The EU’s trade chief has set an October deadline to resolve a shopping list of trade disputes between Brussels and Beijing following talks with China’s commerce minister Wang Wentao on Monday (29 June).
The meeting was billed as the first of a planned series of trade and investment consultations between the EU and China and would seek to “stabilise and make our bilateral relationship more balanced”, Maros Sefcovic and Wentao said in a joint statement.
They also agreed to establish four “workstreams” on trade and investment balancing, export controls, intellectual property rights and WTO reform.
Ahead of the talks, China had warned that it was prepared to suspend economic and trade relations with the EU if negotiations continue without tangible results, according to China’s state broadcaster.
And the need for “tangible results” was repeated by Sefcovic who said that the meeting had been needed to “avoid unnecessary tensions”.
He described the talks, which continue into the evening, as “positive” and “very constructive”.
“The EU remains open for business. But we need to defend our industrial base and keep pushing for a level playing field globally, so our industries get a fair shot at competing,” he added.
“We cannot afford to simply [accept] the unsustainable growth of the trade deficit with China,” said Sefcovic, who added that he would visit Beijing to "assess progress" in the autumn.
The EU Commission has drawn up plans to curb oversupply of Chinese industrial goods as well as a proposed Industrial Accelerator Act, which would bar some Chinese products from public procurement contracts and limit takeovers of European companies.
The commission has also set out plans for an update to its Cybersecurity Act that would exclude Chinese companies, including Huawei, from obtaining contracts related to European telecommunications networks and solar energy systems.
Benjamin Fox