China's Xi warns top EU officials not to engage in 'confrontation'
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[December 07, 2023]
By Laurie Chen
BEIJING (Reuters) -Chinese President Xi Jinping warned top EU officials
on Thursday that China and Europe should not view each other as rivals
or "engage in confrontation" due to their different political systems,
in the first in-person China-EU summit for four years.
During a meeting to discuss issues ranging from trade imbalances to
Ukraine, Xi also said China is willing to make the European Union a key
economic and trade partner and to cooperate on science and technology,
including artificial intelligence.
He urged the EU in the talks held at Beijing's Diaoyutai State
Guesthouse to "eliminate all kinds of interference" in the bilateral
relationship, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
Xi said both side needed to develop "a right perception" of each other,
and encourage mutual understanding and trust.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council
President Charles Michel and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell also
met Chinese Premier Li Qiang during their one-day visit.
Li told the EU leaders that China opposes the "broad politicisation and
securitisation" of economic and trade issues in violation of the basic
norms of market economies, according to China's state television.
"We hope that the EU will be prudent when introducing restrictive
economic and trade policies and when using trade remedy measures to keep
its trade and investment markets open," he said.
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Thursday's meetings were the EU officials' last chance to get face time
with top Chinese officials before the European Parliament election kicks
off next year, which will bring changes in the 27-nation bloc's
leadership.
In another blow to EU-China relations, member state Italy officially
informed China "in recent days" that it is leaving the Belt and Road
Initiative championed by Xi, Italian government sources told Reuters on
Wednesday.
A number of EU commissioners have visited Beijing since China lifted
pandemic border restrictions this year, including the bloc's trade and
climate chiefs. However, little progress has been made to resolve core
irritants in the relationship.
Most recently, Borrell's chief of staff and senior EU diplomat Enrique
Mora visited in November.
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![](../images/120723PIX/news_x25.jpg)
An attendant walks past EU and China flags ahead of the EU-China
High-level Economic Dialogue at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in
Beijing, China June 25, 2018. REUTERS/Jason Lee/File Photo
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ISSUES
The EU wants Beijing to use its influence on Russia to stop the war
in Ukraine, and a major focus of the trip was to urge Xi to stop
Chinese private companies exporting European-made, dual-use items to
Russia for its military campaign. Brussels initially left these
Chinese firms off its latest Russia sanctions package unveiled last
month, European officials said.
The bloc is also concerned about what it considers "imbalanced"
economic relations, saying its near 400-billion-euro ($431.7
billion) trade deficit with China reflects restrictions on EU
businesses operating there.
China has previously pushed back against an EU anti-subsidy
investigation into Chinese electric vehicles and the EU's
"de-risking" policy to reduce its reliance on Chinese imports,
particularly of critical raw materials.
"The Chinese side believes that the investigation... seriously
disrupts and distorts the global automotive industry chain... and
will have a negative impact on China-EU economic and trade
relations," He Yadong, a Chinese commerce ministry spokesperson,
told a news conference on Thursday.
Last month, foreign minister Wang told visiting French counterpart
Catherine Colonna that the biggest risk is "the uncertainty brought
by broad politicisation", and that "the dependency most in need of
reduction is protectionism".
During Colonna's visit, China also offered visa-free entry to
citizens of the EU's five largest economies in a bid to boost
post-pandemic tourism and improve China's image in the West, after
relations deteriorated during the COVID pandemic.
EU officials say the two sides could cooperate more on action to
combat climate change and to promote biodiversity.
(Reporting by Laurie Chen, Ethan Wang, Liz Lee and Joe Cash in
Beijing, Philip Blenkinsop in Brussels; editing by Christopher
Cushing, Sam Holmes, Tom Hogue and Mark Heinrich)
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