BEIJING: China would welcome visits by European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at an appropriate time to jointly hold a new round of China-EU leaders’ meetings, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Tuesday (May 6).
May 6 marks the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and the European Union as they work to thaw ties amid global trade uncertainty fuelled by sweeping US tariffs.
China and the EU will hold high-level dialogues on strategy, economy and trade, green development and digitalisation, as well as a series of other events this year, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a regular press conference.
The ministry also confirmed on Tuesday that China and the European Parliament had decided to remove restrictions on mutual exchanges.
The EU said last week that China would lift sanctions on members of the European Parliament as well as on the institution’s subcommittee on human rights. The sanctions were imposed in 2021 over Western measures against Chinese officials accused of the mass detention of Muslim Uyghurs in the northwestern region of Xinjiang.
Beijing is keen to forge closer economic and political ties with Europe to limit the damage from tariffs on most of its exports to the United States.
“Under the current circumstances, both sides believe it is very important for China and Europe to strengthen dialogue and cooperation,” Lin told reporters, expressing confidence that renewed talks would “inject new impetus into the sustained, healthy and stable development of China-EU relations”.
