Sunday

3rd Dec 2023

China and EU push for global free trade

  • The EU's foreign policy chief Mogherini said EU-China relations have never been better. (Photo: European Commission)

Top diplomats from the EU and China have pledged closer cooperation on trade and geopolitical issues amid concerns about US protectionism under president Donald Trump.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini co-chaired the seventh EU-China Strategic Dialogue with state councilor Yang Jiechi, China's highest-ranking diplomat, in Beijing on Wednesday (19 April) in their first high-level meeting since Trump took office in January.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

"We are living times of growing tensions and geopolitical unpredictability, so our cooperation has never been so important," Mogherini said after the meeting.

"China and EU are global powers, we have a joint responsibility to work together towards a more cooperative, rule-based global order," she told reporters.

Mogherini said the EU-China strategic partnership had reached an "unprecedented level of maturity".

China was keen to cast itself as a protector of free trade and globalisation and a force for stability, just as the US is being seen as increasingly inward looking and unpredictable under president Trump.

China's president Xi Jinping also advocated globalisation and rejected protectionism in a speech in Davos last January, and has tried to align China closer to the EU.

Mogherini said that such speeches by Xi "have raised high expectations that China and the European Union can work together on multilateralism, on rules-based global order".

"We can meet together these expectations of a joint EU-China role for improving the conditions of our world and our citizens," she said.

However, the EU was cautious about Xi's attempt to portray China as the champion of free trade.

China's massive steel exports have caused job losses and shut down businesses in Europe, while European businesses have complained about the lack of access to China's market and about Chinese discrimination.

On the other side, China has wanted the EU to grant it market economy status, which would make it harder for the bloc to impose punitive tariffs on Chinese goods.

Beijing has also been irritated by the number of anti-dumping investigations by Brussels.

Its complaints come as the EU looks to clinch a bilateral investment treaty with China to make it easier for European companies to do business there, and amid internal EU talks on stricter trade defence tools that could lead to higher duties to deter dumping.

Concerns are also on the rise over China's build-up of military forces on islands in the South China Sea.

The world is watching

Mogherini's visit to Beijing comes ahead of an EU-China summit due in Brussels in June.

She also met with Chinese premier Li Keqiang on Tuesday, who said that, against the backdrop of uncertainty, deeper cooperation between China and the EU did "not only concern the common interests of the two sides, but is also of great significance for the development of international political and economic relations."

He said that the world was looking at how the two major powers tackled those challenges together.

One of those issues was Syria.

Mogherini said the EU's priority was to bring an end to the war there.

She said after the meeting with Yang that they had discussed how to support the UN-led peace process and to improve humanitarian access.

The two diplomats also discussed rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula, as North Korea moves to accelerate its nuclear weapons promgram.

Opinion

The EU-China show will go on

China and the EU must be committed to deepen cultural understanding, foster mutual respect and willingness to work together.

Opinion

EU dumping plan could ensure fairer China trade

A European Commission proposal on anti-dumping clears the way for the EU to abide by international obligations and avoid a trade war that would be dangerously counterproductive.

Opinion

Steel overcapacity crisis - from Europe to China

While the debate has escalated about China’s steel overcapacity, it is not exactly new. The first postwar steel crisis occurred in the US and Europe. Beijing seeks to avoid a deja vu of bad policies.

EU and China move to fill US void

At a summit in Brussels, EU and Chinese leaders will attempt to deepen ties on trade and climate as US president Trump plans to pull out of the Paris climate deal.

Opinion

Why the EU doesn't get China's Belt and Road

It is not enough for European officials to simply tell the press that they do not understand the Belt and Road – the vision is clear enough, the point is to decide how to engage with it.

Russia loses seat on board of chemical weapons watchdog

Russia lost its seat on the board of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons for the first time in the organisation's history — while Ukraine, Poland, and Lithuania were elected to the executive council.

Opinion

'Loss and Damage' reparations still hang in balance at COP28

There is still work to be done — especially when it comes to guaranteeing the Global North's participation in financing Loss and Damage, and ensuring the Global South has representation and oversight on the World Bank's board.

Latest News

  1. Israel's EU ambassador: 'No clean way to do this operation'
  2. Brussels denies having no 'concern' on Spain's amnesty law
  3. Dubai's COP28 — a view from the ground
  4. Germany moves to criminalise NGO search-and-rescue missions
  5. Israel recalls ambassador to Spain in new diplomatic spat
  6. Migrant return bill 'obstructed' as EU states mull new position
  7. Paris and Berlin key to including rape in gender-violence directive
  8. What are the big money debates at COP28 UN climate summit?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  3. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  4. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?
  5. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  6. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  3. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  4. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersGlobal interest in the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations – here are the speakers for the launch
  6. Nordic Council of Ministers20 June: Launch of the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us