Chinese, EU leaders meet amid trade friction

Long list of disputes includes Ukraine war

- KEITH BRADSHER

The European Union sent the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and other top officials to Beijing for a high-profile, high-stakes summit yesterday with their Chinese counterparts, complete with nods to the 50-year anniversary of their diplomatic ties.

Both sides came with long lists of grievances over trade. The Europeans want an end to the flood of Chinese exports that they insist is unfairly bolstered by government financial support.

The Chinese angrily deny the allegations and want the European Union to lift tariffs and embrace trade with China.

Neither European Union leaders nor Chinese officials said they expected the summit to resolve their many differences, which also include an intense disagreement over China's support for Russia and its war in Ukraine.

Beijing wants the European Union to rescind its tariffs on electric cars from China and take other measures to allow more Chinese exports into the continent.

But European leaders have made clear that they want to address many serious concerns about China's recent policies. They are upset that China’s state-owned banks are lending at low interest rates to the country’s manufacturers. The resulting overflow of inexpensive goods has pushed up China's trade surplus with the European Union to more than $350 billion.

European leaders are also very worried about China’s extensive economic and industrial assistance to Russia during the war in Ukraine — a subject that China has tried to keep separate from trade issues.

The divergent agendas have many analysts predicting a rancorous summit that does not produce much. “I think there is going to be the screaming part, but not the deal making,” said Abigaël Vasselier, the head of foreign relations at the Mercator Institute for China Studies in Berlin.