Dynamite News EU leaders plan Beijing trip in July for summit with China's Xi, SCMP reports
EU leaders plan to visit Beijing in late July for a summit with President Xi, aiming to rebuild ties as relations with the U.S. falter. Despite EU efforts to host the meeting in Brussels, Xi refuses to travel to Europe. The move signals a softer EU approach toward China, amid rising concerns over cheap Chinese goods flooding European markets due to U.S. tariffs. Read more at Dynamite News.
New Delhi: To bolster ties, European Union leaders plan a trip to Beijing for a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in late July. The travel plans imply a serious effort to re-engage with Beijing when the bloc's relationship with the United States has effectively collapsed.
According to Dynamite News correspondent, while the Chinese side has officially not confirmed any date, EU leaders are willing to travel to Beijing. Reports of the summit emerged after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen held talks with Chinese Premier Li Qiang earlier this week.
President Xi has been reluctant to make a trip to Brussels. Reports suggest that EU leaders have accepted that they must travel to Beijing if they want face-to-face time with the Chinese leader.
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The plan also indicates that a second consecutive EU-China summit will be held in the Chinese capital, even though the location is supposed to alternate.
The European Union chief has also taken a noticeably softer stance in her approach to China. The Commission’s official readout of von der Leyen’s call with Premier Li made no mention of traditional EU criticisms, such as human rights issues.
For months, European officials have tried to convince Beijing to hold the summit in Brussels, given that EU leaders already traveled to China in 2023. However, they’ve been repeatedly told that President Xi has no intention of visiting Europe this year.
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In response, European leaders pointed out that Xi does plan to visit Europe next month—for a war commemoration event with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Chinese government has long insisted that the summit will take place in Beijing. Meanwhile, concerns are growing in Europe over a potential flood of cut-price Chinese goods originally intended for the U.S. market being diverted to Europe.
This could increase pressure on already embattled local producers. These fears have intensified this week amid successive rounds of new U.S. tariffs targeting Chinese exports.