EU-China summit exposes deepening tensions – DW – 07/25/2025

DW

3 days ago

Despite calls for cooperation and limited climate pledges, the EU-China summit exposed deep divisions and confirmed that long-term tensions are likely to persit.
Chinese President Xi Jinping met with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Beijing at a tense bilateral summit, making no headway on geopolitical disputes and only modest advances on trade and climate change.
While EU leaders raised concerns over China's export surplus flooding European markets with cheap goods, and Beijing allegedly providing support for Russia's war in Ukraine, Chinese officials denied responsibility for these challenges and instead called for a deepening of the partnership.
"As our cooperation has deepened, so have imbalances," von der Leyen told Xi during their meeting, describing EU-China trade imbalances as having reached "an inflection point" where China must "come forward with real solutions."
But Xi told von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa that "there are no fundamental conflicts of interest or geopolitical contradictions' between the two sides and urged the bloc to "properly handle differences and frictions."
"It is hoped that the European side will keep the trade and investment market open and refrain from using restrictive economic and trade tools," Xi said, according to a Chinese version of a press release published by China's Foreign Ministry.
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Despite the apparent discrepancy over trade and the Ukraine war, the two sides found common ground on climate change, releasing a joint statement that reaffirmed their commitment to deepen cooperation on green transition.
They have also agreed to establish what von der Leyen described as an "upgraded export supply mechanism" aimed at fast-tracking licenses for rare earth materials — over which China dominates global supply and has recently tightened export controls.
Still, the summit is unlikely to shift the trajectory of EU-China tensions in the long run, said Abigael Vasselier, head of the foreign relations team at the Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS), a think tank, during an online media briefing.
"Europe needs to be ready for a long-term struggle and probably needs to rethink its China strategy at this stage," she said.
In the run-up to the summit, EU-China relations hit rock bottomamid trade friction and geopolitical grievances.
Earlier this month, the bloc included Chinese banks and companies for the first time in a new sanctions package against Russia for its attack on Ukraine.
Beijing then threatened to respond with necessary steps to counter Europe's move that "seriously harmed the trade, economic and financial ties."
Revived hawkish rhetoric towards China was evident in a recent speech by von der Leyen, in which she accused China of "de-facto enabling Russia's war economy."
At a press conference following the summit, the European leader once again urged China to use its influence to "make sure that Russia is coming seriously to the negotiation table."
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Zsuzsa Anna Ferenczy, an affiliated scholar at the Free University of Brussels, said the message the EU sends to China was "clear and consistent" once again at the summit.
"What Europe needs to do is to hold its ground and try to stay as coherent as possible … so that we do not allow China to divide and undermine the unity that we have," she told DW.
Prior to the summit, many in Brussels were surprised by reports of an unexpectedly frank remark made by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who allegedly told the EU's top diplomat that it would not be in Beijing's interest to see a Russian loss in Ukraine.
Wang Guochen, a China economy assistant research fellow at Taiwan's Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER), said these recent interactions have escalated tensions and the summit once again "confirmed that China-EU relations are unlikely to improve."
During his speech at the summit, China's Xi mentioned a "win-win situation" multiple times to invite the EU to "jointly promote an equal and orderly world multipolarization and inclusive economic globalization."
Grzegorz Stec, head of the Brussels office at MERICS, told DW prior to the summit that Beijing's goal is to "erode the EU's de-risking and trade defense strategies and keep the market open for as long as possible."
China is currently dealing with overcapacity against a backdrop of limited domestic consumption and 33 consecutive months of deflation as of June.
"China is producing too much and it needs those goods to go somewhere. That's what makes access to Europe still relevant and important," Stec told DW.
By limiting the summit's deliverables to rare earth-related agreements, China appears to be leveraging its export restrictions on critical minerals to pressure the EU into scaling back, or even lifting, tariffs of up to 45% on Chinese electric vehicles.
Under Beijing's new regulations, exporters of rare earth elements and magnets must obtain a license for every shipment and submit documentation detailing how the materials will be used.
And although the summit produced an agreement on an "upgraded export supply mechanism," it likely fell short of European businesses' expectations of easing the stringent export controls.
Even though the summit ended with few meaningful outcomes, it may still be seen as a positive result from Beijing's perspective, given the worsening transatlantic relationship.
Just a day before the meeting, EU diplomats told reporters that the bloc was moving towards a trade deal with Washington that would impose a broad 15% tariff on EU goods — avoiding a previously proposed 30% rate.
Still, a growing number of EU member states, including Germany, are reportedly considering invoking wide-ranging "anti-coercion" measures if a deal cannot be reached by August 1.
"China could demonstrate that it is committed to pursuing cooperation and project itself as a solution provider, as a peace supporter in a turbulent world," Ferenczy said.
"This is the language the Chinese side often uses both internationally and domestically — that China and the EU are meant for positive cooperation," she added.
But not everyone sees Beijing as having the upper hand after the summit.
"From my perspective, Beijing actually lost out here," said Wang, the China economy researcher. "With US-EU relations being strained … Beijing still didn't succeed in winning over Europe."
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