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AllAfrica
25 minutes ago
- AllAfrica
China-EU play nice despite widening cracks
Beijing has called on the European Union to increase diplomatic dialogue and improve trade relations after the bloc sanctioned two rural banks in northern China, accusing them of facilitating trade between China and Russia. Chinese President Xi Jinping met with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa in Beijing on Thursday. 'The challenges facing Europe today do not come from China,' Xi told the two European leaders during their visit to China for the China-EU Summit. 'There are no fundamental conflicts of interest or geopolitical contradictions between China and Europe.' Xi said that China has always viewed and developed its relations with the EU from a strategic and long-term perspective, regarding Europe as an essential pole in a multipolar world, and has consistently supported European integration and the EU's strategic autonomy. He said that China and the European Union should uphold openness and cooperation, and properly manage their differences. 'History and reality have proven that mutual dependence is not a risk, and the integration of interests is not a threat,' he said. 'Improving competitiveness cannot rely on 'building walls and fortifications,' while 'decoupling' will only isolate oneself.' Xi also stated that the EU should practice multilateralism, help safeguard the international order of rules, and collaborate with China to address global challenges such as climate change. The Chinese leader made the conciliatory remarks amid rising political tensions between the EU and China over trade issues and the Ukraine war. In April, the EU imposed anti-subsidy tariffs on Chinese-imported aerial work platforms, ranging from 20.6% to 66.7%. Investigations found that Chinese manufacturers enjoyed an advantage in European markets, as they could lower prices after receiving government subsidies, low-interest financing, and support for raw materials. On June 20, it announced the exclusion of Chinese companies from the EU government's procurement of medical devices exceeding €5 million (approximately US$5.84 million). It said the measure aims to incentivize China to cease discriminating against EU firms and EU-made medical devices, and to treat EU companies with the same openness as the EU treats Chinese companies and products. China retaliated against the EU by restricting the purchase of European medical equipment and imposing tariffs on Brandy. However, China still wants to maintain a good relationship with the EU, which was also hit by the Trump administration's reciprocal tariffs in April. US President Donald Trump said the US would impose a 30% tariff on imports from Europe on August 1 if the two sides could not reach a trade deal. Media reports indicate that the US may agree to impose only a 15% tariff on European products, but a final agreement has not been reached. On July 16, China removed entry restrictions on Reinhard Buetikofer, the former EU lawmaker who was sanctioned by China in 2021 due to his comments on human rights issues of Uighurs in Xinjiang. Chinese commentators said China wanted to show a friendly gesture to Brussels ahead of the EU-China Summit, but the EU replied with sanctions on two Chinese banks. 'China removed entry restrictions on Buetikofer to pave the way for the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the EU,' a Fujian-based writer says in an article. 'The outside world described it as China's 'strategic gift package' for the EU.' 'However, the EU did not respond to this gift for three days and suddenly announced the 18th round of sanctions against Russia on July 19 and added over 10 Chinese companies to its Entity list,' he says. 'The sanctioned entities include two small Chinese banks, Heilongjiang Suifenhe Rural Commercial Bank and Heihe Rural Commercial Bank, which were accused of 'helping Russia circumvent sanctions'.' The writer notes that the annual transactions settled by the two banks were relatively small compared to Gazprom's daily exports. He says people in Heilongjiang use cash to trade Chinese electric heaters and Russian flour, but the EU was upset and blamed China for these legal activities. He says the EU wants a tough stance against China to please Washington and gain bargaining chips in the US-EU trade negotiations. A Yunnan-based columnist says it's unfair that the EU, which imported 18% more liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia last year, accused Chinese firms of having legal cooperation with Russian counterparts. 'The EU exposed the nature of its 'de-risking' strategy towards China in this incident,' he says. 