Brussels, Belgium – Simply earlier than the summer season lull hits Brussels, the European Union and China will maintain a top-level summit in Beijing on Thursday, commemorating 50 years of diplomatic ties.
The temper earlier than the assembly on Thursday, nonetheless, has not been significantly celebratory however, reasonably, tense with low expectations for any concrete bilateral offers. The summit which was meant to be a two-day affair, was additionally condensed right into a single day’s occasion by Beijing earlier this month, citing home causes.
A sequence of commerce disagreements, significantly over market entry and important rare earth elements, and geopolitical tensions, primarily Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine, have marred EU-China relations.
Gunnar Wiegand, the previous managing director for Asia and the Pacific on the European Exterior Motion Service (EEAS) and at the moment a distinguished fellow on the Indo-Pacific Program of the German Marshall Fund’s Brussels Workplace, instructed Al Jazeera that the EU’s present partnership with China is complicated.
“The EU views China as a accomplice for world challenges, an financial competitor on the subject of growing new applied sciences and likewise a systemic rival due to Beijing’s governance system and its affect on world affairs,” he stated, including that the query of whether or not China can also be a menace to European safety has come up over the previous couple of years within the context of Russia’s ongoing battle in Ukraine.
Who’s attending the summit?
European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa will go to China on Thursday, in search of to deal with these disputes on the summit.
“This Summit is a chance to interact with China on the highest stage and have frank, constructive discussions on points that matter to each of us. We would like dialogue, actual engagement and concrete progress,” Costa stated in an announcement prematurely of the summit.
The EU leaders will meet Chinese language President Xi Jinping on Thursday morning, and Premier Li Qiang will co-chair the twenty fifth summit between the 2 events, the Chinese language Ministry of Overseas Affairs instructed reporters in Beijing on Monday.
A Chinese language Overseas Ministry spokesperson added that after 50 years of EU-China improvement, their ties “can address the altering difficulties and challenges”.
Is Russia’s battle in Ukraine on the agenda?
In accordance with EU officers, discussions with President Xi on Thursday morning will concentrate on world affairs and bilateral relations, adopted by a banquet lunch.
Nonetheless, the Russia-Ukraine battle is more likely to come up due to Beijing’s close ties with Moscow, which has been a thorny subject for Brussels.
“You may anticipate the EU addressing Russia’s battle in Ukraine,” a senior EU official instructed reporters in Brussels on July 18. “China, in fact, talks to us usually about core points. Nicely, it is a core subject for Europe. It’s a problem basic to European safety,” the official added.
In an tackle to the European Parliament earlier this month, von der Leyen additionally accused China of “de facto enabling Russia’s battle economic system”.
Brussels has sanctioned several Chinese companies for facilitating the provision of products that are used for weapons manufacturing in Russia, and on July 18, the EU additionally slapped sanctions on Chinese language banks for the primary time, for reportedly financing the provision of such items.
China has rejected such accusations and warned of retaliations. Beijing has additionally reiterated that its place on the Ukraine battle is all about “negotiation, ceasefire and peace”.
However based on an article by the South China Morning Submit, throughout a gathering with the EU’s overseas coverage chief, Kaja Kallas, in early July, Chinese language Overseas Minister Wang Yi stated Beijing didn’t wish to see Russia lose the battle in Ukraine, since america would then concentrate on China.
Wiegand stated Europe shouldn’t have any illusions.
“For China, having good and shut relations with Russia is of utmost significance to extend its personal energy within the world context. They won’t sacrifice this relationship,” he stated.
“That is a very powerful adverse issue which has impacted the general [EU-China] relationship,” he added.
Apart from the Ukraine battle, EU officers in Brussels stated, the 27-member bloc can even talk about tensions within the Center East and different safety threats in Asia.
How troublesome will commerce discussions be?
One other contentious subject between Brussels and Beijing is trade. That is more likely to be central to the summit’s agenda within the afternoon with Chinese language Premier Li Qiang, adopted by a dinner, EU officers concerned in planning the summit instructed reporters in Brussels on July 18.
China is the EU’s third-largest buying and selling accomplice, however the two have just lately been squabbling over a sequence of commerce points, together with 45 p.c European tariffs on Chinese language electrical autos (EVs) and Beijing’s management of uncommon earth minerals, that are very important for chip making and producing medical units.
In her speech on the European Parliament earlier this month, von der Leyen accused Beijing of “flooding world markets with subsidised overcapacity – not simply to spice up its personal industries, however to choke worldwide competitors”.
The EU has a commerce deficit with China of greater than 300 billion euros ($352bn) as of 2024. EU exports to China amounted to 213 billion euros ($250bn), whereas EU imports from China amounted to 519 billion euros ($609bn), based on figures from the European Fee.
EU officers say Chinese language firms are benefitting from large authorities subsidies and, on account of sluggish demand for items domestically, low-cost Chinese language items like EVs are being shipped to the EU as a substitute.
To guard European pursuits, Brussels has begun taking motion and imposed tariffs of as much as 45 p.c on Chinese language EVs final October. The bloc additionally barred Chinese language firms from medical units tenders in June, amongst different commerce boundaries, after concluding that European corporations weren’t being granted entry to Chinese language markets.
The EU can also be involved about Beijing’s export controls on uncommon earth minerals.
On the Group of Seven summit in Canada in June, von der Leyen accused China of “blackmail” and stated, “No single nation ought to management 80-90 p.c of the marketplace for important uncooked supplies and downstream merchandise like magnets.”
