EU-China Summit on 7th in Beijing... Only Differences Expected to be Confirmed

The European Union (EU) and China summit will be held on the 7th (local time) in Beijing, China. Ahead of the summit, a subtle standoff between the two sides continues, leading to expectations that only disagreements will be reaffirmed without significant achievements.

According to the EU, Charles Michel, President of the European Council, and Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, have headed to China to attend the summit. It is customary for both the Council President and the Commission President to attend official bilateral meetings together.

The three leaders are scheduled to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the morning and hold talks with Premier Li Chang in the afternoon. Although EU leaders have visited China individually before, this is the first formal summit since the current EU Commission took office in 2019, marking a four-year interval.

Foreign media and experts predict that the summit will conclude without major achievements. A joint statement is also not expected. This atmosphere was sensed ahead of the talks. Two days before the summit, on the 5th, Commission President von der Leyen emphasized that EU leaders "will not tolerate long-term trade imbalances (with China)" and stressed the need to resolve the trade deficit with China. The trade deficit with China is an issue the EU has publicly and repeatedly mentioned alongside its 'de-risking' strategy.

China has reacted strongly to this. Wang Wenbin, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, criticized the EU at a regular briefing the day before, just one day after von der Leyen’s remarks, saying, "If the EU strictly restricts exports of advanced technology to China while hoping to increase exports to China, this is illogical." This appears to be an indirect criticism of the Dutch government, an EU member state, which has tightened controls on semiconductor equipment exports to China.

Additionally, it is widely expected that the two sides will reaffirm their differences on major diplomatic and security issues such as the Ukraine war and the armed Palestinian faction Hamas in Israel and Palestine during this summit.