An invitation to attend a conference in Brussels to commemorate the 50th anniversary of ties between the European Union and China has been turned down by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Instead, Beijing will send the lower-ranked Premier Li Qiang to meet the Presidents of the European Council and Commission in Brussels, UK newspaper Financial Times reported on March 16.
Insiders said that while EU-China summits typically alternated between Brussels and Beijing — with Li attending in Brussels and Xi hosting in Beijing — the EU believed the significance of this meeting, marking 50 years of diplomatic relations, warranted the presence of China’s President.
Both sides stated that talks were ongoing but the apparent snub reportedly reinforced concerns in Brussels that China’s rhetoric on co-operation lacked any weight — especially in the face of US President Donald Trump’s challenge to the multilateral world order.
The EU had been trying to encourage more friendly overtures from China, speaking of “possible opportunities” and saying China “can be a partner” after Trump forced through tariffs on the bloc and indicated a change of traditional policies.
Relations between Brussels and Beijing, though, have been deteriorating for a while.
China has been accused of supporting Russia in its war against Ukraine, much to the dismay of the EU, while both China and the bloc have been slapping tariffs on each other.
Brussels launched a new anti-dumping investigation on March 14 against Chinese exports of adipic acid, used to produce nylon and many other products.
On top of this, a new Chinese-linked alleged corruption scandal hit the European Parliament just days ago, with the Belgian federal prosecutor suspecting 15 MEPs having taken bribes for promoting Chinese commercial interests.
EU officials have argued that China — which recorded a €304.5 billion trade surplus with the bloc last year — was not taking sufficient steps to rebalance trade. That was, they said, because Beijing has continued to subsidise Chinese industry while maintaining high barriers for foreign companies seeking access to the world’s second-largest economy.
“The relationship is on ice,” a senior EU diplomat told the FT. “It is a change of tone, not substance. Their policy is not going to change and the same is true for us.”
Lu Shaye, China’s former outspoken ambassador to France who is now Beijing’s special representative for European affairs, told the newspaper that his country’s policy regarding Europe had always “advocated peace, friendship, co-operation and mutual benefit”.
“This has never changed. It is just that the contrast with the current US policy towards Europe makes China’s policy towards Europe appear even more visionary, fair and reasonable.
“I hope this could serve as a wake-up call [for Europe],” he said.
“Informal discussions are underway regarding both the timing of this year’s EU-China summit and the level of representation,” an EU official told the FT.
Meanwhile, Chinese authorities stated they could not provide any information on the matter. According to Reuters, neither Beijing nor Brussels initially responded to requests for confirmation.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has cancelled a planned meeting with the European Union’s High Representative Kaja Kallas, leaving her to scramble for talks with lower-level officials instead. https://t.co/AoXQpyr4Tb
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) February 27, 2025