“The current state of affairs just isn’t sustainable. We want rebalancing … China advantages from our open market however buys too little,” a senior EU official instructed reporters in Brussels earlier than the summit. “Commerce entry is restricted and export controls are extreme. We’ll go there [to Beijing] with a optimistic and constructive perspective … however China has to acknowledge our issues.”
In her speech on the European Parliament in July, the European Fee president stated the 27-member bloc is “participating with Beijing in order that it loosens its export restrictions” on uncommon earth minerals.
Wiegand stated whereas commerce negotiations have been ongoing, attaining frequent floor or any commerce deal on the summit this week appears unlikely.
“There’s a constructive tone [from the EU] on the subject of ‘de-risking’, not ‘de-coupling’ from China. The Chinese language, nonetheless, don’t just like the time period ‘de-risking’. They suppose it’s disinformation. However it’s merely the method of decreasing commerce vulnerabilities by diversifying and bettering our personal capacities,” he stated.
How does China view buying and selling relations with the EU?
China needs the EU to view their buying and selling partnership “with out emotion and prejudice”, based on the Overseas Ministry.
He Yongqian, a spokeswoman for the Chinese language Ministry of Commerce, instructed a information convention in Beijing on Monday that China hopes that Brussels can even “be much less protectionist, and be extra open”.
In an e-mail assertion to Al Jazeera earlier than the discussion board, the Chinese language Chamber of Commerce to the EU (CCCEU) stated it hopes the summit will “tackle vital challenges, together with market and funding boundaries confronted by Chinese language firms within the EU”.
“Latest EU measures, such because the Overseas Subsidies Regulation (FSR) and Worldwide Procurement Instrument (IPI), have disproportionately impacted Chinese language corporations in clear tech, high-tech, and medical units. We urge constructive dialogue to make sure honest remedy,” CCCEU famous.
Will human rights be mentioned on the summit?
EU-China relations have additionally been icy over human rights points. In 2021, Brussels slapped sanctions on Chinese language officers over reported human rights abuses towards Uighur Muslims in China’s Xinjiang area.
Beijing denied these allegations and retaliated by sanctioning EU lawmakers. The tit-for-tat sanctions have been accompanied by a halt in bilateral dialogues between the European Parliament and the Nationwide Folks’s Congress (NPC) of China.
Sarah Brooks, Amnesty Worldwide’s China director, instructed Al Jazeera that on the fiftieth anniversary of EU-China diplomatic relations, there’s “little to have fun” on the subject of speaking about human rights in China in 2025.
“Amnesty Worldwide has often documented severe and widespread human rights violations, from arbitrary detention and persecution within the Uighur area, for which no official has been held to account; to assaults on the rule of regulation and the chipping away of civil and political freedoms in Hong Kong, regardless of worldwide treaties guaranteeing these rights; to the systematic use of nationwide safety laws to focus on rights defence and criticism, at dwelling and more and more overseas. The EU, a minimum of on paper, has additionally come to comparable conclusions,” she stated.
“On the summit, the EU’s management wants to make sure that these phrases develop into motion and use each software at their disposal to create optimistic human rights change for folks – no more empty guarantees on the negotiating desk or the speaker’s podium,” she added.
Whereas China lifted a few of its sanctions in April this yr and hinted at resuming political dialogues between the European Parliament and the NPC, the 2021 EU sanctions stay in place. The bloc stated final week that it had “not noticed modifications within the human rights state of affairs in China/Xinjiang”.
“Selling and defending human rights is essential to the EU. We’ll increase the EU’s concern on the deterioration of rights in Xinjiang, Tibet, and different areas,” an EU official stated.
Will the difficulty of US tariffs come up?
The assembly between the EU and China comes amid US President Donald Trump’s global tariff war, which each Brussels and Beijing try to navigate.
Trump has introduced imposing a tariff of 30 p.c on items EU imports from August 1, and Brussels has been holding commerce negotiations with Washington, in search of to strike a commerce deal.
China and the US agreed to slash tit-for-tat heavy tariffs for 90 days in Might. That suspension expires on August 12. In June, the US stated it could impose 55 p.c tariffs on Chinese language items, down from the 145 p.c Trump had imposed in April. In return, Beijing stated, it is going to impose a ten p.c tariff on items it imports from the US, down from 125 p.c. However commerce negotiations are ongoing.
Earlier this yr, some analysts in Brussels hinted that tariff tensions with Washington may enhance Brussels-Beijing commerce ties.
The CCCEU additionally instructed Al Jazeera that with US tariffs looming, “China and the EU share a accountability to uphold free commerce and multilateralism whereas mitigating exterior pressures” and pushed Brussels to enhance its enterprise surroundings for overseas firms and improve provide chains.
However within the run-up to the summit, expectations stay low.
“It’s fairly clear the US tariff subject is an over-encompassing subject … we’re negotiating with the US at current. It’s clear that there’s a want to seek out and interact with different actors worldwide because of the affect of US tariffs,” a senior EU official instructed reporters in Brussels earlier than the summit.
“However with China, we’re actually not agreeing to compromise on our values,” the official careworn.
Wiegand additionally identified that Europe’s financial relationship with the US is stronger than that with China since they’re additionally NATO allies.
“With Russia’s battle in Ukraine threatening Europe, Brussels is not going to be pushed nearer to Beijing,” he stated.
“However as Brussels negotiates tariffs with Washington, actually there will probably be an essential China dimension within the finalisation of a cope with the US administration.”
