EU-China Postpone September Summit Considering COVID-19

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] The summit meeting between the European Union (EU) and China, originally scheduled for September, has been postponed due to the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Bloomberg reported on the 3rd (local time).

According to the report, the German government announced in a statement that German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke separately with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Charles Michel, President of the European Council, and decided to postpone the summit.

The German government explained that during the calls, they agreed that the summit could not be held at the originally planned time due to the pandemic situation, and that the schedule for the summit would be adjusted later.

Earlier, Chancellor Merkel had stated that since Germany would assume the EU presidency from the 1st of next month, she intended to persuade President Xi to conclude an investment agreement between the EU and China through this summit. However, due to the COVID-19 crisis causing various social and economic damages, the focus is expected to shift to preparing countermeasures.

Meanwhile, the Associated Press (AP) assessed that although the EU has tried to act as a mediator between the US and China, recent developments such as China’s enforcement of the Hong Kong National Security Law (Hong Kong Security Law) and EU’s measures targeting Chinese telecommunications equipment company Huawei have caused a chill in relations between the EU and China.