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, somewhat, 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 collection of commerce disagreements, significantly over market entry and demanding uncommon earth parts, and geopolitical tensions, primarily Russia’s ongoing battle 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 presently a distinguished fellow on the Indo-Pacific Program of the German Marshall Fund’s Brussels Workplace, informed Al Jazeera that the EU’s present partnership with China is advanced.
“The EU views China as a associate for world challenges, an financial competitor in terms of creating new applied sciences and in addition a systemic rival due to Beijing’s governance system and its affect on world affairs,” he mentioned, 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, looking for to deal with these disputes on the summit.
“This Summit is a chance to interact with China on the highest degree and have frank, constructive discussions on points that matter to each of us. We would like dialogue, actual engagement and concrete progress,” Costa mentioned in a press release 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 International Affairs informed reporters in Beijing on Monday.
A Chinese language International Ministry spokesperson added that after 50 years of EU-China growth, their ties “can address the altering difficulties and challenges”.
Is Russia’s battle in Ukraine on the agenda?
In keeping with EU officers, discussions with President Xi on Thursday morning will give attention to world affairs and bilateral relations, adopted by a banquet lunch.
Nevertheless, the Russia-Ukraine battle is more likely to come up due to Beijing’s shut ties with Moscow, which has been a thorny situation for Brussels.
“You possibly can anticipate the EU addressing Russia’s battle in Ukraine,” a senior EU official informed reporters in Brussels on July 18. “China, in fact, talks to us typically about core points. Nicely, this can be a core situation for Europe. It’s a difficulty basic to European safety,” the official added.
In an deal with 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 a number of Chinese language corporations for facilitating the availability 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 availability 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 International Minister Wang Yi mentioned Beijing didn’t wish to see Russia lose the battle in Ukraine, since america would then give attention to China.
Wiegand mentioned Europe should not 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 mentioned.
“That is crucial damaging issue which has impacted the general [EU-China] relationship,” he added.
Apart from the Ukraine battle, EU officers in Brussels mentioned, the 27-member bloc may also focus on tensions within the Center East and different safety threats in Asia.
How troublesome will commerce discussions be?
One other contentious situation between Brussels and Beijing is commerce. 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 informed reporters in Brussels on July 18.
China is the EU’s third-largest buying and selling associate, however the two have lately been squabbling over a collection of commerce points, together with 45 p.c European tariffs on Chinese language electrical automobiles (EVs) and Beijing’s management of uncommon earth minerals, that are important for chip making and producing medical gadgets.
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 corporations are benefitting from huge 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 an alternative.
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 corporations from medical gadgets 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 mentioned, “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 informed reporters in Brussels earlier than the summit. “Commerce entry is proscribed and export controls are extreme. We’ll go there [to Beijing] with a optimistic and constructive angle … however China has to acknowledge our issues.”
In her speech on the European Parliament in July, the European Fee president mentioned the 27-member bloc is “partaking with Beijing in order that it loosens its export restrictions” on uncommon earth minerals.
Wiegand mentioned whereas commerce negotiations have been ongoing, attaining widespread floor or any commerce deal on the summit this week appears to be like unlikely.
“There’s a constructive tone [from the EU] in terms 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 lowering commerce vulnerabilities by diversifying and bettering our personal capacities,” he mentioned.
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 International Ministry.
He Yongqian, a spokeswoman for the Chinese language Ministry of Commerce, informed a information convention in Beijing on Monday that China hopes that Brussels may also “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) mentioned it hopes the summit will “deal with crucial challenges, together with market and funding boundaries confronted by Chinese language corporations within the EU”.
“Latest EU measures, such because the International Subsidies Regulation (FSR) and Worldwide Procurement Instrument (IPI), have disproportionately impacted Chinese language corporations in clear tech, high-tech, and medical gadgets. We urge constructive dialogue to make sure truthful 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 in opposition to 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, informed Al Jazeera that on the fiftieth anniversary of EU-China diplomatic relations, there may be “little to have fun” in terms of speaking about human rights in China in 2025.
“Amnesty Worldwide has frequently 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 legislation 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 house and more and more overseas. The EU, not less than on paper, has additionally come to comparable conclusions,” she mentioned.
“On the summit, the EU’s management wants to make sure that these phrases turn 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 12 months and hinted at resuming political dialogues between the European Parliament and the NPC, the 2021 EU sanctions stay in place. The bloc mentioned final week that it had “not noticed adjustments within the human rights state of affairs in China/Xinjiang”.
“Selling and defending human rights is vital to the EU. We’ll increase the EU’s concern on the deterioration of rights in Xinjiang, Tibet, and different areas,” an EU official mentioned.
Will the difficulty of US tariffs come up?
The assembly between the EU and China comes amid US President Donald Trump’s world tariff battle, 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, looking for to strike a commerce deal.
China and the US agreed to slash tit-for-tat heavy tariffs for 90 days in Could. That suspension expires on August 12. In June, the US mentioned it might impose 55 p.c tariffs on Chinese language items, down from the 145 p.c Trump had imposed in April. In return, Beijing mentioned, 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 12 months, some analysts in Brussels hinted that tariff tensions with Washington might enhance Brussels-Beijing commerce ties.
The CCCEU additionally informed Al Jazeera that with US tariffs looming, “China and the EU share a duty to uphold free commerce and multilateralism whereas mitigating exterior pressures” and pushed Brussels to enhance its enterprise setting for overseas corporations and improve provide chains.
However within the run-up to the summit, expectations stay low.
“It’s fairly clear the US tariff situation is an over-encompassing situation … 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 impression of US tariffs,” a senior EU official informed reporters in Brussels earlier than the summit.
“However with China, we’re definitely not agreeing to compromise on our values,” the official confused.
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 won’t be pushed nearer to Beijing,” he mentioned.
“However as Brussels negotiates tariffs with Washington, definitely there will likely be an vital China dimension within the finalisation of a take care of the US administration.”
