7 billion) reflects constraints on businesses in the bloc.
China is expected to ask questions about the EU’s investigation against subsidies for Chinese electric cars and about the EU’s risk mitigation policies to reduce dependence on Chinese imports, especially of critical raw materials.
EU officials say the two sides could develop co-operation in fighting climate change and promoting biodiversity conservation. They also point to a number of dialogues organized on macroeconomic and trade issues. These include the EU’s planned tariff on imported CO2 emissions and the circular economy, a possible increase in the number of foods whose names will be protected – for example, applying the term “feta” only to a specific Greek cheese. An EU official said:
These are not per se major summit deliverables … but in certain areas there are mutual interests and we can make a difference by working technically and practically together.
