The EU-China summit was held in Beijing on December 7, and the two sides did not issue a joint statement after the summit.
After the summit, Wang Lutong, director of the European Department, held a press conference in ChinaEuropean Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen held a press conference at the EU office in Beijing.
The two sides made their own remarks at the press conference, highlighting the divergent positions of the Chinese and European leadership during the summit.
EU leaders stressed the importance of rebalancing the EU-China relationship, as the EU's deficit with China has reached nearly 400 billion euros ($431.7 billion) in 2022, compared to only 40 billion euros 20 years ago, and the total between China and the EU exceeds 850 billion euros.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said at a press conference that the summit was an opportunity to raise the EU's concerns with the Chinese side. "If you look at the last two years, the deficit has doubled," she said. This is a question of great concern to many Europeans. ”
"The root causes of this imbalance are unsustainable and are well known and we have discussed them, from the lack of access for European companies to the Chinese market, to the preferential treatment of local Chinese companies and overcapacity in China," von der Leyen said. ”
The EU has highlighted that China's huge subsidies to local companies have created unfair competition and that dumped products from China pose a potential threat to European businesses and jobs.
Von der Leyen said at a news conference, "Politically, European leaders will not be able to tolerate the damage to our industrial base due to unfair competition." We love competition. It (competition) makes us better;It lowers **;It's good for consumers. But competition needs to be fair. …Europe has no intention of decoupling from China. …What we want is 'de-risking'. 'De-risking' refers to managing the risks we see and addressing over-reliance by diversifying the ...... chainThus increasing our resilience. This is not specific to China. ”
After the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war, the EU's economic dependence on China has become a topic of concern for the EU.
On the evening of December 13, the European Parliament passed a resolution with a high vote, emphasizing that it is necessary to reduce dependence on Chinese products, and that the EU's dependence on a single country's key raw materials shall not exceed 65% in the future, and that it is necessary to vigorously improve the self-sufficiency rate in the EU to achieve self-sufficiency in raw materials.
After the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the EU has worked hard to completely wean itself off Russian oil and gas.