Unlock Editor’s Digest Lock for Free
FT editor Roula Khalaf will select your favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has rejected the first invitation to visit Brussels for a summit to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the tie, as the EU has questioned the integrity of the recent Chinese overture.
Beijing told EU officials that China’s second-largest leader, Prime Minister Tian, will meet the president of the Council of Europe and the committee in Brussels for the summit rather than XI, the two familiar with the issue told him.
Eu-China Summits hosting is traditionally alternating between Brussels and Beijing. The Prime Minister usually attends the Brussels summit, and XI will hold it in Beijing, but the EU believes that the Chinese president should attend to commemorate the importance of this conference, namely the half-century of diplomatic relations.
Both sides said the speech would continue, but the first Snub confirmed among many in Brussels that China would not add any concrete actions to its specific words about the need for President Donald Trump to cooperate in the face of an attack on the multilateral world order.
This year’s summit is at a particularly sensitive time for relations between the EU and China.
Tensions between Brussels and Beijing have accused the EU of supporting the Kremlin since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The block also places tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles imports, claiming they are subsidized.
EU officials say China, which last year had a trade deficit of BLOC and 30.45 billion euros, is not enough to readjust trade by reducing industrial subsidies and lowering trade barriers for foreign companies operating in the world’s second-largest economy.
“The relationship is on the ice,” said a senior EU diplomat. “It’s not a material, it’s a change in tone. Their policies remain the same, and the same applies to us.”
Lou Shea, former outspoken French ambassador to China, now Beijing’s special representative on European issues, said that China’s policies on Europe were always “advocates for peace, friendship, cooperation and mutual interest.”
“This has never changed. It is that the contrast with the current US policy towards Europe makes China’s policy towards Europe more visionary, fair and rational. I hope this will serve as a wake-up call (for Europe),” he said.
As his offensive diplomat known as the “wolf warrior” diplomat, the LU caused a fuss in Europe last year when it questioned whether Crimea was part of Ukraine and the sovereignty of former Soviet republics such as EU members Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania.
His appointment to manage diplomatic relations between China and Europe was seen as a reinforcement of Beijing’s stance by some commentators, but at the same time another EU diplomat said “China’s appeal is offensive.”
“China even said they hope that Europe will sit at the negotiation table (Ukrainian Peace Meeting),” the diplomat added. “We also have little talk about trade friction between the EU and China. They still exist, but there is little focus on that.”
EU trade chief Malossyv Chovich is scheduled to visit China later this month. Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Alvarez told the Financial Times last month that the EU should also see potential opportunities. “When China can become a partner, let’s take advantage of it,” Alvarez said.
European Commission Chairman Ursula von der Leyen said in February that the EU will continue to “reduce risk” by protecting the industry, but “can find an agreement that can even expand the trade-investment relationship.”
Recommended
Despite warnings from industry groups about the damage caused, Trump’s 25% tariffs forced the EU to respond to tariffs on steel and aluminum. However, senior EU officials said the key focus for China is defensive measures to eliminate the “waves” of Chinese products that have been expelled from the US market by tariffs.
On Friday, the EU began an anti-damping investigation into China’s exports of adipic acid, which is used to produce nylon and many other products. This is the 11th case since October, including those related to sweet corn, metal screws and candles.
“Informal discussions are ongoing on both the date and representative level of this year’s EU China Summit,” said an EU official.
China’s Foreign Ministry said there was no “information to provide” on the issue.
