EU chief says ties with China at ‘inflection level’

Shortly after arriving in Beijing, von der Leyen described the summit as a possibility for either side to “advance and rebalance” their relationship.

“I’m convinced there can be a mutually beneficial co-operation… One that can define the next 50 years of our relations,” she wrote on X.

Her phrases echoed the picture of hope that either side projected forward of the summit. EU officers had stated that they had been prepared for frank conversations, whereas Chinese officers had framed it as an opportunity for larger collaboration.

China’s overseas ministry stated earlier within the week the bilateral relationship was at a “critical juncture of building on past achievements and opening up a new chapter”.

But Xi’s determination to reject an invite to Brussels earlier this yr, after which to point out up in Moscow in May for Russia’s annual World War Two victory parade, made for a poor begin.

Engin Eroglu, who chairs the European Parliament’s China delegation, believes that an already fragile belief between China and the EU has reached a brand new low: “In this atmosphere of strategic mistrust, the mood is clearly tense – if not frosty.”

One of the principle issues that has led to the deterioration of relations between the 2 giants is the problem of the Russia-Ukraine warfare.

The EU’s determination to impose sanctions final week on two Chinese banks for his or her position in supplying Russia has aggravated Beijing within the run-up to this summit and made for an ungainly local weather.

China stated it had lodged “solemn representations” to the EU’s commerce chief forward of the summit.

And reviews that Chinese overseas minister Wang Yi advised EU overseas coverage chief Kaja Kallas this month that Beijing didn’t wish to see Russia lose the warfare in Ukraine – contradicting China’s official place of neutrality – have additionally been circulating.

Wang reportedly stated that the Russia-Ukraine warfare would maintain the US distracted from its rivalry with China – one thing Beijing has denied.

Kallas had earlier this yr known as China the “key enabler of Russia’s war” in Ukraine, including that “if China would want to really stop the support, then it would have an impact”.