Leaders shy away from China market status debate

As the two-day EU-China summit gets under way in Beijing on Tuesday (12 July), the elephant in the room will undoubtedly be the issue of granting market economy status (MES) to China.

The controversial issue is not on the leaders' agenda, but is bound to come up during the negotiations.

The EU is debating whether to grant China MES from December, which Beijing says should be automatic 15 years after joining the World Trade Organisation (WTO), according to the then agreed accessi...