'China has long been the EU's second-largest trading partner. However, with the rise of China in new energy, semiconductors, and other sectors, the EU's positioning of China has shifted from 'partner' to 'systemic rival', trying to use sanctions to slow China's growth.' He says the EU is like committing suicide as it sanctions Chinese firms, and at the same time asks China for rare earth elements. Reuters reported on April 22 that major Russian banks have set up a netting payments system called 'The China Track' to settle Russia's trade with China. The report, citing banking sources, stated that the new system, which has been in place for some time, was established by several sanctioned Russian banks and some intermediaries registered in countries that Russia considers friendly. It said each bank operates several verified payment agents, some of whom handle payments for exports, while others handle payments for imports. The minimum cost of the 'China Track' service, including commissions and exchange rate differences, is approximately 0.5% for exports and 1% for imports, compared to 2-4% outside the system and up to 12% at the height of the issue last year. The involved banks can complete the payment within two days. The service is now available in 11 Chinese provinces that have strong manufacturing sectors. According to an article published by the Heilongjiang-based Tianfusheng International Logistics Co on May 6, 'The China Track', a secret trade settlement channel between China and Russia, is now online. Tianfusheng said top Russian banks have jointly established this highly encrypted payment system to facilitate bilateral trade between Russia and China. It said this system can effectively bypass the SWIFT system and the West's monitoring, helping involved parties reduce sanction risks. In another article, Tianfusheng promoted its 'golden route' service, which guarantees that it can transport goods from China to 'anywhere in Russia' within eight days. The company said it has 150 trucks and an innovative tracking system. It claimed that its trucks can reach their final destinations directly without transit and complete customs clearance smoothly under the Transports Internationaux Routiers (TIR), a global customs transit system overseen by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). Read: China's patience wears thin with EU over medical device row
South China Morning Post
an hour ago
- South China Morning Post
JD.com eyes US$2.6 billion takeover of Germany's Ceconomy to boost European presence
Chinese e-commerce firm is in advanced talks to acquire Ceconomy in a deal that could value the German electronics retailer at about €2.2 billion (US$2.6 billion). is considering an offer of €4.60 in cash for each Ceconomy share, according to Ceconomy's statement on Thursday. The potential offer price represents a 23 per cent premium to the company's closing price of €3.75 on Wednesday. No binding agreements had been signed so far and it was not certain a takeover offer would be made, the statement said. had been in discussions with the major shareholders of Ceconomy and any formal offer would hinge on their support, people familiar with the matter have said. Some big shareholders were hesitant to sign irrevocable agreements to tender their shares to which could potentially derail the deal, some of the people said. Shares of Ceconomy extended gains to as much as 15.5 per cent and touched their highest intraday level since November 2021 after the company statement on Thursday. Bloomberg News first reported in February that had revived its interest in acquiring the Frankfurt-listed company. The potential offer would exceed the €4.17 entry price for Ceconomy's largest shareholder, while founding family shareholders of Metro got their Ceconomy shares from its demerger, Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Tatiana Lisitsina and Darja Lema wrote in a note.
South China Morning Post
3 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Police slap bounties on 19 members of ‘subversive' group ‘Hong Kong Parliament'
The city's national security police have placed bounties of up to HK$1 million (US$127,400) on 19 overseas activists involved in a group called 'Hong Kong Parliament', which they called 'subversive' and accused of violating the Beijing-imposed security law by holding an unlawful 'election'. Advertisement The arrest warrants announced on Friday were for Elmer Yuan Gong-yi, Victor Ho Leung-mau, Fok Ka-chi, Choi Ming-da, Chan Lai-chun, Feng Chongyi, Sasha Gong, Ng Man-yan, and Tsang Wai-fan, who were accused of establishing the so-called parliament-in-exile in 2022 That year, the group, mainly founded and run by self-exiled activists, formed an 'electoral committee' in Canada to hold elections that it said 'represents, solidifies and revives Hong Kong people's rights of self-determination'. In May this year, the group said 15,702 votes were cast to elect 15 members for its first 'parliament' and a 'virtual swearing-in ceremony' was held on July 14. Another 10 people were accused by Hong Kong national security police of taking part in the election and swearing in as so-called parliament members, namely Chin Po-fun, Ha Hoi-chun, Hau Chung-yu, Ho Wing-yau, Keung Ka-wai, Tony Lam, Agnes Ng, Wong Chun-wah, Wong Sau-wo, and Zhang Xinyan. The group, which includes businessman and opposition activist Elmer Yuan, held an unlawful 'election' and 'virtual swearing-in ceremony' for a so-called parliament-in-exile earlier this month. Photo: Facebook The government had previously placed bounties of HK$1 million each on Yuan, Ho, Fok, and Choi. A bounty of HK$200,000 was placed on each of the remaining 15 activists listed in the latest announcement.
