Photo by Yubin Zhou on Unsplash
The EU and China have held high level talks about closer cooperation on common global challenges.
A statement from the European Commission said, “Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has had a severe impact on the global economy.”
This, it said, had “triggered a humanitarian crisis and aggravating food and energy security challenges.”
EC Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis called on China to “play a constructive role in ensuring lasting peace and mitigating the economic consequences of the war.”
Dombrovskis met Chinese Vice Premier of the State Council, He Lifeng, and co-chaired the 10th EU-China High-level Economic and Trade Dialogue (HED).
The HED is the main platform for the EU and China to discuss economic and financial matters, as well as trade and investment cooperation.
Specifically, the two sides discussed the macro-economic situation in the EU, China and globally.
Dombrovskis emphasised in particular the impact of what he called “Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine on global economic growth prospects, as well as on food and energy security.”
The two sides discussed market access and supply chain issues, where Dombrovskis called for progress on EU concerns on access to the Chinese market, and for rebalancing the EU–China economic and trade relationship on the basis of transparency, predictability and reciprocity, as well as potential ways for enhancing multilateral cooperation.
On trade and investment, the EU reiterated during the HED its concerns about the overall state of the business environment for EU exporters and investors in China.
Dombrovskis notably raised the issue of access to the Chinese market for European businesses, notably in the areas of agrifood exports, medical devices, cosmetics, and infant formula.
The EU and China also committed to restart discussions on alcoholic beverage exports. The two sides confirmed the agreement to exchange information on export controls at technical level, in order to provide a platform to clarify each other’s measures.
Dombrovskis also thanked China for its work on nuclear non-proliferation.
