EU: The European Union will hold high-level trade talks with China on Tuesday, just before the summer recession hits Brussels. The 27-member bloc has been trying to arrange these talks for more than three months.
The virtual meeting, which will also include representatives from the ministries of trade and economics of the two countries, will be co-chaired by Chinese Deputy Prime Minister Liu He and European Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrowski. According to a representative of the European Commission, it will cover a range of global economic challenges, including concerns about food security and energy prices, supply chains, financial services and bilateral trade and investment.
The representative said the talks are taking place "against the backdrop of the war in Europe and the growing uncertainties in the outlook for the global economy."
The last high-level meeting between the EU and China was a virtual summit in April, which failed because the EU was unable to secure any guarantees from China that it would not support Russia's war against Ukraine, either economically or militarily. . However, both sides agreed to speak once again "to find specific ways to move forward on these issues before the summer".
Brussels continued to pressure Beijing to set a deadline, but China was slow to respond.
The German Marshall Fund of the United States' Noah Barkin, a Berlin-based analyst of relations between Europe and China, suggested that Beijing was trying to get used to its new relationship with Europe because of the slow response.
According to China's National Bureau of Statistics, the second quarter of the year saw a 0.4% increase in economic growth in China, down from the 4.8% growth in the first quarter.
The upcoming trade talks are being viewed with optimism by the China Chamber of Commerce for the European Union (CCCEU).
The Chinese business community said the talks would help the two sides go on their economic and trade agendas to identify areas of cooperation as well as manage disagreements or disputes that undermine mutual trust.
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