During her meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed her concern about the“increasingly imbalanced” trade relationship between the two sides, she told a press conference in Beijing on Wednesday 6 April. “We have discussed this, because this trajectory is not sustainable”, she added.
She mentioned the trade barriers faced by some European economic actors in China, in particular in the agri-food or medical sectors. She denounced “overgrowing requirements” applied by Beijing, whether in terms of technology transfer or excessive information requirements.
In this context, the EU needs to be “more vigilant about its dependencies”, she said. And to reiterate that this does not amount to “de-coupling”, but rather to “de-risking” (see EUROPE 13153/17).
Just as in her speech in Brussels on 30 March on EU-China relations, the President of the European Commission spoke of the need for the EU to take into account the risks associated with the export of dual-use goods.
Beyond a possible EU instrument to control exports and investments in this sector, the problem must be solved through dialogue, she said. This is why she said she had agreed with the Chinese President to restart the EU-China High Level Economic and Trade Dialogue and the Digital Dialogue. These “should be convened as soon as possible to make progress and produce tangible results”, she said.
The last meeting of the EU-China High Level Economic and Trade Dialogue was held in July 2022 between the EU Commissioner for Trade, Valdis Dombrovskis, and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He (see EUROPE 12996/3).
As for the EU-China investment agreement, it was not discussed between Ms von der Leyen and Mr Xi Jinping, according to the President. But it is clear from the European side that the agreement needs to be reassessed, she added.
The Chinese president was not with Ursula von der Leyen at her press conference, but made a joint statement with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, earlier in the day on 6 April. On this occasion, he said that China was working “towards a high level of openness to the outside world”.
China must use its influence on Russia
In front of the media, the Commission President also called on China to put pressure on Russia in the context of the war in Ukraine.
“China knows Russia well and, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, has a big responsibility to use its influence for positive development”, she stressed.
Ms von der Leyen said she expected Beijing to promote a just peace that respected Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Furthermore, she called on China not to supply military equipment directly or indirectly to Russia. “Arming the aggressor would be against international law. And it would significantly harm our relationship”, the Commission President warned.
She explained that Xi Jinping - who recently met the Russian president in Moscow - had reiterated his willingness to talk with the Ukrainian president - who has expressed a desire for such a dialogue - “when the conditions and time are right”. She described this response as “positive”.
Earlier in the day, the Chinese President had called for peace talks to be restarted “as soon as possible”, for the “legitimate” security concerns of both sides to be taken into account, for a political settlement to be sought and for a “balanced, effective and sustainable”, European security architecture to be built.
Xi Jinping had also urged the international community to “refrain from any action that could lead to a further deterioration and even a setback of the crisis”. He called as well for respect for international humanitarian law and for avoiding attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure.
Ms von der Leyen recalled that both Europeans and Chinese were opposed to as well the use of nuclear weapons. Alongside Mr Macron, Xi Jinping had called for commitments not to use nuclear weapons to be honoured and for there to be no armed attacks on nuclear power plants and civilian nuclear facilities (see EUROPE 13129/2).
Call for status quo in the Taiwan Strait
Asked about the situation in Taiwan, Ms von der Leyen said that “stability in the Taiwan Strait is of paramount importance”. China has deployed several warships around Taiwan after a meeting in the US between the Taiwanese President and the Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives.
“We have a clear interest in preserving this stability, the peace and status quo in the Taiwan Strait”, explained the Commission President. “The use of force to change it is unacceptable. It is important that some tensions that might occur be peacefully resolved”, she warned.
Furthermore, Ms von der Leyen explained that she had discussed human rights with the Chinese leadership and expressed her “deep concern” about the deteriorating human rights situation in China, citing the situation in Xinjiang as particularly concerning. “It is important that we continue to discuss these issues”, she stressed. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal and Camille-Cerise Gessant)