EU and China seek closer economic cooperation amid global trade tensions

Representatives from the European Union (EU) and China have met in Beijing for the 7^th annual High-level Economic and Trade Dialogue to discuss closer economic ties.

The Dialogue was co-chaired by the European Commission Vice-President Jyrki Katainen and Vice-Premier of the State Council Liu He, as reported by Xinhua, and was held to prepare for the upcoming 20^th EU-China summit taking place on 29 June in Beijing.

Under the theme of “Harnessing Globalisation”, the two sides discussed increasing cooperation in a range of areas including supporting the multilateral world trading system, climate and environmental issues, and the digital economy, as reported by Government Europa.

Katainen expressed confidence that the Dialogue would help ensure “a successful EU-China Summit in the economic and trade field”, although he said several “difficult issues” remained between the two sides, such as cybersecurity, overcapacity in steel and aluminium, and forced technology transfers, as reported by Reuters.

The Dialogue comes as China and the EU seek to deepen cooperation and combat US unilateral trade moves, including President Donald Trump’s imposition of tariffs on various sectors that has impacted both the EU and China. Nikkei Asian Review reported Liu as saying that the EU and China agreed “to firmly oppose unilateralism and protectionism and prevent such practices from impacting the world economy or even dragging the world economy into recession”. Katainen said this commitment to multilateralism “unites the EU and China”, as reported by CNBC.